Hebrew word · H4269
מַחְסוֹם
machsom
muzzle
A muzzle. This is the only place the noun appears in the Hebrew Bible. Its root ḥ-s-m means to block or stop up: to muzzle an ox (Deut 25:4) or to block the way of travellers (Ezek 39:11). Later Hebrew uses the noun for a muzzle and, more broadly, for a barrier.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
muzzle
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
- Range of meaning
A muzzle. This is the only place the noun appears in the Hebrew Bible. Its root ḥ-s-m means to block or stop up: to muzzle an ox (Deut 25:4) or to block the way of travellers (Ezek 39:11). Later Hebrew uses the noun for a muzzle and, more broadly, for a barrier.
- Against the English
KJV and WEB "bridle" and YLT "curb" use horse gear, which steers and restrains. BSB, ESV, NIV and NASB "muzzle" fits the root: a device that holds the jaws shut.
- How it drifted
Older English translators reached for the familiar horse-riding image, perhaps under the influence of James 3:2–3, where the tongue is "bridled". The Septuagint and Latin, with "guard" (phylakē, custodia), had already moved away from the animal picture.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Deuteronomy 25:4 lo' taḥsōm shôr, "you shall not muzzle an ox while it threshes." Ezekiel 39:11 uses the verb for blocking passage. The Septuagint translates maḥsôm as phylakē, "a guard".
Similar words
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 39:1 מַחְס֑וֹם a muzzle
For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”
Here: A muzzle, from the verb used in Deuteronomy 25:4 ("do not muzzle the ox"). It is a device that keeps an animal's jaws shut, which pictures total silence, not careful steering.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.