Hebrew word · H4688

מְצוֹלָה

metzulah

depth

'Depth, the deep, the abyss of water', related to a root meaning 'to sink'. Used for the bottom of the sea and for the overwhelming deep waters of distress.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

depth, the deep, the deep sea

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 68:22

Range of meaning

'Depth, the deep, the abyss of water', related to a root meaning 'to sink'. Used for the bottom of the sea and for the overwhelming deep waters of distress.

Against the English

'Depths' is accurate. The Hebrew word has a strong literary memory that English does not carry: it is the word of the Song of the Sea.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 15:5 ('they went down into the depths like a stone', of Pharaoh's army); Neh 9:11; Jonah 2:3; Mic 7:19 ('cast all their sins into the depths of the sea'); Pss 69:2, 15; 88:6; 107:24. LXX: bythois, 'depths'.

From the study of Psalm 69:2

Range of meaning

The deep, the depth, especially the bottom of the sea. Often the place from which no one returns. At Zechariah 1:8 it may mean a low hollow or ravine, though that reading is debated.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT turn the phrase into 'deep mire', and BSB and NIV into 'miry depths'. Hebrew's 'mud of the deep' can work as a simple description ('deep mud'), so these are not wrong. But 'deep mire' hides the noun: this is a word with the sea floor in it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 15:5: Pharaoh's army 'went down into the depths like a stone'. Jonah 2:3: thrown 'into the deep'. Micah 7:19: sins hurled 'into the depths of the sea'. Psalm 88:6 pairs it with the dark pit of death. Psalm 107:24 uses it for the wonders seen by sailors.

From the study of Jonah 2:3

Range of meaning

The deep, the depths, especially of the sea; the abyss; by extension deep mud or a place of utter hopelessness (Psalm 69:2, 15). It comes from a root meaning 'to sink'.

Against the English

'The deep' (KJV, BSB, ESV) is fine. 'Depths' (WEB, NIV) is also fine. English 'the deep' is a little more poetic than everyday speech, but the sense survives.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 15:5 ('they went down into the depths like a stone'); Nehemiah 9:11; Psalm 68:22; Psalm 107:24; Micah 7:19; Zechariah 10:11. In the Psalms it is a picture of being overwhelmed beyond rescue (Psalm 69:2, 'I have come into deep waters').

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 15:5 בִמְצוֹלֹ֖ת in [the] depths

    The depths have covered them; they sank there like a stone.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 9:11 בִמְצוֹלֹ֛ת in [the] depths

    You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.

    Here: The deep places of the sea, the bottom no one comes back from. The same word appears in the Song of the Sea (Exod 15:5).

Job · 1

  1. Job 41:31 מְצוּלָ֑ה [the] deep

    He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

Psalms · 5

  1. Psalm 68:22 מִֽמְּצֻל֥וֹת from [the] depths of

    The Lord said, “I will retrieve them from Bashan, I will bring them up from the depths of the sea,

    Here: 'From the depths of'. The word means the lowest, darkest deep of the waters. It is used for the Red Sea where Pharaoh's army sank (Exod 15:5) and for Jonah's plunge (Jonah 2:3). It is the farthest place down.

  2. Psalm 69:2 מְ֭צוּלָה depth

    I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.

    Here: The deep bottom, a word usually used of the sea (Exodus 15:5; Jonah 2:3). Bound to the previous word, it gives 'mud of the deep': the slime at the very floor of the abyss, and not just a deep patch of mud.

  3. Psalm 69:15 מְצוּלָ֑ה [the] deep

    Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.

  4. Psalm 88:6 בִּמְצֹלֽוֹת׃ in [the] depths

    You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.

  5. Psalm 107:24 בִּמְצוּלָֽה׃ in [the] deep

    They saw the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 2:3 מְצוּלָה֙ [the] deep

    For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.

    Here: The bottomless deep of the sea. This is where Pharaoh's army sank 'like a stone' (Exodus 15:5), and where God throws Israel's sins (Micah 7:19). It is a place of no return.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 7:19 בִּמְצֻל֥וֹת in [the] depths of

    He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

    Here: "Into the depths of." This is the word used in the Song of the Sea for where Pharaoh's army sank "like a stone" (Exod 15:5). It means the deepest water, out of human reach.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 10:11 מְצוּל֣וֹת [the] depths of

    They will pass through the sea of distress and strike the waves of the sea; all the depths of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.

    Here: This is the word for the deepest, engulfing parts of the water. Exodus 15:5 uses it of Pharaoh's army sinking "into the depths like a stone". The places that once swallowed Egypt's army now dry up.

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