Lexical Summary
metsolah: Depths, deep places, abyss
Original Word:מְצוֹלָה
Part of Speech:Noun Feminine
Transliteration:mtsowlah
Pronunciation:met-so-LAH
Phonetic Spelling:(mets-o-law')
KJV: bottom, deep, depth
NASB:depths, deep
Word Origin:[from the same asH6683 (צּוּלָה - depth of the sea)]
1. a deep place (of water or mud)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
bottom, deep, depth
Or mtsolah {mets-o-law'}; also mtsuwlah {mets-oo-law'}; or mtsulah {mets-oo-law'}; from the same astsuwlah; a deep place (of water or mud) -- bottom, deep, depth.
see HEBREWtsuwlah
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom the same as
tsulahDefinitiondepth, deep
NASB Translationdeep (4), depths (7).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[], ; — absolute
Job 41:23 +; plural absolute
Exodus 15:5;
Nehemiah 9:11,
Psalm 88:7; construct
Zechariah 10:11,
Micah 7:19;
Psalm 68:23; —
depth, plural
depths of the seaMicah 7:19;
Psalm 68:23; absolute
Exodus 15:5 (of Red Sea)
Nehemiah 9:11 (
id.); figurative of deep distress
Psalm 88:7 ("" );
Zechariah 10:11 (i.e. of Nile); singular =
the deep sea, deep,
Psalm 107:24;
Jonah 2:4;
Job 41:23 (in hyperbolic description of crocodile);
depth of marsh, swamp,
Psalm 69:3in mire of (the) depth, figurative of distress ("" ), compare alone
Psalm 69:16 ("" ).
Topical Lexicon
Summaryמְצוֹלָה (metsolah) designates the “depths,” usually of the sea, and serves as a powerful motif for the place where God buries His enemies, tests His servants, reveals His wonders, and ultimately removes His people’s sins.
Occurrences and Literary Context
1. Deliverance through Judgment
•Exodus 15:5;Nehemiah 9:11 record the drowning of Pharaoh’s army: “The depths have covered them; they sank like a stone.” The same water that opened for Israel closed over Egypt.
•Zechariah 10:11 looks ahead to a future act in which “all the depths of the Nile will dry up,” signaling the final overthrow of oppressive powers.
2. The Depths in Personal Lament
• InPsalm 69:2, 15 David pleads, “I have sunk into the miry depths… Do not let the depths swallow me up.”
•Psalm 88:6 intensifies the cry: “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.”
•Jonah 2:3 echoes the psalmist from the fish’s belly: “You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas.”
3. Manifestations of Divine Power
•Job 41:31 depicts Leviathan: “He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron,” underlining that even the most untamable creature answers to the LORD.
•Psalm 107:24 reports that mariners “saw the works of the LORD and His wonders in the deep,” transforming terror into worship.
4. Redemption from the Depths
•Psalm 68:22 promises, “I will bring them up from the depths of the sea,” assuring the rescue of the scattered.
•Micah 7:19 gives the gospel in miniature: “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea!” God consigns guilt to a place from which it will never resurface.
Theological Themes
1. Sovereign Lord of Chaos
Ancient Near Eastern cultures feared the sea as chaotic and hostile. Scripture appropriates that imagery, declaring that the LORD alone tames the chaos. When He “hurled their pursuers into the depths” (Nehemiah 9:11), He demonstrated that no cosmic or political power rivals His reign.
2. Judgment and Salvation Intertwined
The same depths that judge Egypt preserve Israel; the same flood that threatens Jonah becomes the womb of renewal. Judgment is never arbitrary but serves covenant purposes: purging evil and vindicating faith.
3. Depths as the Extremity of Human Helplessness
The psalmists locate despair “where there is no footing” (Psalm 69:2). By crying out from the lowest point, they confess utter dependence. God’s answer from above magnifies grace, proving that “even the darkness is not dark” to Him.
4. Forgiveness Beyond Retrieval
Micah’s vision of sins hurled into the depths anticipates the New Covenant promise that God “will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). The irreversible removal of guilt grounds Christian assurance (Romans 8:1).
5. Eschatological Reversal
Zechariah 10 andPsalm 68 look forward to a final gathering. The sea—once barrier and grave—becomes a highway of return, prefiguringRevelation 21:1 where “the sea was no more,” symbolizing the eradication of all hostility toward God’s people.
Intertestamental and New Testament Echoes
• The “sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:40) draws on metsōlāh imagery: Christ descends into the realm of death and rises, proving Him greater than the prophet and sovereign over the deep.
• Baptism portrays union with that descent and ascent (Romans 6:4). The believer is buried and raised with Christ, leaving sin in a watery grave as surely as Egypt was left on the Red Sea floor.
• InRevelation 20:13 “the sea gave up its dead,” confirming that even the depths cannot withhold those whom God judges or redeems.
Historical and Ministry Significance
1. Worship
Hymns such as “It Is Well with My Soul” (“my sin… is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more”) echoMicah 7:19. Congregations can sing with confidence that their failures lie where God Himself has consigned them—beyond recovery.
2. Pastoral Care
Those battling depression or guilt often describe feeling “overwhelmed.” Pointing them toPsalm 69 andPsalm 88 validates their experience and directs them to the God who meets His saints in the darkest depths.
3. Missions and Evangelism
The Exodus pattern encourages proclamation: as surely as God once sank chariots, He will topple every modern Pharaoh. The gospel is the power that rescues from bondage and buries sin forever.
4. Ethics
Because God removes sin so completely, believers are called to forgive “as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). Harboring grudges contradicts the divine pattern of consigning offenses to the depths.
Conclusion
מְצוֹלָה is more than a nautical term; it is a theological landmark marking the intersection of judgment, mercy, and victory. From the Red Sea to the empty tomb, God’s saving acts repeatedly move from the depths to deliverance, inviting His people to trust Him when waters rise and to rejoice that their sins have sunk for good.
Forms and Transliterations
בִּמְצֹלֽוֹת׃ בִּמְצֻל֥וֹת בִּמְצוּלָֽה׃ בִמְצוֹלֹ֖ת בִמְצוֹלֹ֛ת במצולה׃ במצולת במצלות במצלות׃ מְ֭צוּלָה מְצוּל֣וֹת מְצוּלָ֑ה מְצוּלָה֙ מִֽמְּצֻל֥וֹת ממצלות מצולה מצולות bim·ṣō·lō·wṯ ḇim·ṣō·w·lōṯ bim·ṣū·lāh bim·ṣu·lō·wṯ bimṣōlōwṯ ḇimṣōwlōṯ bimṣūlāh bimṣulōwṯ bimtzoLot bimtzuLah bimtzuLot mə·ṣū·lāh mə·ṣū·lō·wṯ məṣūlāh məṣūlōwṯ metzuLah metzuLot mim·mə·ṣu·lō·wṯ mimetzuLot mimməṣulōwṯ vimtzoLot
Links
Interlinear Greek •
Interlinear Hebrew •
Strong's Numbers •
Englishman's Greek Concordance •
Englishman's Hebrew Concordance •
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