Hebrew noun (feminine) · H4679
מְצַד
metsadmets-ad'
stronghold
11 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: mᵉtsad
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H4679is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 6 of 39Old Testament books
- 10spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H4679
a fastness (as a covert of ambush)
The King James renders it: castle, fort, (strong) hold, munition.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
metsad is rendered "stronghold". It stands 11 times in the Hebrew text, across six books.
- Three of the uses stand in 1 Samuel, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Judges 6:2and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
- The Greek text spells it ten different ways.
The first use
and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
Judges 6:2הַמְּצָדֽוֹת׃
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- in the strongholds4
- to the fortress2
- and the strongholds1
- in strongholds of1
- in the fortress1
- strongholds of1
- the strongholds1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
All 11, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
10 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- בַּמְּצָד֔וֹת2
- בַּמְצָ֑ד1
- בִּמְצָד֥וֹת1
- בַמְּצָדוֹת֙1
- בַּמְּצָד֥וֹת1
- הַמְּצָדֽוֹת׃1
- וְהַמְּצָד֖וֹת1
- לַמְצַ֨ד1
- לַמְצָ֖ד1
- מְצָד֥וֹת1
The grammar of each form
- preposition with the article + noun · feminine plural4HRd/Ncfpa
- preposition with the article + noun · feminine singular2HRd/Ncfsa
- conjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine plural1HC/Td/Ncfpa
- noun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”)1HNcfpc
- preposition + noun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”)1HR/Ncfpc
- preposition with the article + noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”)1HRd/Ncfsc
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine plural1HTd/Ncfpa
Judges
one use
and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
- הַמְּצָדֽוֹת׃hametzadotthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine pluraltagged: the strongholds
1 Samuel
three uses
And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
- בַּמְּצָד֔וֹתbametzadotpreposition with the article + noun · feminine pluraltagged: in the strongholds
Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?
- בַמְּצָדוֹת֙vametzadotpreposition with the article + noun · feminine pluraltagged: in the strongholds
And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.
- בִּמְצָד֥וֹתbimtzadotpreposition + noun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: in strongholds of
1 Chronicles
three uses
So David took up residence in the fortress; that is why it was called the City of David.
- בַּמְצָ֑דbamtzadpreposition with the article + noun · feminine singulartagged: in the fortress
Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:
- לַמְצַ֨דlamtzadpreposition with the article + noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: to the fortress
Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold.
- לַמְצָ֖דlamtzadpreposition with the article + noun · feminine singulartagged: to the fortress
Isaiah
one use
he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.
- מְצָד֥וֹתmetzadotnoun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: strongholds of
Jeremiah
two uses
Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
- וְהַמְּצָד֖וֹתvehametzadotconjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine pluraltagged: and the strongholds
The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
- בַּמְּצָד֔וֹתbametzadotpreposition with the article + noun · feminine pluraltagged: in the strongholds
Ezekiel
one use
Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.
- בַּמְּצָד֥וֹתbametzadotpreposition with the article + noun · feminine pluraltagged: in the strongholds
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.