Hebrew word · H1443

גָּדַר

gadar

to wall up|off

To build a wall, wall up, or enclose. The related nouns gader / gederah mean a stone wall or enclosure, often the field walls and sheepfolds of farm country (Numbers 22:24; Isaiah 5:5). It can mean fencing a person in (Job 19:8; Hosea 2:6 [Heb.

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to wall up, wall off, close off, build a wall

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to wall up, shut off

1a2) masons (participle)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 58:12

Range of meaning

To build a wall, wall up, or enclose. The related nouns gader / gederah mean a stone wall or enclosure, often the field walls and sheepfolds of farm country (Numbers 22:24; Isaiah 5:5). It can mean fencing a person in (Job 19:8; Hosea 2:6 [Heb. 2:8]), and positively closing a gap so a city or field is protected (Amos 9:11; Ezekiel 13:5; 22:30).

Against the English

'Repairer' (KJV, BSB, NASB, ESV) is accurate but general. The Hebrew is a building verb, 'waller,' 'wall-builder.' The Septuagint's 'builder of fences/walls' is closer to the word's concrete sense.

Used elsewhere in the period

The cognate noun gdr is common in Hebrew place names (Gederah, Gedor) and in later Hebrew, where gader means a fence. The rabbinic phrase 'a fence around the Torah' uses a related idea of protective enclosure.

From the study of Ezekiel 22:30

Range of meaning

The verb gādar means to build a wall of stones or to wall something off. The noun gādēr is a stone wall, typically a field, vineyard or path wall (Num 22:24; Isa 5:5; Ps 80:12; Prov 24:31), not the great city wall (ḥômâ). Putting the verb and its matching noun together ("wall a wall") stresses the action.

Against the English

KJV "make up the hedge" reflects that gādēr is a boundary wall, but modern readers picture shrubbery. BSB "repair the wall" and WEB/NASB/NIV "build up the wall" are accurate. NLT adds "of righteousness," which is an interpretation (a defensible one) and not in the Hebrew.

How it drifted

"Hedge" in older English could mean any fence or barrier. Today it means a row of bushes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezek 13:5 pairs the same noun and verb with going up into the breaches. Isa 58:12 links walling up breaches with justice for the hungry and oppressed. Isa 5:5 has God threatening to break down the gādēr of his vineyard (Israel). Ps 80:12 asks, "Why have you broken down its walls?"

From the study of Job 19:8

Range of meaning

To build a wall, especially a dry-stone wall like the ones around vineyards, fields and sheepfolds. Related nouns: gādēr / gədērâ, "stone wall, enclosure, sheepfold". Used figuratively for closing someone in or blocking them, and positively for "repairing a breach" (Ezek 22:30; Isa 58:12).

Against the English

KJV "fenced up" and YLT "hedged up" give a picture of a hedge or fence. Modern versions (WEB, ESV, NASB) have "walled up", which is closer. BSB, NIV and NLT "blocked" get the effect but lose the picture of a man-made wall built on purpose.

How it drifted

In older English a "hedge" was often a thick, thorny field boundary, and "fence" meant any defensive barrier. Today both words sound light: a garden hedge or a picket fence. The Hebrew picture is stone.

Used elsewhere in the period

The closest parallel is Lamentations 3:7, 9: "He has walled me in (gādar) so I cannot get out… he has walled up my ways with hewn stone, he has made my paths (nətîbōtay) crooked." That passage has the same verb, the same pair of words for "way" and "paths", and the same complaint that God himself is the opponent. Hosea 2:8 (Eng. 2:6): God will "hedge up her way with thorns and wall up her wall (wəgādartî ʾet-gədērāh), so she cannot find her paths". There God blocks the way to restrain someone, and the language is the same. HALOT and BDB give "wall up / build a wall".

Where it appears

2 Kings · 2

  1. 2 Kings 12:12 וְלַגֹּֽדְרִים֙ and to the masons

    masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and they paid the other expenses of the temple repairs.

  2. 2 Kings 22:6 וְלַגֹּֽדְרִ֑ים and to the masons

    to the carpenters, builders, and masons—to buy timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.

Job · 1

  1. Job 19:8 גָ֭דַר he has walled up

    He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.

    Here: "He has walled up." The verb comes from building a stone wall. The form describes a finished act: the wall is already standing across Job's road. The unnamed "he" is God (Eloah), named in v.6.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 58:12 גֹּדֵ֣ר [one who] walls up

    Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.

    Here: An active participle, the 'one who does it': the waller, the mason. The root is the source of gader, a dry-stone wall, the kind built around vineyards and fields. The verb means building up stone to close a gap.

Lamentations · 2

  1. Lamentations 3:7 גָּדַ֧ר he has walled up

    He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains.

  2. Lamentations 3:9 גָּדַ֤ר he has walled up

    He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.

    Here: He has built a stone wall across my road. The verb usually describes masons building or repairing walls for protection. Here it is turned against the speaker, and it repeats the opening verb of verse 7 ("He has walled me in").

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 13:5 וַתִּגְדְּר֥וּ and you have walled up

    You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.

    Here: "And you walled up". The negation still applies: nor did you build. This is the second half of the defender's job, closing the gap again.

  2. Ezekiel 22:30 גֹּֽדֵר־ [who will] build

    I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

    Here: A participle (an "-ing" word describing someone by what he does): "one who walls up." It means piling stones back into a wall to close an opening.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 2:6 וְגָֽדַרְתִּי֙ and I will wall up

    Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 9:11 וְגָדַרְתִּ֣י and I will wall up

    “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,

    Here: To build or repair a stone wall (a gādēr), closing a gap. The picture moves from a hut to a walled enclosure or city. God is the mason.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.