Hebrew word · H3334
יָצַר
yetzer
be distressed
To be narrow, tight, cramped; by extension to be in distress or hard-pressed. The related noun tsar/tsarah means "narrow place" and so "trouble, distress" (the opposite of merḥav, "a broad, open place").
Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to bind, be distressed, be in distress, be cramped, be narrow, be scant, be in straits, make narrow, cause distress, beseige
1a) (Qal) to suffer distress
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 Proverbs 4:12
- Range of meaning
To be narrow, tight, cramped; by extension to be in distress or hard-pressed. The related noun tsar/tsarah means "narrow place" and so "trouble, distress" (the opposite of merḥav, "a broad, open place").
- Against the English
KJV/YLT "straitened" (made narrow) is exact but archaic. BSB "impeded" and WEB "hampered" give the sense of being blocked. They lose the spatial picture of a path closing in and a stride being cut short.
- How it drifted
"Strait" (narrow, as in "strait gate", "Strait of Gibraltar") has nearly dropped out of everyday English, so readers often hear the KJV's "straitened" as "straightened".
- Used elsewhere in the period
Job 18:7 uses the same verb with the same noun for the wicked man's fate: "his strong steps are cramped" (yetseru tsa'adei 'ono). The opposite image is Psalm 18:36 / 2 Samuel 22:37: "You enlarged my steps under me" (tarḥiv tsa'adi). The Psalms often speak of God bringing someone out of a tight place into a broad one (e.g. Ps 4:1; 118:5).
From the study of Genesis 32:7
- Range of meaning
From a root meaning 'narrow, tight'. Used without a stated subject ('it was narrow to him'), it is a standard idiom for being in distress, hard pressed, with no way out. A related noun, tsarah, means 'trouble, distress'.
- Against the English
'Distressed' (KJV, WEB, BSB) is accurate but abstract. The Hebrew picture is physical: being squeezed, cornered.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The same idiom is used of David at Ziklag (1 Sam 30:6, 'David was greatly distressed') and of Israel hard pressed in Judges 10:9. Jacob later recalls 'the day of my distress (tsarah)' (Gen 35:3), probably looking back to this flight and return.
From the study of 1 Samuel 30:6
- Range of meaning
The root behind this verb means to be narrow, cramped or bound up. Used without a personal subject, "it was narrow for X", it means X was in a tight spot, in anguish or straits. Related nouns are tsar ("narrow"; also "adversary", the one who hems you in) and tsarah ("trouble, distress").
- Against the English
"Greatly distressed" (KJV, BSB, WEB) is accurate but abstract. YLT's "David hath great distress" keeps the impersonal feel. English loses the physical picture of being squeezed with no exit.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The same impersonal idiom appears in Gen 32:7 [Heb. 8] (Jacob, before meeting Esau: "and it was distressing to him"), Judg 2:15 and 10:9, 1 Sam 28:15 (Saul: "I am in great distress", tsar-li me'od) and 2 Sam 24:14 (David: tsar-li me'od). Tsarah, "trouble", is the standard word for the plight from which people call to God in the Psalms.
Similar words
Where it appears
Genesis · 1
-
Genesis 32:7 וַיֵּ֣צֶר and it was distress
In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels.
Here: Literally 'it became tight/narrow'. Distress pictured as being squeezed into a tight place with no room to move: a sense of being cornered.
Judges · 2
-
Judges 2:15 וַיֵּ֥צֶר and it was distress
Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.
-
Judges 10:9 וַתֵּ֥צֶר and it was distress
The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and Israel was in deep distress.
1 Samuel · 1
-
1 Samuel 30:6 וַתֵּ֨צֶר and it was distress
And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Here: An impersonal verb: literally "and it became tight". Distress is pictured as being hemmed in, squeezed with no room to move. The subject is not David but the situation closing in on him.
2 Samuel · 1
-
2 Samuel 13:2 וַיֵּ֨צֶר and it was distress
Amnon was sick with frustration over his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed implausible for him to do anything to her.
Nehemiah · 1
-
Nehemiah 9:27 וַיָּצֵ֖רוּ and they caused distress
So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.
Here: "And they pressed hard on them": the foes do what their name says. They squeeze, cramp and afflict Israel.
Job · 2
Proverbs · 1
-
Proverbs 4:12 יֵצַ֣ר anyone will hinder
When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; when you run, you will not stumble.
Here: "Will be narrow / cramped / hemmed in." The root is about tightness: a narrow pass, a squeeze, the pressure of distress. Here it describes a stride that is cut short because the path closes in or is blocked.
Isaiah · 1
-
Isaiah 49:19 תֵּצְרִ֣י you will be [too] cramped
For your ruined and desolate places and your ravaged land will now indeed be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away.
Here: 'You will be too narrow/cramped.' The subject switches from the plural ruins to 'you' (feminine singular), Zion herself. The word for 'narrow' is the same family as the word for distress. Once she was squeezed by enemies, and now she will be squeezed by her own crowd.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.