Hebrew word · H4740

מִקְצֹעַ

hamiktzo'ot

corner

An angle or corner, probably from a root meaning 'cut off, cut at an edge' (compare qatsa', 'to scrape or cut off corners'). It is used for the corner frames of the tabernacle (Exod 26:24; 36:29) and the corners of the temple courts (Ezek 46:21–22).

Appears 12 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) place of corner structure, corner buttress, inner corner-buttress

1a) corner post, buttress-place, buttress

Also means: me.quts.ah (מְקֻצְעָה "corner" H4742)

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 2 Chronicles 26:9

Range of meaning

An angle or corner, probably from a root meaning 'cut off, cut at an edge' (compare qatsa', 'to scrape or cut off corners'). It is used for the corner frames of the tabernacle (Exod 26:24; 36:29) and the corners of the temple courts (Ezek 46:21–22). In Neh 3:19, 20, 24, 25, 'the Angle' is a named point in Jerusalem's wall.

Against the English

BSB and NIV say 'angle (in/of) the wall'. ESV keeps it as a proper name, 'the Angle'. NASB has 'corner buttress', and the gloss supplied with the source text says 'buttress'. KJV and WEB say 'the turning (of the wall)'. YLT has 'the angle'. Only 'buttress' adds a detail, a supporting wall structure, that the word itself does not state.

How it drifted

'Buttress' appears to be an interpretive guess about what kind of structure stood at the angle. The Hebrew only says it was a corner or turn in the wall.

Used elsewhere in the period

Neh 3:19–25 places 'the Angle' near 'the ascent to the armoury' and near the house of Azariah son of Maaseiah. That puts it on the eastern side of the City of David (the old core of Jerusalem on the southeastern ridge). Ezek 46:21–22 uses the word for the corners of a court.

From the study of Ezekiel 41:22

Range of meaning

A corner, angle or corner-piece. A rare technical word used for the corners of the tabernacle frames (Exod 26:24; 36:29) and the corners of temple courtyards (Ezek 46:21–22).

Against the English

Most English versions give 'corners'. The Greek translators read 'horns' (keras), the raised corner points that were the mark of an Israelite altar.

Used elsewhere in the period

Horned altars are found in excavations (e.g. Megiddo, Beersheba), and the biblical incense altar had horns (Exod 30:2). The Septuagint's 'it had horns' may come from a different Hebrew text or may be the translators' reading of what an altar's 'corners' would be.

From the study of Nehemiah 3:25

Range of meaning

An angle, corner or bend. It is linked to the root q-ṣ-ʿ, 'scrape, cut off', so the picture is a place where something turns or is cut at an angle. It is used of the rear corners of the tabernacle framework (Exod 26:24; 36:29) and the corners of the temple courts (Ezek 46:21–22). In a city wall it means a point where the line of the wall bends.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'turning (of the wall)', BSB/YLT 'angle', ESV 'buttress', NASB 'the Angle' (written as a proper name). 'Angle' and 'turning' fit the word's meaning. 'Buttress' is a guess about what kind of masonry stood at the bend, not a sense the word clearly carries.

How it drifted

'Buttress' came in through interpretive translation. A modern reader pictures a supporting pier pushed against a wall, which the Hebrew does not say.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 26:24; 36:29; Ezek 46:21–22; 2 Chr 26:9 (Uzziah built towers 'at the angle', ʿal-hammiqṣôaʿ, in Jerusalem); Neh 3:19, 20, 24, 25. The Septuagint uses 'corner' (gōnia).

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 26:24 הַמִּקְצֹעֹ֖ת the corners

    coupled together from bottom to top and fitted into a single ring. These will serve as the two corners.

  2. Exodus 36:29 הַמִּקְצֹעֹֽת׃ the corners

    coupled together from bottom to top and fitted into a single ring. He made both corners in this way.

    Here: 'The corners', meaning the two back (west) corners of the tabernacle, where the back wall met the long side walls.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 26:9 הַמִּקְצ֑וֹעַ the buttress

    Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the angle in the wall, and he fortified them.

    Here: Literally 'the angle', a place where the wall turns. With the article it works as a known landmark, 'the Angle'. Nehemiah 3:19–25 uses the same name for a point on the city's eastern side, near the armoury. It is not certain that it was a buttress.

Nehemiah · 4

  1. Nehemiah 3:19 הַמִּקְצֹֽעַ׃ ס the buttress

    And next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory, near the angle in the wall.

  2. Nehemiah 3:20 הַ֨מִּקְצ֔וֹעַ the buttress

    Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai diligently repaired another section, from the angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

    Here: 'The Angle': a known bend in the wall, with 'the' marking it as a landmark. It was probably on the eastern side above the City of David, near the 'ascent to the armory' (v.19). Uzziah had built towers 'at the Angle' (2 Chr 26:9).

  3. Nehemiah 3:24 הַמִּקְצ֖וֹעַ the buttress

    After him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the angle and the corner,

  4. Nehemiah 3:25 הַמִּקְצוֹעַ֒ the buttress

    and Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the angle and the tower that juts out from the upper palace of the king near the courtyard of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh

    Here: 'The angle', a known bend or corner in the wall line on the eastern slope. It had already been named in verses 19, 20 and 24, so the first readers would have recognised it as a fixed landmark.

Ezekiel · 5

  1. Ezekiel 41:22 וּמִקְצֹֽעוֹתָיו֙ and corners its

    There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.”

    Here: 'Its corners', a rare architectural word used elsewhere for the corners of frames and courtyards (Exod 26:24; Ezek 46:21–22). The Greek translators read 'horns', the projecting corner pieces that marked an object as an altar.

  2. Ezekiel 46:21 מִקְצוֹעֵ֣י בְּמִקְצֹ֣עַ בְּמִקְצֹ֥עַ [the] corners of, [was] in [the] corner of

    Then he brought me into the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw a separate court in each of its corners.

  3. Ezekiel 46:22 מִקְצֹע֤וֹת [the] corners of

    In the four corners of the outer court there were enclosed courts, each forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. Each of the four corner areas had the same dimensions.

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