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naÌ„l: (1) As denoting the finger-nail, the Hebrew word is צפּרן, cippoÌ„ren , the captive woman “shall shave her head, and pare her nails.†The latter was probably intended to prevent her from marring her beauty by scratching her face, an act of self-mutilation oriental women are repeatedly reported to have committed in the agony of their grief. Aramaic טפר, tÌ£ephar (, “his nails like birds' clawsâ€). (2) As pin or peg (for tents, or driven into the wall) the word is יתד, yaÌ„theÌ„dh (in the Revised Version (British and American), “tent-pinâ€); in , “a nail in a sure place†is a peg firmly driven into the wall on which something is to be hung (); compare , where the word is masmeroÌ„th, cognate with masÌ£meÌ„r below. (3) For nails of iron and gold , and in and , the word is מסמר, masmeÌ„r. (4) In the New Testament the word is helos, used of the nails in Christ's hands , and “to nail†in (“nailing it to the crossâ€) is Ï€ÏοσηλοÌω, proseÌ„loÌoÌ„.
In a figurative sense the word is used of the hard point of a stylus or engraving tool: “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point (literally, “claw,†“nailâ€) of a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars†.