Hebrew word · H4705

מִצְעָר

mitz'ar

little

A small amount, a little thing, a short while, something insignificant. From the root tsaʿar, 'to be small, lowly'.

Appears 5 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a small thing

1a) small thing

1b) little while (of time)

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 Job 8:7

Range of meaning

A small amount, a little thing, a short while, something insignificant. From the root tsaʿar, 'to be small, lowly'.

Against the English

'Small' (KJV, WEB), 'modest' (BSB), 'insignificant' (NASB), 'humble' (NIV). 'Modest' and 'humble' soften it and can suggest a moral quality (humility). The Hebrew is about size, not virtue: a trifle.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 19:20 (Lot's plea for Zoar, 'is it not a little one?'); Isa 16:14 ('very small and feeble'); Isa 63:18 ('for a little while'); 2 Chr 24:24 ('with a small company of men').

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 19:20 מִצְעָ֑ר מִצְעָ֛ר [is] a small place, a small place

    Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 24:24 בְמִצְעַ֨ר with smallness of

    Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.

Job · 1

  1. Job 8:7 מִצְעָ֑ר a small thing

    Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.

    Here: A noun, 'a little thing', used as the predicate: your beginning will be a mere trifle. It comes from a root meaning 'to be small or insignificant', the same wordplay Lot uses for the town of Zoar ('is it not a little one?', Gen 19:20).

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 63:18 לַמִּצְעָ֕ר for <the> little while

    For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.

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