Hebrew word · H4563

מִסְתּוֹר

ulemistor

shelter

A hiding place or covert, from satar, 'to hide, conceal'. This exact form occurs only here.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

place of shelter

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 Isaiah 4:6

Range of meaning

A hiding place or covert, from satar, 'to hide, conceal'. This exact form occurs only here. Related words (seter, 'covering, secret place'; mistar, 'hiding place') are used for God hiding his people: 'in the secret place (seter) of the Most High' (Ps 91:1), 'you are my hiding place (seter)' (Ps 32:7).

Against the English

KJV 'covert' (an old word for a sheltered thicket) is apt but archaic. 'Hiding place' (BSB, NIV) and 'shelter' (WEB, ESV) both work. 'Protection' loses the idea of being concealed.

Used elsewhere in the period

Because the form appears only here, its meaning is worked out from the root and from related words such as seter and mistar (BDB, HALOT).

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 4:6 וּלְמִסְתּ֔וֹר and for shelter

    a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and the rain.

    Here: A covered spot where you are hidden and shielded, from the verb 'to hide'. This exact form appears only here in the Hebrew Bible.

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