Word study
Fortified
6 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “fortified”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “fortified” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- בָּצַר bâtsarcut off, make inaccessibletranslated this way 21 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s H1219Adjective · Translated: fortified 20, grape gatherers 2Full study and all 35 verses →
Deuteronomy 3:5 All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages.
Joshua 14:12 Now therefore give me this hill country that the LORD promised me on that day, for you yourself heard then that the Anakim were there, with great and fortified cities. Perhaps with the LORD’s help I will drive them out, as the LORD has spoken.”
- מִבְצָר mibtsârfortificationtranslated this way 19 times of its 37 uses · Strong’s H4013Noun · Translated: fortified 17, fortresses 6, strongholds 4, fortress 3Full study and all 37 verses →
Numbers 32:17 But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our little ones will remain in the fortified cities for protection from the inhabitants of the land.
Joshua 10:20 So Joshua and the Israelites continued to inflict a terrible slaughter until they had finished them off, and the remaining survivors retreated to the fortified cities.
- מְצוּרָה metsûrâhsiege-works, ramparttranslated this way 5 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H4694Noun · Translated: fortified 5, fortifications 1, siege works 1, fortress 1Full study and all 8 verses →
2 Chronicles 11:10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.
2 Chronicles 11:23 Rehoboam also acted wisely by dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and sought many wives for them.
- עֹז ôzstrength, mighttranslated this way 3 times of its 91 uses · Strong’s H5797Noun · Translated: strength 45, power 10, strong 9, mighty 9Full study and all 90 verses →
Proverbs 10:15 The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
Proverbs 18:11 A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; it is like a high wall in his imagination.
- בָּנָה bânâhbuildtranslated this way 2 times of its 368 uses · Strong’s H1129Verb · Translated: built 132, build 98, rebuilt 34, rebuild 19Full study and all 342 verses →
1 Kings 15:17 Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Chronicles 16:1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
- מָצוֹר mâtsôrsiege-enclosure, siege, entrenchmenttranslated this way 2 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H4692Noun · Translated: siege 17, fortified 2Full study and all 25 verses →
2 Chronicles 8:5 He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon as fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,
Psalm 60:9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.