Hebrew word · H4147

מוֹסֵר

moserot

bond

A band, strap or bond. The word comes from the root 'asar, 'to bind'. It is used for yoke straps (Jer 27:2, 'straps and yoke-bars'), for the restraints of rulers (Ps 2:3), for a prisoner's bonds (Ps 116:16), and for the tether of an animal (Job 39:5).

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

band, bond

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 52:2

Range of meaning

A band, strap or bond. The word comes from the root 'asar, 'to bind'. It is used for yoke straps (Jer 27:2, 'straps and yoke-bars'), for the restraints of rulers (Ps 2:3), for a prisoner's bonds (Ps 116:16), and for the tether of an animal (Job 39:5). It is a different word from musar, 'discipline', even though they look alike.

Against the English

KJV has 'bands', WEB and ESV 'bonds', and BSB and NIV 'chains'. 'Chains' suggests metal. The Hebrew word is broader and often means leather or rope straps, but the idea of restraint is the same.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 116:16 says 'you have loosed my bonds', using the same verb (patach) and the same noun as this verse. Job 39:5 asks who 'loosed the bonds' of the wild donkey, again with patach. Nahum 1:13 promises 'I will burst your bonds.' Jeremiah 2:20 and 5:5 use the word for Israel's own 'bursting' of God's bonds.

From the study of Jeremiah 27:2

Range of meaning

From the root ʾ-s-r, 'to bind, tie, harness' (the same root is used for hitching horses to a chariot). The noun means a band, thong or cord used for binding. With yoke words it means the straps that lashed the yoke to the animal. Used figuratively, it means the ties of subjection to a ruler.

Against the English

KJV and NASB have 'bonds', WEB 'bonds', ESV 'straps', NIV 'straps', and BSB turns it into the material of the yoke ('a yoke out of leather straps'). 'Bonds' is accurate in older English, but today it suggests restraints, shackles or even financial bonds. The supplied gloss 'fetters' points the same way, toward prison or slavery.

How it drifted

'Bonds' in 1611 meant anything that binds, including harness. In modern English the word survives mainly in legal, financial and captivity senses, so the farmyard picture is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

It pairs with the yoke in Jer 2:20 ('you broke your yoke, you tore off your bonds'), Jer 5:5, Jer 30:8, Nah 1:13 ('I will break his yoke-bar from you and tear off your bonds') and Ps 2:3, where rebel kings plot to 'burst their bonds'. The Septuagint usually translates it with desmoi, 'bonds'. It is a different word from mûsār, 'discipline, correction' (H4148), even though the two look alike in unpointed Hebrew.

From the study of Isaiah 28:22

Range of meaning

A bond, fetter or strap. From the root 'asar, 'to bind, imprison'. It is used for the bindings of a yoke on an animal, the bonds of a prisoner, and figuratively for the bonds of political subjection.

Against the English

KJV 'bands' sounds odd now (a modern reader may think of music groups or rubber bands). BSB 'shackles' and NIV 'chains' give the prisoner image; ESV 'bonds' is neutral. NLT drops the image and speaks of punishment growing greater, which keeps the general sense but loses the picture of tightening restraints.

How it drifted

Only in older English: 'bands' once meant 'bonds, fetters', a sense now mostly gone.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 27:2 pairs moserot with motot (yoke bars) as Jeremiah's sign of submission to Babylon. Ps 2:3: 'Let us tear off their bonds' (rebel vassals throwing off an overlord). Isa 52:2: 'loose the bonds from your neck, captive daughter Zion'. Assyrian palace reliefs, such as Sennacherib's Lachish reliefs from 701 BC, show Judean captives led away bound.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 39:5 וּמֹסְר֥וֹת and [the] fetters of

    Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 2:3 מֽוֹסְרוֹתֵ֑ימוֹ fetters their

    “Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords.”

    Here: "Their straps / bonds": the bindings that hold something fast, most often the straps that tie a yoke onto an animal's neck. The old poetic ending -êmō ("their") points back to the LORD and his Anointed in verse 2, not to the kings. The bonds belong to the overlords and are imposed on the rebels.

  2. Psalm 107:14 וּמוֹסְר֖וֹתֵיהֶ֣ם and fetters their

    He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.

    Here: "And their bonds." These are the cords, straps or fetters that held a prisoner or bound a yoke onto a neck. Coming right after verse 10's "affliction and iron", they include iron fetters. In the prophets, the same word is the stock image of foreign domination.

  3. Psalm 116:16 לְמוֹסֵרָֽי׃ <to> fetters my

    Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have broken my bonds.

    Here: 'My bonds': the straps or cords that tie up a prisoner or an animal. In this psalm they are the 'cords of death' of verse 3. The small prefix lᵉ- here simply marks the object of the verb, a usage typical of later Hebrew.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 28:22 מֽוֹסְרֵיכֶ֑ם fetters your

    So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.

    Here: 'Your fetters, your bindings': the straps or chains of a captive, or the bindings of a yoke on a draft animal. They are the bonds of subjection, most likely the Assyrian overlordship Judah was already under.

  2. Isaiah 52:2 מוֹסְרֵ֣י [the] fetters of

    Shake off your dust! Rise up and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem. Remove the chains from your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.

    Here: 'The bonds of'. These are straps, cords or fetters, the same word used for the straps of a yoke (Jer 27:2). Here they are tied around the neck of a captive.

Jeremiah · 4

  1. Jeremiah 2:20 מוֹסְרֹתַ֔יִךְ fetters your

    “For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.

    Here: 'Your straps': the leather thongs that tie the yoke to the animal. The English 'chains' suggests a prisoner; the picture is really a work animal shedding its harness.

  2. Jeremiah 5:5 מוֹסֵרֽוֹת׃ fetters

    I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.

    Here: The leather straps or cords that tied the yoke to the animal's neck (compare 27:2, where Jeremiah makes 'straps and yoke-bars'). This is harness, not prison chains. The word also sounds like mûsār, the 'discipline' they refused in 5:3.

  3. Jeremiah 27:2 מוֹסֵר֖וֹת fetters

    This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.

    Here: The thongs or cords that tied a yoke onto an animal's neck. The word comes from the verb 'to bind'. The picture is a harnessed draft animal, not a prisoner in chains.

  4. Jeremiah 30:8 וּמוֹסְרוֹתֶ֖יךָ and fetters your

    On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will break the yoke off their necks and tear off their bonds, and no longer will strangers enslave them.

    Here: 'And your bonds'. These are the leather thongs or ropes that tie the yoke onto the animal. The picture stays in the farmyard; it is not mainly about prison chains.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 1:13 וּמוֹסְרֹתַ֖יִךְ and fetters your

    For I will now break their yoke from your neck and tear away your shackles.”

    Here: 'And your bonds': from the root 'to bind' (’āsar). Paired with the yoke-bar, these are the straps or thongs that lash the yoke onto the animal (Jer 27:2). The word can also mean a captive's bonds. Placing it before its verb sets up a mirror order: break / yoke-bar … bonds / snap.

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