Hebrew word · H4356

מִכְלָה

mimikhle'ot

fold

Fold, pen, enclosure for flocks. From a root meaning 'to shut in, restrain' (compare kele', 'prison').

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

fold, enclosure

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 78:70

Range of meaning

Fold, pen, enclosure for flocks. From a root meaning 'to shut in, restrain' (compare kele', 'prison').

Against the English

'Sheepfolds' (KJV, BSB, WEB) and 'sheep pens' (NIV, NLT) are both fine. YLT's 'folds of a flock' keeps the Hebrew's two-word phrase.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 50:9: 'goats from your folds' (the same plural form). Hab 3:17: 'the flock cut off from the fold.'

Where it appears

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 50:9 מִ֝מִּכְלְאֹתֶ֗יךָ from folds your

    I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens,

  2. Psalm 78:70 מִֽמִּכְלְאֹ֥ת from [the] folds of

    He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

    Here: From the enclosures where flocks were penned, a word built on a root meaning 'to shut in, restrain.' The plural pictures the ordinary working pens of the hill country, a lowly setting for a future king.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 3:17 מִמִּכְלָה֙ from [the] fold

    Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,

    Here: 'From the fold', the walled pen where sheep and goats were kept at night. A rare word (also Ps 50:9; 78:70).

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