Lexical Summary
maqor: Source, fountain, spring
Original Word:מָקוֹר
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:maqowr
Pronunciation:mah-KOHR
Phonetic Spelling:(maw-kore')
KJV: fountain, issue, spring, well(-spring)
NASB:fountain, flow, well
Word Origin:[fromH6979 (קוּר - dug)]
1. (properly) something dug, i.e. a (general) source (of water, even when naturally flowing
2. also of tears, blood (by euphemism, of the female pudenda)
3. (figuratively) of happiness, wisdom, progeny)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
fountain, issue, spring, wellspring
Or maqor {maw-kore'}; fromquwr; properly, something dug, i.e. A (general) source (of water, even when naturally flowing; also of tears, blood (by euphemism, of the female pudenda); figuratively, of happiness, wisdom, progeny) -- fountain, issue, spring, well(-spring).
see HEBREWquwr
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
qurDefinitiona spring, fountain
NASB Translationflow (3), fountain (14), well (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Zechariah 13:1 (apparently originally
well); — absolute
Zechariah 13:1;
Proverbs 25:26; construct
Jeremiah 2:13 +,
Leviticus 12:7;
Leviticus 20:18; suffix
Hosea 13:15, etc.; —
spring of water :
; figurative, of ,Jeremiah 2:13;Jeremiah 17:13, comparePsalm 36:10; (more Generally),Proverbs 10:11;Proverbs 13:14;Proverbs 14:27;Proverbs 16:22 +Proverbs 18:4 (so read for Hebrew Manuscripts Toy).
Ezekiel 13:1.
Proverbs 25:26 (figurative; + ).
Hosea 13:15;Jeremiah 51:36; of a nation's original source, stockPsalm 68:27 (Kay Che, of temple); source of joyProverbs 5:18 (figurative of wife; "" ).
, ,Jeremiah 8:23.
source of menstruous blood,Leviticus 20:18, soLeviticus 20:18 (H).
=flow of blood after child-birthLeviticus 12:7 (P).
II. (√ of following; compare Arabic
(
) seeturn, twist (of serpent),
a king ofrope).
Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Imageryמָקוֹר (māqôr) pictures an ever-flowing spring, the head-waters from which streams and rivers gain their vitality. Whether describing a literal upwelling of water or a figurative source of life, wisdom, or impurity, the term consistently evokes the idea of continuous, self-renewing supply.
Occurrences and Thematic Threads
Eighteen Old Testament occurrences show two major threads: (1) ceremonial and moral defilement (Leviticus 12:7; 20:18) and (2) life-giving abundance—physical, moral, and spiritual (Psalms, Proverbs, Prophets). Both threads converge on the truth that what flows from the source determines the condition of everything downstream.
Source of Life and Salvation
Psalm 36:9 celebrates the LORD as the ultimate spring: “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Every other use of māqôr borrows from this primary reality: God Himself is the living source. Jeremiah twice mourns Israel’s rejection of that source. “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and dug their own cisterns” (Jeremiah 2:13; cf. 17:13). The prophetic grief heightens the wonder of divine grace—though the people abandoned the spring, the spring never ran dry.
Human Sin and Defilement
Leviticus employs māqôr for the flow of blood that renders a woman ceremonially unclean. Violating boundaries around that flow (Leviticus 20:18) incurs guilt. Here the “source” is a reminder that sin issues from within and contaminates everything it touches (Mark 7:20–23 echoes the principle). Holiness therefore requires both guarding and cleansing of one’s inner springs.
Fountain of Wisdom in Proverbs
Proverbs repeatedly affirms that righteousness turns a person into a secondary spring aligned with the primary one:
• “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life” (Proverbs 10:11).
• “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one away from the snares of death” (Proverbs 13:14).
• “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life” (Proverbs 14:27).
• “Insight is a fountain of life to its possessor” (Proverbs 16:22).
• “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook” (Proverbs 18:4).
Each saying calls believers to steward their inner life so that what issues forth refreshes rather than pollutes.
Prophetic Hope and Eschatological Cleansing
Zechariah 13:1 looks forward to a day “when a fountain will be opened to the house of David and to the residents of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” This promise rounds out the māqôr motif: the defilement laws of Leviticus find their antidote in an eschatological spring that removes both sin’s guilt and its stain.Hosea 13:15 contrasts this hope by warning that judgment will “dry up his fountain,” demonstrating that only divine grace keeps the waters flowing.
Christological Fulfillment
The New Testament never uses māqôr, yetJohn 4:14 and 7:38 plainly draw on its theology. Jesus offers “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” and declares, “Whoever believes in Me … rivers of living water will flow from within him.” He is theZechariah 13 fountain opened for cleansing; He restores the lost spring of Jeremiah and turns disciples into life-dispensing sources like the righteous in Proverbs.
Practical Ministry Applications
1. Personal holiness: Guard the heart as the wellspring of life; unconfessed sin clogs the source.
2. Preaching and teaching: Present God, not merely His gifts, as the fountain; invite hearers to drink deeply.
3. Counseling: Trace destructive behaviors back to a polluted source and apply the cleansing of Christ.
4. Community life: Encourage speech that functions as a fountain of life, curbing corrosive talk.
5. Mission: Offer the nations access to the spring, confident that the gospel alone supplies living water that never fails.
From Genesis to Revelation the storyline of Scripture runs downstream from one inexhaustible fountain. Whenever māqôr appears, it reminds readers to examine the source they drink from and the flow they release, until the day when “the Lamb … will guide them to springs of living water” (Revelation 7:17).
Forms and Transliterations
וּמָק֣וֹר ומקור מְק֣וֹר מְק֣וֹר ׀ מְק֥וֹר מְקֹרָ֣הּ מְקוֹרְךָ֥ מְקוֹרָֽהּ׃ מְקוֹרוֹ֙ מִמְּק֥וֹר מִמְּקֹ֣ר מָק֣וֹר ממקור ממקר מקור מקורה׃ מקורו מקורך מקרה mā·qō·wr maKor māqōwr mə·qō·rāh mə·qō·w·rāh mə·qō·w·rōw mə·qō·wr mə·qō·wr·ḵā meKor mekoRah mekorCha mekoRo məqōrāh məqōwr məqōwrāh məqōwrḵā məqōwrōw mim·mə·qō·wr mim·mə·qōr mimeKor mimməqōr mimməqōwr ū·mā·qō·wr umaKor ūmāqōwr
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