Hebrew word · H4548

מַסְמֵר

lamismerim

nail

'Nail, peg, rivet', made of metal. It occurs in 1 Chronicles 22:3 (iron nails for the temple doors), 2 Chronicles 3:9 (gold nails), Isaiah 41:7 (the idol 'fastened with nails') and Ecclesiastes 12:11 (sayings of the wise are like 'nails firmly fixed').

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

nail

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 10:4

Range of meaning

'Nail, peg, rivet', made of metal. It occurs in 1 Chronicles 22:3 (iron nails for the temple doors), 2 Chronicles 3:9 (gold nails), Isaiah 41:7 (the idol 'fastened with nails') and Ecclesiastes 12:11 (sayings of the wise are like 'nails firmly fixed').

Against the English

English 'nails' is correct. A modern reader may picture modern wire nails. Ancient nails were hand-forged pins and rivets, used here to attach metal sheeting and to fix a statue to a pedestal.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 41:7 is the closest parallel: 'he fastened it with nails so that it would not totter'.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 22:3 לַֽמִּסְמְרִ֞ים for the nails

    David provided a large quantity of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with more bronze than could be weighed

    Here: Nails or spikes, here of iron, meant to fasten the heavy wooden door-leaves. The same word is used of the gold nails in 2 Chr 3:9 and of a firmly driven nail in Eccl 12:11 and Jer 10:4.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:9 לְמִסְמְר֥וֹת of nails

    The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 41:7 בְמַסְמְרִ֖ים with nails

    The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

    Here: Metal pegs or nails driven in to fix the image to its base, or the plating to its core. Jeremiah 10:4 mocks the same practice.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 10:4 בְּמַסְמְר֧וֹת with nails

    They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.

    Here: 'With nails.' These are metal pins or rivets, used to fix the plating to the wood and the figure to its stand. The same word is used for the nails of Solomon's temple (2 Chr 3:9) and for the nails that fasten an idol in Isaiah 41:7.

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