Lexical Summary
satham: To stop up, shut, close, conceal
Original Word:סָתַם
Part of Speech:Verb
Transliteration:catham
Pronunciation:sah-tahm'
Phonetic Spelling:(saw-tham')
KJV: closed up, hidden, secret, shut out (up), stop
NASB:stopped, closed, conceal, concealed, cut off, hidden part, keep the secret
Word Origin:[a primitive root]
1. to stop up
2. (by implication) to repair
3. (figuratively) to keep secret
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
closed up, hidden, secret, shut out up, stop
Or satham (Numbers 24:15) {saw-tham'}; a primitive root; to stop up; by implication, to repair; figuratively, to keep secret -- closed up, hidden, secret, shut out (up), stop.
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origina prim. root
Definitionto stop up, shut up, keep close
NASB Translationclosed (1), conceal (1), concealed (1), cut off (1), hidden part (1), keep the secret (1), secret (1), stop (1), stopped (5).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
(Late Hebrew
id.;
id.; Syriac
(
very rare); Arabic
close door Lane
1334, and
Kam Frey, are perhaps loan-words); compare Assyrian
bit sutummu,
storehouse,
treasury, Zehnpf
BAS i. 531. —
Perfect3masculine singular 2Chronicles 32:30;Imperfect2masculine plural2 Kings 3:19; 3masculine plural2 Kings 3:25, 2Chronicles 32:4;Imperative masculine singularDaniel 8:26;Daniel 12:4;Infinitive construct 2Chronicles 32:3;Passive participleEzekiel 28:3,Psalm 51:8, pluralDaniel 12:9; —
stop up springs of water2 Kings 3:19,25; 2Chronicles 32:3,4, compare2 Chronicles 32:30.
shut up, keep close, prophetic wordsDaniel 8:26;Daniel 12:4,9;Psalm 51:8in (the)closed (chamber of the breast; "" ). —Ezekiel 28:3 usually nosecret is too dark for thee, but doubtful (see II. ); , Co < Toy , or Berthol. .
Infinitive constructNehemiah 4:1 the breaches [in the walls] had begunto be stopped up.
Perfect3plural suffixGenesis 26:16;Imperfect3masculine plural suffixGenesis 26:18, both ofstopping wellsquite up (RJE).
usually , in sense ofshut out, shut ears against (late "" form of ; yet awkward; BaES 9 compare Arabic
frustrate, disappoint); —
Perfect3masculine singularLamentations 3:8 (> van d. H. )he ()hath shut out my prayer (Bushut up [himself]from).
Topical Lexicon
Overviewסָתַם portrays deliberate closure—blocking, plugging, shutting in or shutting out. Whether the object is a well, a city wall, a stream of prayer, or a prophetic scroll, the verb depicts intentional restraint that can be either hostile or protective, temporal or eschatological.
Literal Obstruction of Wells in the Patriarchal Narratives
•Genesis 26:15 records the Philistines’ hostility toward Isaac: “So the Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with dirt.” Water was life in the Negev, so to “stop up” a well was an act of economic warfare designed to force Isaac’s household to move.
• Isaac’s response (Genesis 26:18) models perseverance: “Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham … and he gave them the same names his father had given them.” The restoration of the wells re-establishes covenant heritage, illustrating that faith does not cede God-given resources to the enemy.
Military Engineering and Water Strategy in Israel’s Kingdom Era
• Jehoshaphat and Jehoram applied the tactic against Moab (2 Kings 3:19, 25), destroying irrigational infrastructure to weaken resistance.
• King Hezekiah, facing Assyrian invasion, reversed the strategy to protect Jerusalem. He “consulted with his officials … to stop up the water from the springs outside the city” (2 Chronicles 32:3) and “blocked the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon” (2 Chronicles 32:30). Stopping external springs secured inner supplies and, through the Siloam Tunnel, channeled life-giving water into the city.
The dual use—denying an enemy while preserving the covenant community—illustrates how the same action becomes either judgment or deliverance depending on allegiance to the LORD.
Closing the Breaches of Jerusalem’s Wall
Nehemiah 4:7 notes Sanballat’s anger when the gaps “were beginning to be closed.” Here סָתַם describes the removal of vulnerability. The restored wall signified renewed covenant identity and protection amid external opposition, mirroring Hezekiah’s earlier waterworks: both efforts secured the physical boundaries of God’s people so that worship could flourish inside.
Divine Hiddenness in Response to Sin
Deuteronomy 31:18 warns that persistent idolatry will move the LORD to “surely hide [His] face.” The verb pictures blocked communion; the problem is not divine absence but judicial concealment.Lamentations 3:8 laments the experiential result: “Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.”Psalm 51:6 appeals for the inverse—truth and wisdom in the “hidden place”—suggesting that God alone can re-open what sin has stopped.
Wisdom and Concealed Counsel
Ezekiel 28:3 rhetorically asks Tyre’s prince, “Are you wiser than Daniel? Can any secret be hidden from you?” The verse recognizes that human sagacity still faces realities God keeps sealed, exposing pride that dares to boast in autonomous insight.
Sealed Prophecy and Eschatological Disclosure
Daniel 8:26, 12:4, and 12:9 employ סָתַם to describe prophetic visions kept under divine lock until “the time of the end.” The sealing does not negate comprehension for all time; it preserves the message intact until the era God appoints for full clarity. Thus Scripture affirms its own sufficiency while acknowledging progressive illumination: “many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:4).
Thematic Synthesis
1. Physical obstruction (wells, walls, watercourses) and spiritual concealment (face, prayer, prophecy) operate under the same verb, underscoring the unity of material and spiritual realities in biblical thought.
2. The act of stopping can be either righteous or unrighteous: wicked when Philistines sabotage Isaac, righteous when Hezekiah frustrates Assyria, judicial when God conceals His face, protective when He seals prophecy for later generations.
3. Re-opening, whether of wells or revelation, is consistently portrayed as divine mercy responding to faith, repentance, and covenant fidelity.
Ministry Implications
• Guard God-given resources: believers must not allow the world’s hostility to “stop up” the wells of worship, prayer, and Word.
• Prepare wisely: Hezekiah models strategic stewardship that cooperates with faith rather than contradicting it.
• Seek unveiled fellowship: confession (Psalm 51) and faithful endurance invite God to remove the barriers sin erects.
• Trust sealed prophecy: what God has closed He will one day open; the church lives responsibly in the present light while anticipating fuller revelation at the consummation of Christ’s kingdom.
Forms and Transliterations
הַסְתֵּ֨ר הסתר וַֽיִּסְתְּמוּ֙ וַיְסַתְּמ֣וּם וּ֝בְסָתֻ֗ם ובסתם ויסתמו ויסתמום יִסְתֹּ֙מוּ֙ יסתמו לְהִסָּתֵ֑ם לִסְתּוֹם֙ להסתם לסתום סְתֹ֣ם סְתֹ֧ם סְתֻמִ֧ים סִתְּמ֣וּם סָת֖וּם סָתַם֙ סתום סתם סתמום סתמים שָׂתַ֖ם שתם תִּסְתֹּ֑מוּ תסתמו has·têr hasTer hastêr lə·his·sā·ṯêm lehissaTem ləhissāṯêm lis·tō·wm listOm listōwm sā·ṯam śā·ṯam sā·ṯūm saTam sāṯam śāṯam saTum sāṯūm sə·ṯōm sə·ṯu·mîm seTom səṯōm setuMim səṯumîm sit·tə·mūm sitteMum sittəmūm tis·tō·mū tisTomu tistōmū ū·ḇə·sā·ṯum ūḇəsāṯum uvesaTum vaiyisteMu vaysatteMum way·sat·tə·mūm way·yis·tə·mū waysattəmūm wayyistəmū yis·tō·mū yisTomu yistōmū
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