Hebrew word · H4525

מַסְגֵּר

masger

locksmith

From sagar, 'to shut, close'. Two uses: (1) a place shut up, a dungeon or prison (Isa 24:22; 42:7; here). (2) A metalworker, usually understood as a smith or 'locksmith' (2 Kgs 24:14, 16; Jer 24:1; 29:2), the craftsmen deported with Jehoiachin.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a shutting up, locksmith, smith, dungeon, enclosure, builder of bulwarks

1a) locksmith, smith

1b) dungeon

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 142:7

Range of meaning

From sagar, 'to shut, close'. Two uses: (1) a place shut up, a dungeon or prison (Isa 24:22; 42:7; here). (2) A metalworker, usually understood as a smith or 'locksmith' (2 Kgs 24:14, 16; Jer 24:1; 29:2), the craftsmen deported with Jehoiachin.

Against the English

English versions agree on 'prison'. NIV's 'my prison' makes it personal. Nobody writes 'locksmith' here. That gloss in the supplied data is the other use of the word.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Isa 42:7 the Servant is to 'bring out (hotsi) prisoners from the dungeon (masger)'. That is the same verb plus the same noun as here, so it reads as a stock phrase of release. Isa 24:22 pictures the powers 'shut up in a prison' (masger).

From the study of Isaiah 42:7

Range of meaning

Masger (from sagar, "to shut") means a place of shutting-in, a lockup (Ps 142:7; Isa 24:22). The identical spelling elsewhere means a metalworker or smith (2 Kgs 24:14, 16; Jer 24:1; 29:2), probably a separate word. Kele (from kala, "to hold back, restrain") means confinement; "house of kele" is the standard phrase for a prison building (1 Kgs 22:27; 2 Kgs 17:4; 25:27; Jer 37:4, 15, 18; 52:31 has a related form).

Against the English

"Dungeon" (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) and "prison house" (KJV, BSB) fit well. YLT's "house of restraint" keeps the root idea of being held back. The supplied lexical gloss "locksmith" belongs to the other use of the spelling and should not be read into this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kgs 25:27–29: Evil-merodach of Babylon "lifted the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from the house of kele" and he "changed his prison garments" (bigdei kil'o). Isa 42:22, in the same chapter, describes Israel as "trapped in holes, hidden in houses of kele'im".

From the study of Jeremiah 24:1

Range of meaning

From sagar, 'to shut, close'. As a person, the word refers to a skilled trade: traditionally 'smith' or 'locksmith'. Elsewhere masger means a 'dungeon' or 'prison' (Ps 142:8; Isa 24:22; 42:7). The exact trade is uncertain.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'smiths', BSB 'metalsmiths', YLT 'smith'. Some translations prefer the more general 'artisans'. All are educated guesses.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word appears in the same pairing, 'the craftsman and the masger', in 2 Kgs 24:14, 16 (where they number 1,000) and Jer 29:2. The Vulgate has inclusor, 'one who shuts in' (perhaps a setter of gems or a locksmith). The Septuagint is commonly reported to read something like 'prisoners' here, apparently taking the 'prison' sense of masger. Rashi and other medieval Jewish interpreters understood it as a group of learned men, but that is a later interpretation.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 2

  1. 2 Kings 24:14 וְהַמַּסְגֵּ֑ר and <the> smith

    He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.

    Here: From a root meaning 'to shut'. Usually taken as a metalworker or smith, but the exact trade is uncertain: possibly someone who made locks or fittings, or who built fortifications. In any case it was a specialist whose removal left Judah unable to rearm or refortify.

  2. 2 Kings 24:16 וְהַמַּסְגֵּר֙ and the smith

    The king of Babylon also brought into exile to Babylon all seven thousand men of valor and a thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for battle.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 142:7 מִמַּסְגֵּ֨ר׀ from prison

    Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name. The righteous will gather around me because of Your goodness to me.

    Here: 'From the place that is shut up', from the root 'to shut, close'. A place of confinement you cannot leave. The supplied gloss 'locksmith' belongs to a different use of the same word; here it is the lockup itself.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 24:22 מַסְגֵּ֑ר a prison

    They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days.

  2. Isaiah 42:7 מִמַּסְגֵּר֙ from prison

    to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.

    Here: "From the lockup", from the root sagar, "to shut". Here it means a place where people are shut in, as in Ps 142:7 and Isa 24:22. The same spelling elsewhere names the metalworkers deported to Babylon (2 Kgs 24:14), which is where the supplied gloss "locksmith" comes from, but that sense does not fit here.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 24:1 הַמַּסְגֵּר֙ the smith[s]

    After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.

    Here: 'The smith' or a similar specialist. The word comes from the root 'to close, shut', and its exact meaning is uncertain: possibly a metalworker, a maker of locks and fittings, or a builder of fortifications. Whatever the exact trade, it was a skill a rebellious state would need.

  2. Jeremiah 29:2 וְהַמַּסְגֵּ֖ר and the smith

    (This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)

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