Hey can you tell me what the nameserver in the soa record is for?

name        ttl class rr    name-server email-addr  (sn ref ret ex min)
example.com.    IN    SOA   **ns.example.com** (this nameserver). hostmaster.example.com. (
                              2003080800 ; sn = serial number
                              172800     ; ref = refresh = 2d
                              900        ; ret = update retry = 15m
                              1209600    ; ex = expiry = 2w
                              3600       ; min = minimum = 1h
                              )
; the following are also valid using @ and blank 
@               IN    SOA   ns.example.com. hostmaster.example.com. (
                IN    SOA   ns.example.com. hostmaster.example.com. (

so if I were to add 5 nameservers, and I put the first nameserver on soa, and this server was not working will the user go to the next nameserver?