Hebrew word · H4146

מוֹסָדָה

mosedot

foundation

môsādâ: foundation, base. tēbēl: the (inhabited) world, a poetic word for the dry land.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

foundation

Another spelling of mo.sad (מוֹסָד "foundation" H4144)

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 Psalm 18:15

Range of meaning

môsādâ: foundation, base. tēbēl: the (inhabited) world, a poetic word for the dry land.

Against the English

KJV 'the foundations of the world were discovered' meant 'uncovered' in 1611. Modern readers may hear 'found out' or 'learned about.'

How it drifted

'Discover' in early modern English meant literally 'to remove the cover.' Its main sense has since shifted to finding something new.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 2:8 ('the pillars of the earth are the LORD's; on them he has set the world [tēbēl]'); Ps 24:2 (founded upon the seas); Ps 82:5; Prov 8:29.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 22:8 מוֹסְד֥וֹת [the] foundations of

    Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.

  2. 2 Samuel 22:16 מֹסְד֣וֹת [the] foundations of

    The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 18:15 מוֹסְד֪וֹת [the] foundations of

    The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

    Here: The underpinnings of the land, imagined as set down in or below the deep. They match the 'foundations of the mountains' that shook in v.7.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 40:21 מוֹסְד֖וֹת [the] foundations of

    Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 51:26 לְמֽוֹסָד֑וֹת for foundations

    No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone, because you will become desolate forever,” declares the LORD.

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