Hebrew word · H5519
סַךְ
basokh
throng
Occurs only here, so the meaning is uncertain. Proposed senses: (1) 'throng, crowd, dense mass' (traditional Jewish commentators, BDB, KJV 'multitude'). (2) 'booth, covert, enclosure', linked with sōk/sukkāh (Ps 27:5; 76:2, where God's 'booth' is in Salem).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
throng, multitude
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
- Range of meaning
Occurs only here, so the meaning is uncertain. Proposed senses: (1) 'throng, crowd, dense mass' (traditional Jewish commentators, BDB, KJV 'multitude'). (2) 'booth, covert, enclosure', linked with sōk/sukkāh (Ps 27:5; 76:2, where God's 'booth' is in Salem). (3) Part of a phrase read with the next word as 'in the booth of the Mighty One' (bᵉsōk ʾaddîr), a reconstruction supported by the Septuagint.
- Against the English
BSB, KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB take it as 'multitude/throng'. YLT has 'booth'. The NIV (2011) reconstructs 'under the protection of the Mighty One'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
LXX Ps 41:5 has en topō skēnēs thaumastēs, 'in the place of the wonderful tent'. HALOT and the commentaries (e.g. Kraus, Craigie) discuss emending the text.
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 42:4 בַּסָּךְ֮ with the crowd
These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the festive procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.
Here: This word occurs nowhere else in the Bible, so its meaning is uncertain. The traditional sense is 'in the throng/crowd' (perhaps a 'dense mass' of people). Others connect it with sōk, 'booth, covert' (Ps 27:5; 76:2), suggesting a festival booth or God's sanctuary-tent (so the LXX and YLT).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.