Hebrew word · H6115

עֹ֫צֶר

me'otzer

coercion

From the root ʿ-ṣ-r, 'to restrain, hold back, shut up'. The noun covers restraint, coercion and oppressive pressure. In Ps 107:39 the noun means 'oppression'.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) restraint, coercion

1a) restraint, coercion

1b) barrenness (of womb)

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 Isaiah 53:8

Range of meaning

From the root ʿ-ṣ-r, 'to restrain, hold back, shut up'. The noun covers restraint, coercion and oppressive pressure. The root is used for a closed womb (Gen 16:2; 'the barren womb', ʿōṣer reḥem, Prov 30:16), for rain held back (Deut 11:17) and for people detained or confined (Jer 33:1; 36:5, 'shut up'). In Ps 107:39 the noun means 'oppression'.

Against the English

KJV 'prison', BSB/NIV/ESV/NASB 'oppression', YLT 'restraint'. 'Prison' narrows it to a building. 'Oppression' keeps the force but loses the picture of being held fast.

How it drifted

KJV followed older interpreters (and the Vulgate's 'de angustia', 'from distress/confinement') in taking it as custody. A modern reader then pictures a jail cell, which the word does not require.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rare noun (3 times: Ps 107:39; Prov 30:16; Isa 53:8). The verb is common for confinement (Jer 33:1; 39:15). The Septuagint renders the clause 'in humiliation' (en tē tapeinōsei), the reading Acts 8:33 quotes.

From the study of Psalm 107:39

Range of meaning

Restraint, constraint, coercion, oppression. It comes from the verb ʿāṣar, 'to hold back, shut up, restrain, detain' (used of closing the womb, shutting the sky so no rain falls, detaining someone). The basic picture is being hemmed in or held fast.

Against the English

'Oppression' (KJV, WEB, BSB, ESV, NIV, NASB) captures the social sense well. YLT's 'restraint' keeps the root picture of being held back or confined. Neither is wrong. 'Oppression' points to who causes it, and 'restraint' points to what it feels like.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is a rare noun, found only three times: here; Isa 53:8, with the identical form mēʿōṣer ('by oppression [or: from detention] and judgment he was taken away'); and Prov 30:16, ʿōṣer raḥam, 'the closed womb', i.e. barrenness. The LXX renders it thlipsis, 'pressure, affliction', and the Vulgate tribulatio.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 107:39 מֵעֹ֖צֶר from [the] pressure of

    When they are decreased and humbled by oppression, evil, and sorrow,

    Here: With the prefix mē- ('from, because of'), it names the cause: being hemmed in, held down, shut up, squeezed by force. It is the pressure of someone else's power, or of circumstances, closing in on them.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 30:16 וְעֹ֪צֶ֫ר and barrenness of

    Sheol, the barren womb, land never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, ‘Enough!’

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 53:8 מֵעֹ֤צֶר from oppression

    By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.

    Here: Being held back or held down by force. With the prefix 'from' it can mean 'by means of coercion', 'out of custody', or even 'without restraint/protection'. It opens the verse on the picture of a man under constraint.

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