Hebrew word · H4526

מִסְגֶּ֫רֶת

misgeret

perimeter

From sāgar, 'to shut, close'. Basic meaning: something that encloses, such as a rim or frame (the frame around the tabernacle table, Exodus 25:25; the panels of the temple stands, 1 Kings 7). By extension, an enclosed place of safety: a fortress or stronghold.

Appears 17 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) border, fastness, rim

1a) border, rim

1b) fastness

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 Micah 7:17

Range of meaning

From sāgar, 'to shut, close'. Basic meaning: something that encloses, such as a rim or frame (the frame around the tabernacle table, Exodus 25:25; the panels of the temple stands, 1 Kings 7). By extension, an enclosed place of safety: a fortress or stronghold.

Against the English

BSB 'strongholds' and NASB 'fortresses' stress the military sense. KJV 'holes' and WEB 'dens' stress the animal image. Both are right, and no single English word holds both.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 18:45 [46 in Hebrew] and 2 Samuel 22:46: foreigners 'come trembling out of their strongholds' (mimmisgerotehem), in a royal victory song. Micah's line is very close and likely draws on this stock picture of defeated enemies.

From the study of 2 Samuel 22:46

Range of meaning

A closed-in or enclosing thing, from סָגַר, "to shut." It is used for a rim or frame around the tabernacle table (Exod 25:25), for framed panels on the temple stands (1 Kgs 7:28–36), and for shut-in places such as strongholds or hiding holes (here, Ps 18:46, Mic 7:17).

Against the English

KJV and WEB have "close places," meaning enclosed places in older English. Modern readers easily misread that as "nearby places." BSB, NIV and NLT have "strongholds"; ESV and NASB have "fortresses." Those catch the military sense but lose the idea of a hole or burrow that the word can carry.

How it drifted

"Close" in the sense of "shut in" (as in a cathedral close) is now rare. Most readers take it to mean "near."

Used elsewhere in the period

Micah 7:17 is the closest parallel. There the nations "lick the dust like a snake, like crawling things of the earth; they come trembling out of their misgerōt," that is, out of their holes. The image is animals forced out of their burrows.

Where it appears

Exodus · 6

  1. Exodus 25:25 מִסְגֶּ֛רֶת לְמִסְגַּרְתּ֖וֹ a rim of, for rim its

    And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

  2. Exodus 25:27 הַמִּסְגֶּ֔רֶת the rim

    The rings are to be close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table.

  3. Exodus 37:12 מִסְגֶּ֛רֶת לְמִסְגַּרְתּ֖וֹ a rim of, for rim its

    And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

  4. Exodus 37:14 הַמִּסְגֶּ֔רֶת the rim

    The rings were placed close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 22:46 מִמִּסְגְּרוֹתָֽם׃ from strongholds their

    Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.

    Here: The word comes from the verb "to shut." It means a closed-in place: a walled town, a fortress, or a hiding place. With "from" it shows the enemies leaving their shelter and coming out into the open to the victor.

1 Kings · 7

  1. 1 Kings 7:28 מִסְגְּרֹ֣ת וּמִסְגְּרֹ֖ת rims, and rims

    This was the design of the stands: They had side panels attached to uprights,

  2. 1 Kings 7:29 הַמִּסְגְּר֞וֹת the rims

    and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work.

  3. 1 Kings 7:31 וּמִסְגְּרֹתֵיהֶ֥ם and rims their

    The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.

  4. 1 Kings 7:32 לַֽמִּסְגְּר֔וֹת to the rims

    There were four wheels under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter.

  5. 1 Kings 7:35 וּמִסְגְּרֹתֶ֖יהָ and rims its

    At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. The supports and panels were cast as a unit with the top of the stand.

  6. 1 Kings 7:36 מִסְגְּרֹתֶ֔יהָ rims its

    He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 16:17 הַמִּסְגְּר֣וֹת the rims of

    King Ahaz also cut off the frames of the movable stands and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone base.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 18:45 מִֽמִּסְגְּרֽוֹתֵיהֶֽם׃ from strongholds their

    Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 7:17 מִמִּסְגְּרֹֽתֵיהֶ֑ם from strongholds their

    They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.

    Here: 'From their enclosures': places shut in for protection. The word fits both pictures at once: an animal's hole or lair, and a walled fortress. Kings who hid behind walls now crawl out of them like flushed-out snakes.

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