Lexical Summary
matsor or matsur: Siege, stronghold, fortress, entrenchment
Original Word:מָצוֹר
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:matsowr
Pronunciation:maw-tsore' or maw-tsoor'
Phonetic Spelling:(maw-tsore')
KJV: besieged, bulwark, defence, fenced, fortress, siege, strong (hold), tower
NASB:siege, besieged, defense, fortified, fortress, rampart, siegeworks
Word Origin:[fromH6696 (צּוּר - To bind)]
1. something hemming in
2. (objectively) a mound (of besiegers)
3. (abstractly) a siege
4. (figuratively) distress
5. (subjectively) a fastness
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
besieged, bulwark, defense, fenced, fortress, siege, strong hold, tower
Or matsuwr {maw-tsoor'}; fromtsuwr; something hemming in, i.e. (objectively) a mound (of besiegers), (abstractly) a siege, (figuratively) distress; or (subjectively) a fastness -- besieged, bulwark, defence, fenced, fortress, siege, strong (hold), tower.
see HEBREWtsuwr
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
tsurDefinitionsiege enclosure, siege, entrenchment
NASB Translationbesieged (3), defense (1), fortified (1), fortress (1), rampart (1), siege (17), siegeworks (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
; — always absolute, except construct
Ezekiel 4:7 suffix
Ezekiel 4:8; —
siegeMicah 4:14he hath laid siege to us, compareEzekiel 4:2;is come into a state of siegeDeuteronomy 20:19;2 Kings 24:10;2 Kings 25:2;Jeremiah 52:5, compareEzekiel 4:3;Jeremiah 10:17;Ezekiel 4:7siege of Jerusalem, but alsoZechariah 12:2; of duration of siegeEzekiel 4:8;Ezekiel 5:2;Nahum 3:14water for a siege; in phrasein the siege and stressDeuteronomy 28:53,55,57;Jeremiah 19:9.
enclosure, i.e.siege-worksDeuteronomy 20:20; late =ram-partZechariah 9:3,entrenched cityPsalm 31:22 (al.besieged),Psalm 60:11 (""Psalm 108:11 ), compare 2 Chronicles 8:5; 2Chronicles 11:5, 2Chronicles 32:10;Habakkuk 2:1 according to most ("" ); but We derives from , i.e.watch-tower, Now conjectures (compare following); > Buhl conjectures
.
Topical Lexicon
Definition in Usageמָצוֹר (matsor) portrays a space that is hemmed in—physically by siegeworks or figuratively by any constricting pressure. In narrative texts it denotes the earthen ramps, walls, and forts an army erects around a city; in prophetic and poetic texts it can broaden to mean the state of siege, severe distress, or—in two key historical-prophetic passages—Egypt itself, the paradigmatic land of bondage.
Military Siege and Fortification
1. Physical works.2 Samuel 20:15 reports that Joab’s forces “built a siege ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer wall”. These temporary structures of timber and packed earth allowed attackers to scale or batter city walls.Jeremiah 52:4 describes Babylon’s engineers surrounding Jerusalem and “built siege works all around it,” creating a stranglehold that starved the city into surrender after two and a half years.
2. Assyrian arrogance. Sennacherib boasted that, by his own power, he had “dried up all the streams of Egypt” (2 Kings 19:24;Isaiah 37:25). The Hebrew here reads matsor—not primarily geography but the fortified land that had long withstood invasion. The king of Assyria claims mastery over every entrenched place on earth, yet the narrative immediately contrasts his pride with the LORD’s sovereign defense of Jerusalem.
3. Divine warfare. When the LORD Himself lays siege, He employs matsor imagery to depict total judgment. “I will encamp against you all around; I will besiege you with towers and raise up siege works against you” (Isaiah 29:3). The prophet Ezekiel dramatizes this in miniature as he draws Jerusalem on a brick, “lays siege to it,” and places an iron plate between himself and the model city (Ezekiel 4:2–3). The unbreakable plate pictures God’s face set against an unrepentant people until judgment is complete.
Metaphor of Distress and Confinement
Because a city under siege cannot flee, matsor becomes a metaphor for any crushing trial. The psalmist prays, “Out of my distress I called on the LORD” (Psalm 118:5, using the cognate root), trusting that divine deliverance can break the tightest cordon. Solomon’s proverb echoes the image: “Like a city breached, without walls, so is a man without self-control” (Proverbs 25:28). Once inner defenses collapse, the soul experiences matsor—open to every invading temptation.
Matsor as Egypt
The root idea of confinement also colors two strategic texts where matsor stands for Egypt:
•2 Kings 19:24 andIsaiah 37:25, already cited, translate matsor as “Egypt”. Just as Egypt once locked Israel in bondage, so the fortified land itself becomes the archetype of enclosure. The Assyrian king implies that he can breach even that bastion of power.
• In prophetic oracles against Egypt (e.g.,Isaiah 19;Jeremiah 46), the memory of house-of-bondage oppression overlays the literal land, turning matsor into shorthand for every proud structure that resists the LORD.
Prophetic Theology
1. Siege as covenant sanction. Deuteronomy promised that covenant infidelity would bring “a nation … that will besiege you in all your gates” (Deuteronomy 28:52). Later prophets announce matsor as the climactic curse falling on Samaria, Jerusalem, Tyre, and other cities. The siege thus vindicates God’s holiness while calling survivors to repentance.
2. Siege reversed in salvation. After judgment, the LORD reverses matsor by destroying the besiegers and liberating the besieged. Zechariah foresees a day when Jerusalem will be “a cup that causes reeling to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:2). The same term that once denoted hopeless confinement becomes the stage on which God displays rescue.
Historical Surveys
• Iron Age practice. Archaeology at Lachish, Hazor, and Gezer has uncovered earthen siege ramps and stone glacis that illuminate matsor’s reality. The Assyrian reliefs of Sennacherib portray battering rams, towers on wheels, and helmeted infantry scaling ramps—graphic parallels to the biblical descriptions.
• Babylonian technique. Nebuchadnezzar’s reduction of Jerusalem combined a tight blockade with siege mounds (Jeremiah 52:4, 6). Cuneiform ration tablets from Babylon confirm the exile of Jehoiachin, linking the biblical account with extrabiblical data.
Ministry Implications
1. Spiritual warfare. Believers today may feel hemmed in by sin, circumstances, or persecution. Matsor imagery reminds the church that what seems an inescapable blockade is under the sovereignty of the LORD who can “break the gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron” (Psalm 107:16).
2. Pastoral counsel. When shepherding those in emotional or spiritual siege, counselors can employ passages such asPsalm 31:21—“Blessed be the LORD, for He has shown me His loving devotion in a city under siege”—to point sufferers to God’s steadfast love in their confinement.
3. Mission and hope.Isaiah 62 envisions watchmen on Jerusalem’s walls announcing salvation. Former siege-walls become platforms for proclamation, turning defensive structures into instruments of grace. Likewise, gospel ministry transforms the places of former bondage into testimonies of deliverance.
Christological Fulfillment
Jesus enters the world’s matsor—humanity imprisoned by sin—and announces liberty to captives (Luke 4:18). His lament over Jerusalem, “The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side” (Luke 19:43), echoes matsor language, yet His own cross-work opens the city of God to all nations. The siege is broken not by political power but by sacrificial love.
Key References
2 Samuel 20:15;2 Kings 19:24;2 Kings 25:1–2;2 Chronicles 32:1;Isaiah 29:3;Isaiah 31:9;Isaiah 37:25;Jeremiah 32:2;Jeremiah 52:4;Ezekiel 4:2–3;Ezekiel 26:8;Zechariah 12:2. (Total occurrences across 18 verses, 26 uses.)
Summary
מָצוֹר threads through Scripture as an image of the human condition under threat, the divine instrument of judgment, and the dramatic backdrop for redemption. Whether referring to earthen ramparts, the narrowness of hardship, or the memory of Egypt, matsor intensifies the biblical call to trust the LORD who alone can demolish every stronghold and bring His people into spacious freedom.
Forms and Transliterations
בְּמָצ֖וֹר בְּמָצוֹר֙ בַּמָּצ֑וֹר בַּמָּצֽוֹר׃ בַמָּצ֖וֹר בַמָּצוֹר֙ במצור במצור׃ הַמָּצ֑וֹר המצור לְמָצ֖וֹר למצור מְצ֤וֹר מְצוּרֶֽךָ׃ מָצ֑וֹר מָצ֔וֹר מָצ֖וֹר מָצ֗וֹר מָצֽוֹר׃ מָצוֹר֙ מצור מצור׃ מצורך׃ bam·mā·ṣō·wr ḇam·mā·ṣō·wr bammāṣōwr ḇammāṣōwr bammaTzor bə·mā·ṣō·wr bəmāṣōwr bematzOr ham·mā·ṣō·wr hammāṣōwr hammaTzor lə·mā·ṣō·wr ləmāṣōwr lemaTzor mā·ṣō·wr māṣōwr maTzor mə·ṣō·wr mə·ṣū·re·ḵā məṣōwr məṣūreḵā meTzor metzuRecha vammatzOr
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