Hebrew word · H4929

מִשְׁמָר

mishmar

custody

A guard or watch (the people posted), a guard post or station, custody or confinement (Gen 40:3; 42:17), and a duty shift (1 Chr 26:16, "watch corresponding to watch").

Appears 22 times in 20 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) place of confinement, prison, guard, jail, guard post, watch, observance

1a) jail, prison, guard-house

1b) guard, guard post, act of guarding

1c) observances

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 Proverbs 4:23

Range of meaning

A guard or watch (the people posted), a guard post or station, custody or confinement (Gen 40:3; 42:17), and a duty shift (1 Chr 26:16, "watch corresponding to watch").

Against the English

KJV/BSB/NASB "with all diligence" and ESV/NRSV "with all vigilance" turn the noun into a manner adverb. NIV/NLT "above all else" read it as a comparison. YLT "above every charge" keeps the noun. The concrete picture of guards and guard posts mostly disappears in English.

Used elsewhere in the period

Neh 4:9, 22–23 ("we set a guard"); Neh 7:3 (guard stations by the gates); Jer 51:12 ("strengthen the watch"); Job 7:12 ("that you set a guard over me"). The Greek Septuagint reads pasē phylakē, "with all guarding", and the Latin Vulgate omni custodia, "with all custody". Both take it in the "with all" sense.

From the study of Nehemiah 13:14

Range of meaning

A guard or prison (Gen 40:3). A guard post or watch (Neh 4:9, 22; 7:3). In Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, the duty stations and rotating shifts of temple personnel: priests, Levites, singers and gatekeepers (1 Chr 9:23; 26:12, 16; Neh 12:9, 24, 45). The related feminine mishmeret means a charge or duty to be kept.

Against the English

KJV "offices" meant "duties" in 1611 but now suggests rooms or desks. WEB "observances" sounds like rituals or holy days. YLT "charges" is closest to the duty sense. BSB/NIV "services" is acceptable if it is read as duty rotations and not church services.

How it drifted

"Office" in English moved from "assigned duty" to "a place of work." "Service(s)" now usually means a worship gathering.

Used elsewhere in the period

Neh 13:30 closes the chapter: "I established the duties (mishmarot) of the priests and Levites, each in his task." The Dead Sea Scrolls include calendar texts (4Q320–330, the mishmarot texts) that track the rotation of priestly courses. The term was still technical in the Second Temple period.

From the study of Jeremiah 51:12

Range of meaning

A guard or watch, a guard-post, custody or confinement (Genesis 40:3–4, 'in custody'), and a duty rotation (Nehemiah 13:14). It comes from shamar, 'keep, guard'.

Against the English

'Watch' (KJV, WEB) and 'guard' (BSB) are both accurate. 'Make the watch strong' keeps the Hebrew verb 'make strong'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 42:17 ('put them in custody'). Nehemiah 4:9 and 4:22–23: a guard posted day and night against attack. The DSS War Scroll and other Second Temple military texts use related shamar vocabulary for guard duty.

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 6

  1. Genesis 40:3 בְּמִשְׁמַ֗ר in [the] custody of

    and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.

  2. Genesis 40:4 בְּמִשְׁמָֽר׃ in custody

    The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he became their personal attendant. After they had been in custody for some time,

  3. Genesis 40:7 בְמִשְׁמַ֛ר in [the] custody of

    So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”

  4. Genesis 41:10 בְּמִשְׁמַ֗ר in [the] custody of

    Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard.

  5. Genesis 42:17 מִשְׁמָ֖ר custody

    So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

  6. Genesis 42:19 מִשְׁמַרְכֶ֑ם custody your

    If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 24:12 בַּמִּשְׁמָ֑ר in <the> custody

    They placed him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 15:34 בַּמִּשְׁמָ֑ר in <the> custody

    and because it had not been declared what should be done to him, they placed him in custody.

    Here: 'In the guard', meaning under watch, in holding. The word comes from shamar, 'to keep, watch'. It is the place or state of being watched, not a prison sentence. The man is held until a ruling comes.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 26:16 מִשְׁמָ֖ר מִשְׁמָֽר׃ guard

    The lots for the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the ascending highway fell to Shuppim and Hosah. There were guards stationed at every watch.

Nehemiah · 8

  1. Nehemiah 4:9 מִשְׁמָ֧ר a guard

    So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.

  2. Nehemiah 4:22 מִשְׁמָ֖ר a guard

    At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

  3. Nehemiah 4:23 הַמִּשְׁמָר֙ the guard

    So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.

  4. Nehemiah 7:3 בְּמִשְׁמָר֔וֹ at guard post his

    And I told them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While the guards are on duty, keep the doors shut and securely fastened. And appoint the residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their own homes.”

  5. Nehemiah 12:24 מִשְׁמָ֖ר מִשְׁמָֽר׃ division

    The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their associates, who stood across from them to give praise and thanksgiving as one section alternated with the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.

    Here: First meaning 'guard' or 'watch-post'. In the temple setting it came to mean a duty group or shift: one division of Levites on service.

  6. Nehemiah 12:25 מִשְׁמָ֔ר guard

    Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.

  7. Nehemiah 13:14 וּבְמִשְׁמָרָֽיו׃ and in services its

    Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.

    Here: "And for its watches/duties." This means the organised duty shifts of priests, Levites, singers and gatekeepers, the staff whose pay Nehemiah had just restored. It does not mean ceremonies in general.

Job · 1

  1. Job 7:12 מִשְׁמָֽר׃ a guard

    Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 4:23 מִ֭שְׁמָר guarding

    Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.

    Here: A concrete word from the world of guarding: a sentry, a guard post, someone held in custody. With the word before it, it means either "more than anything you keep under guard" or "with every kind of watchfulness". It comes from shamar, the same root as "keep them" in verse 21.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 51:12 הַמִּשְׁמָ֔ר the watch

    Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon; post the guard; station the watchmen; prepare the ambush. For the LORD has both devised and accomplished what He spoke against the people of Babylon.

    Here: The watch or guard-post. In a siege this means the blockade posts that stop anyone getting in or out.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 38:7 לְמִשְׁמָֽר׃ <into> a guard

    Get ready; prepare yourself, you and all your company gathered around you; you will be their guard.

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