Hebrew word · H4933

מְשִׁסָּה

meshisah

plunder

Two near-synonyms for plunder or loot: what is stripped from a conquered town or people. They are paired with their matching verbs šāsas and bāzaz, 'to plunder, despoil'.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

booty, spoil, plunder

Also means: me.shu.sah (מְשׁוּסָה "spoil" H4882)

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 Jeremiah 30:16

Range of meaning

Two near-synonyms for plunder or loot: what is stripped from a conquered town or people. They are paired with their matching verbs šāsas and bāzaz, 'to plunder, despoil'.

Against the English

KJV 'spoil… prey'. WEB 'plunder… prey'. BSB 'plundered… raided', which turns the last clause passive and drops 'I will give'. KJV's 'spoil' now misleads modern readers (see drift).

How it drifted

In older English 'spoil' meant booty or to plunder. Today it means to ruin, rot or overindulge.

Used elsewhere in the period

This exact pair describes judgment on Judah in 2 Kgs 21:14 ('they will become plunder and spoil, lᵉbaz wᵉlimšissâ, to all their enemies'), Manasseh's sentence. It also appears in Isa 42:22, 24: 'who gave (nātan) Jacob to the plunderer (limšissâ) and Israel to the despoilers (bōzəzîm)? Was it not the LORD?' Compare Zeph 1:13.

From the study of Zephaniah 1:13

Range of meaning

Plunder or spoil: goods seized by raiders or a conquering army. It comes from a root meaning 'to plunder, despoil'. It is used only a handful of times (2 Kings 21:14; Isaiah 42:22, 24; Jeremiah 30:16; Habakkuk 2:7; Zephaniah 1:13).

Against the English

KJV 'booty' and BSB 'plundered' are both accurate. 'Plundered' turns the noun into a verb and loses the picture of the wealth itself becoming a pile of spoil.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kings 21:14 is the closest parallel: because of Manasseh, God says Judah will 'become a prey and a plunder (mešissāh) to all their enemies'. Habakkuk 2:7, from about the same time, uses it for a plunderer who is plundered in turn.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 21:14 וְלִמְשִׁסָּ֖ה and <into> plunder

    So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies,

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 42:22 מְשִׁסָּ֖ה plunder

    But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”

    Here: “Loot”: a noun from the same root as shasui above, matching “booty” in the previous half-line. It comes back in v.24: “Who gave Jacob up as loot?”

  2. Isaiah 42:24 לִמְשִׁסָּ֧ה to plunder

    Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? They were unwilling to walk in His ways, and they would not obey His law.

    Here: 'As loot.' It repeats the same word from v. 22 ('they have become plunder, with no one to say, Give them back'). Jacob is pictured as goods carried off by a looting army.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 30:16 לִמְשִׁסָּ֔ה <into> plunder

    Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries—every one of them—will go off into exile. Those who plundered you will be plundered, and all who raided you will be raided.

    Here: 'Into plunder': the noun from the same root, so the plunderers become plunder themselves. The pairing of this word with baz deliberately echoes earlier judgment texts against Judah (2 Kgs 21:14).

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 2:7 לִמְשִׁסּ֖וֹת <into> plunder<s>

    Will not your creditors suddenly arise and those who disturb you awaken? Then you will become their prey.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 1:13 לִמְשִׁסָּ֔ה <into> plunder

    Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.

    Here: 'Into plunder': loot taken by an invading army. It is a rare, vivid word, used in 2 Kings 21:14 for the fate God announced over Jerusalem because of Manasseh's sins.

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