Hebrew word · H7448

רֶ֫סֶן

veresen

bridle

Resen: bridle or halter, the headgear around the jaws that controls an animal (Ps 32:9; Job 30:11; 41:13). Tāʿâ: to wander, stray, stagger off course, used of lost sheep, drunkards and people who go off the path. Matʿeh is the Hiphil (causative) participle, 'making to wander'.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) something that restrains, halter, jaw

1a) halter

1a1) of restraint thrown off (fig)

1b) jaw (of crocodile)

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 30:28

Range of meaning

Resen: bridle or halter, the headgear around the jaws that controls an animal (Ps 32:9; Job 30:11; 41:13). Tāʿâ: to wander, stray, stagger off course, used of lost sheep, drunkards and people who go off the path. Matʿeh is the Hiphil (causative) participle, 'making to wander'.

Against the English

KJV's 'causing them to err' sounds like making a mistake in reasoning. The Hebrew picture is physical: an animal steered off the track. WEB's 'leads to ruin' gives the end result but loses the steering. BSB, ESV and NIV keep 'lead astray'.

How it drifted

English 'err' once meant to wander (Latin errare). It now mostly means to make a mistake, so the KJV loses the picture of the road.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 37:29 (= 2 Kgs 19:28) says God will put 'my hook in your nose and my bit in your lips' and turn Sennacherib back. Isa 19:14: the LORD mixes 'a spirit of confusion' so that Egypt staggers (hitʿû, the same root) like a drunkard. Assyrian art, such as Esarhaddon's victory stele from Zincirli, shows captive rulers led by cords fastened to their lips.

From the study of Job 30:11

Range of meaning

A halter or bridle, the headgear or rope used to control an animal. It is used of horse and mule (Ps 32:9, 'bit and bridle'), the 'double bridle' of Leviathan (Job 41:13 [Heb 41:5]), and a bridle on the jaws of the nations (Isa 30:28).

Against the English

KJV and NASB say 'bridle'. BSB, ESV, WEB and NIV make the picture abstract as 'restraint'. That is a fair reading, but the animal image is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 32:9 compares people without understanding to animals that must be held in with bit and bridle. Job 41 uses resen for the impossibility of controlling Leviathan.

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 30:11 וְ֝רֶ֗סֶן and [the] halter

    Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

    Here: 'And the halter.' This is the rope or headgear that controls an animal's head. In picture language it is the restraint that kept people in check, here the respect that once held back the rabble in Job's presence.

  2. Job 41:13 רִ֝סְנ֗וֹ halter its

    Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle?

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 32:9 וָרֶ֣סֶן and halter

    Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.

    Here: 'And bridle/halter'. The headgear and reins used to lead and hold an animal; paired with 'bit' it means the whole set of tack used to force a beast to go where its master wants.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:28 וְרֶ֣סֶן and a halter

    His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.

    Here: The headgear and reins used to steer a horse or mule. The picture changes from grain to animals being steered by a driver.

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