Hebrew word · H4307

מַטָּרָה

hamatarah

guardhouse

Guard, watch, custody; by extension the place where a guard is kept. It comes from the root נ־ט־ר, 'to keep, watch over'. A separate word spelled the same way means 'target' (1 Sam 20:20), but it has no bearing here.

Appears 16 times in 15 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) guard, ward, prison, mark, target

1a) guard, ward, prison

1b) target, mark (fig. of chastisement)

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 Jeremiah 32:2

Range of meaning

Guard, watch, custody; by extension the place where a guard is kept. It comes from the root נ־ט־ר, 'to keep, watch over'. A separate word spelled the same way means 'target' (1 Sam 20:20), but it has no bearing here.

Against the English

KJV 'court of the prison' suggests a jail or dungeon. Modern versions (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB, NIV) say 'court(yard) of the guard'. That is closer: a guarded open yard in the palace compound where the guards were posted, used for holding people under watch.

How it drifted

The Latin Vulgate tradition rendered the phrase with carcer, 'prison', and the KJV followed it. Readers since then have pictured a cell block.

Used elsewhere in the period

Almost every occurrence is in Jeremiah: 32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6, 13, 28; 39:14, 15. Nehemiah 3:25 places it beside 'the upper house of the king', and Neh 12:39 names a 'Gate of the Guard'. Jeremiah distinguishes this place from the 'house of confinement' (beit hakkele') in Jonathan the scribe's house, where he nearly died (37:15–20). He also distinguishes it from the muddy cistern into which he was later lowered, a pit that was itself located in this court (38:6).

From the study of Nehemiah 12:39

Range of meaning

"Guard, watch, guarded place," from the root nāṭar, "to keep, guard." Mostly found in the phrase "court of the guard" (ḥăṣar hammaṭṭārâ), the guarded courtyard of the royal palace (Jeremiah 32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6, 13, 28; 39:14–15; Nehemiah 3:25). A separate word with the same spelling means "target" (1 Samuel 20:20; Job 16:12; Lamentations 3:12).

Against the English

KJV and YLT say "prison gate." BSB, WEB and most modern versions say "Gate of the Guard."

How it drifted

Jeremiah was held in the "court of the guard," so older translators gave the word the sense "prison." The word itself means guarding or a guard post. It does not mean a jail.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Vulgate, as far as can be checked, has "porta custodiae" ("gate of custody/guard"). In Jeremiah the court of the guard was a place of light confinement where Jeremiah could still buy land and receive visitors (Jeremiah 32). It was not a dungeon.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 20:20 לְמַטָּרָֽה׃ to a target

    I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.

Nehemiah · 2

  1. Nehemiah 3:25 הַמַּטָּרָ֑ה the guard

    and Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the angle and the tower that juts out from the upper palace of the king near the courtyard of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh

  2. Nehemiah 12:39 הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃ the guard

    over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.

    Here: From a root meaning "to keep, guard." It names a guard-post or watch station. It is the word behind the "court of the guard" where Jeremiah was held, which is why the KJV says "prison." Here it is a gate near the temple, probably where a guard was stationed.

Job · 1

  1. Job 16:12 לְמַטָּרָֽה׃ to a target

    I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;

Jeremiah · 11

  1. Jeremiah 32:2 הַמַּטָּרָ֔ה the guard

    At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.

    Here: 'The guard'. The word comes from a root meaning to keep watch, so it was a guarded yard where people were held in custody. Visitors could come and go there (32:8, 12).

  2. Jeremiah 32:8 הַמַּטָּרָה֒ the guard

    Then, as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

  3. Jeremiah 32:12 הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃ the guard

    and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement and all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

  4. Jeremiah 33:1 הַמַּטָּרָ֖ה the guard

    While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time:

  5. Jeremiah 37:21 הַמַּטָּרָה֒ הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃ the guard

    So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

    Here: From the root 'to watch, keep'. It means the guard post or guarded area, part of the royal palace complex (Neh 3:25).

  6. Jeremiah 38:6 הַמַּטָּרָ֔ה the guard

    So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

    Here: From a root meaning 'to watch, guard'. The 'court of the guard' was a guarded enclosure where Jeremiah was already being held (32:2; 37:21). The cistern was right where he was confined, so the officials did not need to move him far.

  7. Jeremiah 38:13 הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃ ס the guard

    and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

  8. Jeremiah 38:28 הַמַּטָּרָ֔ה the guard

    And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

  9. Jeremiah 39:14 הַמַּטָּרָ֗ה the guard

    had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guard, and they turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So Jeremiah remained among his own people.

  10. Jeremiah 39:15 הַמַּטָּרָ֖ה the guard

    And while Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD had come to him:

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 3:12 כַּמַּטָּרָ֖א like <the> target

    He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.

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