Bible Dictionary: Fortress

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A fortified place; a large and permanent fortification, sometimes including a town; a fort; a castle; a stronghold; a place of defense or security.

2. (v. t.) To furnish with a fortress or with fortresses; to guard; to fortify.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

FORTIFICATION; FORT; FORTIFIED CITIES; FORTRESS

for-ti-fi-ka'-shun (including):

I. IN RECENT EXCAVATIONS

1. Excavation of Tells

2. Sites

3. Primitive Character

4. Walls

5. Towers

6. Acropolis or Castle

7. Masonry

8. Gates

9. Water Supply

II. IN BIBLICAL HISTORY

1. Before the Monarchy

2. In the Period of the Monarchy

3. In the Period of the Return

III. IN THE PSALMS AND THE PROPHETS

1. The Psalms

2. The Prophets

IV. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. In Paul's Epistles

2. In the Acts of the Apostles

3. In the Gospel History

LITERATURE

Has a number of words representing its various elements and aspects:

(1) mibhtsar, is the term generally rendered "fenced" or "defenced city." In both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of Isaiah and Jeremiah we find for the most part the more formal "defenced city." It is found by itself (Isaiah 17:3); with `ir, "city" (1 Samuel 6:18 2 Kings 3:19; plural `are mibhtsar, "fenced (the American Standard Revised Version "fortified") cities," Numbers 32:17); with tsor, "Tyre" (Joshua 19:29 2 Samuel 24:7, where it is rendered "stronghold").

(2) misgabh, "high fort" (Isaiah 25:12 Jeremiah 48:1 the Revised Version, margin; Psalm 9:9, and many other places in the Pss).

(3) ma`oz, "fortress," "stronghold" (Judges 6:26 Psalm 31:2 Daniel 11:39).

(4) metsudhah, "fort" the King James Version, "stronghold" the Revised Version (British and American) (2 Samuel 5:9, 17).

(5) metsurah, "fort" (Isaiah 29:3 the King James Version; plural the Revised Version (British and American) "siege works").

(6) mutstsabh (Isaiah 29:3, "fort" the English Revised Version, "mount" the King James Version, "posted troops" the American Standard Revised Version).

(7) dayeq, "fort" (for the siege of a city, the wall of circumvallation cast up by the besiegers, 2 Kings 25:1 Jeremiah 52:4 Ezekiel 4:2; Ezekiel 17:17; Ezekiel 21:22; Ezekiel 26:8).

(8) matsor, "fortress" (Jeremiah 10:17 margin, wall of circumvallation: Habakkuk 2:1, "tower" the King James Version, "fortress" the Revised Version, margin; Zechariah 9:3).

(9) birah, "palace" the King James Version, "castle" the Revised Version (British and American) (Nehemiah 2:8; Nehemiah 7:2). Birah Grecized is baris, which has the double meaning of "palace" and "fortress." Nehemiah's "castle" figures largely in the books of Maccabees and in Josephus, and is the Castle of Antonia of the Acts of the Apostles.

(10) ochuroma (2 Corinthians 10:4, its only occurrence in the New Testament though it is the chief equivalent of mibhtsar in the Septuagint). In this connection it is to be noted that chomah, is Hebrew for "wall," Greek teichos; chel or cheyl, is Hebrew for the "ditch," or "rampart," or "bastion" of a fortress; mighdal, "tower"; pinnah plural pinnoth, "corner towers."

Fortified Places:

From the very beginning of their history as a nation the Israelites were acquainted with fortified cities. The report of cities "great and fortified up to heaven," inhabited by the sons of Anak, by Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites and Canaanites, struck terror into the hearts of the Israelites in the wilderness, and called forth murmurings from them on their way to Canaan (Numbers 13:28 Deuteronomy 1:28). Not that these cities were at all of the extent or population of modern cities, or of Nineveh, Babylon and Memphis of old. But to a people who were as yet little better than a horde of fugitives accustomed to the simple camp life of the wilderness and unacquainted with appliances for siege and assault, the prospect of scaling the walls and conquering the inhabitants was appalling. The cities of the Canaanites were already old when Joshua led the Israelites to the conquest of the land. Not a little of their history has become known to us, and the character of their defensive works has been disclosed by Palestinian excavation in recent years.

I. In Recent Excavations.

1. Excavation of Tells:

It has been largely to the tells, or mounds of buried cities, chiefly in the southwest of the land, that exploration has been directed. The Palestine Exploration Fund, drawing its resources from Great Britain and also from America, was the first, and has all along been the foremost, in the work of excavation. Through the labors of Professor Flinders Petrie at Tell el-Hesy; of Dr. F. J. Bliss, and Professor Stewart Macalister at Tell Zakariyah, Tell ec-Safi, Tell ej-Judeideh, Tell Sandahannah, and more recently of Professor Macalister at Gezer, the Fund has added largely to our knowledge of the fenced cities of Canaan. The work of Sir Charles Warren, Sir Charles W. Wilson, Colonel Conder and other explorers at Jerusalem under the same auspices has been of great value for illustrating the defensive works of a later time. Germany and Austria have not been behind. The excavation, first, of Tell Ta'anek in the Plain of Esdraelon, and, at the present time (1911), of Jericho by Professor E. Sellin, formerly of Vienna, now of Rostock; and of Tell el-Mutesellim, the ancient Megiddo, by Gottlieb Schumacher, has yielded results of the highest importance. Since 1908 an American expedition from Harvard University, first under Schumacher and now under Dr. Reisner, who had previously excavated at the Pyramids and other places in Egypt, has explored with remarkable results the site of the capital of the Northern Kingdom, Samaria. Excavations have also been conducted by the German Orient Committee at Sinjerli which have thrown a flood of light upon the archaeology of Northern Syria and especially upon the wonderful Hittite people. The memoirs and reports of these excavations have furnished abundance of material for tracing the evolution and understanding the anatomy of the tell. They usefully supplement the Scripture narratives, and confirm them in many particulars.

2. Sites:

These cities of the primitive inhabitants of Canaan occupied sites easily capable of defense. They were built either upon a projecting spur of a mountain ridge, like Gezer, Megiddo, Tell ec-Safi (believed to be the ancient Gath) and primitive Jerusalem, or upon an isolated eminence in the plain like Tell el-Hesy (Lachish) or Taanach. Compared with modern cities the area was small-in the case of Gezer about a quarter of a mile square, Lachish 15 acres, Megiddo and Taanach 12 to 13 acres. A sufficient water supply within easy reach was an essential feature. Speaking of Gezer, Professor Macalister says: "Water, the first necessity of life, was in abundance. The three primitive modes of livelihood-hunting, pasturing, and agriculture-could be practiced here better than in many places. Further, for defense-another prime necessity in early days-the hill is admirably fitted. It is steep and not easy to climb; and being fairly high it commands a wide prospect, so that the approach of enemies can be seen and prepared for" (Bible Side-Lights from Gezer, 25, 26).

3. Primitive Character:

Their history goes back in most cases to a very remote antiquity. "It cannot have been much later than 3000 B.C.," says Professor Macalister regarding Gezer, "when a primitive race of men first realized that the bare rocky hill (as it then was) would be a suitable dwelling-place. This tribe was a cave-dwelling race" (as above; and PEFS, 1904, 311). The primitive race had occupied the hill perhaps five hundred years when the Canaanites drove them out, as they in turn were driven out by the Israelites. But the nature of their original habitations, the earliest relics of their social life, and what can be gathered of their religious rites all bear witness to a remote antiquity. From the mound of Tell el-Hesy, now almost certainly identified with the site of Lachish, eleven cities, one above the other have been disinterred, the eleventh or highest having nine cities between itself and the first Amorite buildings reared upon the original bluff. This lowest city is believed to go back some 2000 years B.C., Professor Flinders Petrie having dated the successive cities by means of the pottery found in the strata of the mound. One of the eleven cities, possibly the fourth from the bottom, was that of Lachish, which fell a prey to Joshua (Joshua 10:32), the walls of which, built of crude brick and 10-12 ft. in thickness, are a witness to its character as a fenced city (Bliss, A Mound of Many Cities, chapter iv).

4. Walls:

While the site of the Canaanite city was chosen for its natural strength, the first settlers soon felt the need of some fortification. At Sinjerli the excavators have been able to trace the general growth of the site from a group of shepherds' huts into a walled town. The earliest fortification attempted was a rampart of earth following the natural contour of the hill (PEFS, 1903, 113). Within some such enclosing wall, houses were built and the inhabitants lived and pursued their avocations safely. The primitive earthbank in the case of Gezer was in course of time replaced first by an inner and then by an outer wall in succession. The outer wall when it was added to strengthen the inner was the chel, rendered in the English version "bulwark" (Isaiah 26:1) or "rampart" (Nahum 3:8, where the waters of the Nile served the same purpose). Professor Macalister estimates that the inner wall of Gezer had fallen into disuse and ruin by about 1450 B.C. and that it was the outer that saw the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites. "Even in its present ruined form," says Professor Macalister, "the outer city wall is an imposing structure. In places it still stands to a height of from 10 to 14 ft., and these can hardly be regarded as being much more than the underground foundations. The outer face of the city wall, towering above the hill on which the city was built, may well have seemed impregnable to the messengers of Moses" (Bible Side-Lights, 142). The walls of a later time, as we learn from Assyrian representations, were provided with battlements, very often crenellated, and "thy pinnacles of rubies" (Isaiah 54:12, the Revised Version (British and American), the Revised Version, margin "windows") may refer to them. For the purpose of strengthening the walls, especially at the least defensible points, revetments or facings of stone or kiln-burnt bricks were sometimes added. Even these again would be rendered less assailable by a trench (chel) serving to cut off a fortress from adjacent level or sloping ground, as may still be seen outside the North wall of Jerusalem, and many parts ofthe walls of Constantinople.

5. Towers:

Towers were sometimes built at the corners or at points on the wall where attack was to be apprehended (Ze 1:16; 2 Chronicles 14:7). Such towers have been disclosed on the crest of the hill at Tell Zakariyah. At Gezer 30 towers were found round the outer wall. On the walls of Sinjerli there rose no fewer than 800 towers (Garstang, Land of the Hittites, 273). On the evidence of the excavations at this ancient Hittite site we gather that the cities about the time of the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan "were already surrounded by masoned walls, supported by numerous external towers, and entered through gateways barred by a pair of double doors and guarded by wing towers on either hand" (Land of the Hittites, 367). For illustrations, see CITY.

6. Acropolis or Castle:

Every one of these ancient cities had an inner fortress which would be an internal means of protection, and the last refuge of the defenders in extremity. At Tell Zakariyah the acropolis wall has been traced, and its shape has been found to be conditioned by the contours of the hill on which it stood. In an old Hittite settlement a fortress has been found rectangular in shape and supported by an outer and lower wall at a distance of 12 to 30 yds. (Land of the Hittites, 162). There is evidence that the mound or bluff originally occupied remained the fortress or acropolis of the city when it spread out over a larger area, and this seems to have been the case for some time at least with the Jebusite fort taken by David and made the capital of the kingdom. At Sinjerli, while there was a wall surrounding the whole township, there was an outer as well as an inner defensive wall to the citadel. Upon this citadel were found palaces from which the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser I, copied the plan of a Hittite palace, called in Assyrian Hilani.

7. Masonry:

The excavations enable us to see the progress of the art of fortification from very primitive beginnings. Crude brick and rough stone-work were the materials of the earliest walls. They are usually found of uncoursed masonry in which the large stones are undressed field boulders. The facings of stone and the joints in walls were often packed with pebbles or with limestone chippings, the stones themselves being more or less roughly trimmed and dressed to shape by a hammer. Corner-stones are found in the towers showing marks of the chisel, but it is not till well on in the Hebrew period that stones are found with bosses and marginal drafting. At Zakariyah the walls of the acropolis were of rubble laid in mud, mixed with straw without lime, and they contained some well-worked stones, irregularly intermingled with field stones of various sizes. At a later time mortar was used to cover the walls and give greater strength and support. But the clay used for the purpose was apt to crack unless it was given consistency by treading with the feet and mixing with water. Thus we read of a wall daubed with untempered mortar (Ezekiel 13:10-16; Ezekiel 22:28; compare Nahum 3:14). In the masonry of the Hittite fortress (see (6) above) the masonry of the inner wall is rough, dry stonewalling, while the outer is built of stones roughly pentagonal in shape, irregular in size, fitted to one another and laid without mortar, somewhat like the Cyclopean walls of the earliest periods of Greek history.

SeeGEZER.

8. Gates:

The gates of the fenced cities of Canaan may not have had the social importance which the city gate came to possess in later times, but they were an important element in the defensive works of a city. They were as few as possible, so as to give only the necessary ingress and egress. The gate of Jericho was shut and secured at nightfall (Joshua 2:5). The gate of Gaza had two leaves which were not hinged to the two gate-posts, but turned on pins moving in sockets in the sill and lintel, the bar stretching between the two posts and let into them to secure the gate (Judges 16:3, with Moore's notes). The hundred gates of Babylon, according to Herodotus, were all of brass (i.179); and Yahweh promises to Cyrus to break in pieces the doors of brass and to cut in sunder the bars of iron (Isaiah 45:2). That the bars were sometimes of wood is clear from what is said of the bars of Nineveh (Habakkuk 3:13). To protect the gate it was supplied with towers. Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate and at the valley gate, and fortilled them (2 Chronicles 26:9). In the inner wall of Gezer, to which reference has been made, a gate of very remarkable structure has been found. The wall is of stone, but the gateway consists of a passage between two solid towers of brick. The passage is 9 ft. wide and 42 ft. long, roughly paved with stones. Stone slabs on each side of the passageway bear traces of fire, and the absence of any wooden barrier may be due to a conflagration at the capture of the city. The towers remain standing and rise to a total height of about 16 ft. In later times watchmen were set on the tower over the gate to descry the approach of friend or foe or messenger (2 Samuel 18:24), and the tower had chambers in it which might be occupied by visitors or by a guard. For the more general purposes see GATE.

9. Water Supply:

One of the essential requisites of the primitive Canaanite fortress was a supply of water. At Gezer a copious spring within easy reach was available. Tell el-Hesy commands the only springs in that region (A Mound of Many Cities, 16). It is a strong point in favor of the modern theory of the ridge of Ophel being the site of Zion or David's town that the Virgin's Fountain, the only perennial spring in the whole circuit of Jerusalem, was close to it, and would have been an inducement to the Jebusites to build their fortress there. In the sites that have been excavated, cisterns, sometimes vaulted over and with steps down into them, have been constantly found. Traces have also been observed of concealed passages or tunnels by which access has been obtained to the nearest spring. Some such explanation has been given of the "gutter" (2 Samuel 5:8 the King James Version, "watercourse" the Revised Version (British and American)), by which Joab obtained access to the fortress of Jebus and enabled David to capture it (1 Chronicles 11:6; compare Vincent, Canaan d'apres l'exploration recente, 26). During an investment of a fortified city by an enemy, it was a point in strategy for the inhabitants to secure the fountain and to divert or conceal the stream flowing from it so that the besiegers might be left without a water supply (2 Kings 3:19, 25 2 Chronicles 32:3; compare also 2 Samuel 12:26, 27, Century Bible, Kennedy's note).

II. In Biblical History.

1. Before the Monarchy:

On the passage of the Jordan the Israelites found in Jericho a walled city of great strength barring their progress. The excavations recently made have disclosed the common features of Canaanite fortresses-an outer wall, surrounding the entire area, 6 1/2 ft. thick, a citadel and protecting walls of hardly less substantial workmanship. Nearby also is the essential spring to furnish the water supply. Within the citadel were found the walls and rooms of Canaanite houses, and in many cases remains of infants buried in jars under the clay floors (Driver, Modern Research as Illustrating the Bible, 91). These examples of "foundation sacrifices" with which the excavations at Gezer have made us familiar give point to the account of the resettlement of the city in the days of Ahab, when Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho, laying the foundation thereof with the loss of Abiram, his firstborn, and setting up the gates thereof with the loss of his youngest son Segub (1 Kings 16:34).

SeeCORNER-STONE; CANAAN.

In the Book of Jud we read of the strong tower, or citadel, of Thebez, into which the inhabitants had crowded and to which Abimelech was setting fire when a woman upon the wall hurled a millstone upon him and broke his skull (Judges 9:51). It does not appear that at this period the Israelites were in possession of the strongholds of the land, for when the Philistines overran the country, they had no fortresses to flee to, but "did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits" (1 Samuel 13:6).

2. In the Period of the Monarchy:

When David captured the Jebusite fortress (2 Samuel 5:6) and transferred his capital from Hebron to Jerusalem, a new era of independence and even of conquest began. The natural strength of David's town, with such fortification as had been added, made it impregnable to any Philistine or Syrian foe, and one of the strongest fortresses in Western Asia.

Although Solomon was a man of peace, he included among the great buildings which he executed fortresses and works of defense. He built the wall of Jerusalem round about. He built Millo (called Akra ("citadel") in the Septuagint), and closed the breaches of the city of David, so that there might be no vulnerable point found in the defenses of the city (1 Kings 9:15). This fortification is represented in Septuagint, which has here an addition to the Massoretic Text, as securing the complete subjection of the original inhabitants who remained. Solomon also built Hazor to watch Damascus, Megiddo to guard the plain of Jezreel, and Gezer overlooking the maritime plain, his work being one of refortification rather than of building from the foundation. He fortified also Beth-horon, Upper and Nether, to block the way against Philistine invasion. The store cities, and cities to accommodate his chariots and horses, were also part of his military system (1 Kings 9:18).

The disruption of the kingdoms, and the jealousy and hostility that followed between Judah and Israel, necessitated fresh undertakings of fortification, on the part of both kingdoms. Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. He fortified the strongholds and provisioned them and stored arms within them in case of siege (2 Chronicles 11:5). One of Jeroboam's first acts on ascending the throne was to build the two fortresses, Shechem to guard Mt. Ephraim, and Penuel to protect Gilead (1 Kings 12:25). Baasha later pushed his frontier within a few miles of Jerusalem, fortifying Ramah to overawe Asa in his very capital. The long war which lasted through the reigns of Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha and Elah, kings of Israel, was largely a war of sieges, one of them, that of Gibbethon, having apparently lasted 27 years (1 Kings 15:27, compared with 1 Kings 16:15).

With Omri there arose in Israel a powerful ruler whose name is mentioned with respect in the Assyrian monuments, which designate the kingdom of Israel Mat Bit Khumri, "the land of the house of Omri." He was the builder of Samaria which remained the capital of the Northern Kingdom till its fall in 722 B.C. In excavations but recently carried on by the archaeological expedition of Harvard University, the walls of Omri's palace and fortress were laid bare, giving an impression of the great strength of the place.

While Solomon built the wall of Jerusalem, we read that Uzziah built towers at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them (2 Chronicles 26:9). Jotham his son, continued his father's labors in the further fortification of the city (2 Chronicles 27:3, 1). Hezekiah had good reason to add still further to the strength of the city, seeing that he had to bear the brunt of Sennacherib's expedition to the west. Sennacherib boasts that of Hezekiah's fortified towns, he captured 46, with innumerable fortresses besides (Schrader, Schrader, The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, I, 286), but he cannot tell that Jerusalem was among them, for it came through the ordeal unscathed. In the reign of Manasseh Jerusalem was captured and the king himself carried away to Nineveh, but on his repentance he was restored to the throne and set himself to strengthen the fortifications of the city (2 Chronicles 33:14). The city was unable, however, to hold out against Nebuchadrezzar and his captains; for it was taken in 597 B.C., and King Jehoiachin and the flower of the population were deported to Babylon. After a siege of two years it was again taken in 586 B.C., and temple and city were destroyed, and the walls razed to the ground.

3. In the Period of the Return:

The patriotic labor of Nehemiah in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem belongs properly to the history of the city (see JERUSALEM). In the Maccabean struggle, the Akra (APC 1Macc 1:33; 3:45, etc.), the citadel, was long held by a Syrian garrison, and was in the end delivered up to the high priest by Demetrius (APC 1Macc 10:32). Notable also still later was the castle of Antonia (Acts 22:24) on the site of the earlier castle of Nehemiah's day (Nehemiah 2:8; Nehemiah 7:2).

III. In the Psalms and the Prophets.

1. The Psalms

Under the image of a fortress, or mountain fastness, inaccessible to any common foot, where there is perfect safety from enemies and persecutors, the Psalmist delights to express his confidence in God. Yahweh, in virtue of His righteous judgments, is a high tower to the downtrodden, a place of refuge and security (misgabh) to those who are in trouble (Psalm 9:9). When he exults in the strength of God who has given him deliverance, he multiplies words to utter his confidence: "I love Thee, O Yahweh, my strength. Yahweh is my rock, and my fortress (metsudhah),. my God. my high tower (misgabh)" (Psalm 18:1, 2). Thirteen times in the Psalms we find this word: Psalm 9:9; Psalm 18:2; Psalm 46:7, 11; 59:9, 16, 17 (where the King James Version translates "defence" and the Revised Version (British and American) "high tower"), etc. Elsewhere metsudhah is employed (Psalm 31:2; literally, "house of fortresses"; Psalm 91:2; Psalm 144:2). If we were at liberty to accept such psalms as Psalms 18:59 as Davidic, the appropriateness of them to the circumstances of the Shepherd King when persecuted by Saul, taking refuge in the cave of Adullam and enduring the perils and anxieties of an outlaw's life, would at once be apparent.

2. The Prophets:

Although Jeremiah has been called the weeping prophet, yet for the fearless fulfillment of his commission to a gainsaying people, God made him "a fortified city (`ir mibhtsar), and an iron pillar, and brazen walls" (Jeremiah 1:18; compare Jeremiah 6:27; Jeremiah 15:20). Hosea in the Northern Kingdom predicted the destruction of its "fortresses" (mibhtsar) by the invading Assyrians (10:14; compare 8:14). The prophets in proclaiming God's message to their day addressed themselves not only to Israel and Judah, but also to those great world-powers with which the Hebrew people had relations. In the oracles of the prophets to the nations-to Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Syria, Edom, and others-we obtain glimpses of great and fortified cities like No-amon (Thebes), Babylon, Nineveh, Damascus, whose natural defenses and added fortifications did not save them from capture and destruction. And the teaching of the prophets for the comfort of Israel and Judah is that Yahweh was a better defense to them than the great rivers of Assyria and Egypt were to those nations. When Nineveh was at the height of her pride, fierceness and worldly glory, Nahum asks her: "Art thou better than No-amon (Thebes of Egypt), that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart (chel) was the sea (the Nile), and her wall (chomah) was of the sea?" (Nahum 3:8). Of Nineveh itself we know that it was protected, not only by walls and fortresses of great strength, but also by canals and streams drawn round the city. Yet Nahum declares in his sublime apostrophe: "All thy fortresses shall be like figtrees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater" (Nahum 3:12). Babylon had walls whose strength and height, as described by Herodotus and other historians, were fabulous. Its great monarch Nebuchadrezzar was in his day the greatest ruler of the East, and Sir Henry Layard has told that scarcely a brick unearthed in the mounds of the great Babylonian plain was without his name. Yet when the day of reckoning came, the wall, said to be mountain-high, and 80 ft. thick, with its moat so broad that an arrow could not be shot over it, and all its elaborate works of defense, were as if they had not been; it surrendered to Cyrus without a blow being struck. It is in the visions of the prophets, in the universal peace which is to accompany the restoration of Israel, that we hear of "them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates" (Ezekiel 38:11). "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will he appoint for walls and bulwarks" (chel) (Isaiah 26:1). "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, desolation nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise" (Isaiah 60:18). Building of fenced cities, with riding upon horses and military preparation, was a note of the false prophet, who urged alliances with foreign powers such as Assyria and Egypt, anal relied too much upon the material resources of the nation. The true prophet realized that the strength of the nation lay in God and urged the people to put their trust in Him (Hosea 8:14). "Jerusalem," says Zechariah in the days of the Return, "shall be inhabited as villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein.

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Greek

3794. ochuroma -- a stronghold, fortress
... a stronghold, fortress. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: ochuroma Phonetic
Spelling: (okh-oo'-ro-mah) Short Definition: a fortress, strong defense ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3794.htm - 7k

4439. pule -- a gate
... 4439 (a feminine noun) -- a door; an to a city or fortress; a . 4439 ("a ")
typically refers to the people , ie focusing on what . ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4439.htm - 7k

5083. tereo -- to watch over, to guard
... by keeping the eye upon; and thus differing from phulasso, which is properly to
prevent escaping; and from koustodia, which implies a fortress or full military ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5083.htm - 10k

Strong's Hebrew

664. Apheqah -- perhaps "fortress," a city in Palestine
... 663, 664. Apheqah. 665 . perhaps "fortress," a city in Palestine. Transliteration:
Apheqah Phonetic Spelling: (af-ay-kaw') Short Definition: Aphekah. ...
/hebrew/664.htm - 6k

663. Apheq -- perhaps "fortress," the name of several places in ...
... Apheq. 664 . perhaps "fortress," the name of several places in Palestine.
Transliteration: Apheq Phonetic Spelling: (af-ake') Short Definition: Aphek. ...
/hebrew/663.htm - 6k

1224a. Botsrah -- "fortress," a city in Edom, also one in Moab
... 1224, 1224a. Botsrah. 1224b . "fortress," a city in Edom, also one in
Moab. Transliteration: Botsrah Short Definition: Bozrah. Word ...
/hebrew/1224a.htm - 5k

2426. chel -- rampart, fortress
chel or chel. 2425b, 2426. chel or chel. 2427 . rampart, fortress. Transliteration:
chel or chel Phonetic Spelling: (khale) Short Definition: rampart. ...
/hebrew/2426.htm - 6k

1003a. biranith -- a fortress, fortified place
... 1003, 1003a. biranith. 1003b . a fortress, fortified place. Transliteration:
biranith Short Definition: fortresses. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/1003a.htm - 5k

1221. Betser -- "fortress," a city in Reuben, also a descendant of ...
... Betser. 1222 . "fortress," a city in Reuben, also a descendant of Asher.
Transliteration: Betser Phonetic Spelling: (beh'-tser) Short Definition: Bezer. ...
/hebrew/1221.htm - 6k

1003. biyraniyth -- a fortress, fortified place
... a fortress, fortified place. Transliteration: biyraniyth Phonetic Spelling:
(bee-raw-neeth') Short Definition: castle. castle From biyrah; a fortress -- castle. ...
/hebrew/1003.htm - 5k

1224. Botsrah -- "fortress," a city in Edom, also one in Moab
... Botsrah. 1224a . "fortress," a city in Edom, also one in Moab. Transliteration:
Botsrah Phonetic Spelling: (bots-raw') Short Definition: Bozrah. Bozrah ...
/hebrew/1224.htm - 5k

4692. matsor -- siege enclosure, siege, entrenchment
... Word Origin from tsur Definition siege enclosure, siege, entrenchment NASB Word
Usage besieged (3), defense (1), fortified (1), fortress (1), rampart (1 ...
/hebrew/4692.htm - 6k

4013. mibtsar -- fortification
... Definition fortification NASB Word Usage besieged (1), fortifications (5), fortified
(17), fortified cities (1), fortified city (1), fortress (3), fortresses (1 ...
/hebrew/4013.htm - 6k

Library

The Fortress of the Faithful
... THE FORTRESS OF THE FAITHFUL. 'He shall dwell ... particular temptation. Keep
inside the fortress, and no bullet will come near you. Array ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/the fortress of the faithful.htm

a Mighty Fortress is Our God
... II. THE CHRISTIAN YEAR Sundays After Trinity: Faith 213. A mighty Fortress is our
God. PM ... Tr. Frederick H. Hedge, 1852. A mighty Fortress is our God,. ...
/.../sundays after trinity faith 213.htm

How the People that were in the Fortress were Prevailed on by the ...
... CHAPTER 9. How The People That Were In The Fortress Were Prevailed On By The Words
Of Eleazar, Two Women And Five Children Only Excepted And All Submitted To ...
/.../chapter 9 how the people.htm

Be for Thou Art'
... 'Be Thou to me a strong Rock, an house of defence to save me.3. For Thou art my
Rock and my Fortress.'"Psalm 31:2, 3((RV). It sounds strange logic, 'Be ... ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture j/be for thou art.htm

The Review of the Troops at Doriscus.
... There was an extensive fortress here, which had been erected by the orders
of Darius when he had subjugated this part of the country. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/abbott/xerxes/chapter vi the review of.htm

To the End God May Rest in the Soul to the End God May Rest in the ...
... Enter within it, that thou may overcome it; for therein is the Divine Fortress,
which defends, protects, and fights for thee. If ...
/.../the spiritual guide which disentangles the soul/chap i to the end.htm

A Shepherd Boy who was Called to Lead a Nation
... heard that they had made David ruler over Israel, all the Philistines went up to
search for David; but when he heard of this he went down to the fortress. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/a shepherd boy who was.htm

Overthrow of the Usurper Magnentius.
... fought, sometimes to the advantage of one party, and sometimes to that of the other:
but at last Magnentius having been defeated near Mursa"a fortress of Gaul ...
/.../chapter xxxii overthrow of the usurper.htm

How Izates was Betrayed by his Own Subjects, and Fought against by ...
... He also pursued their king, and drove him into a fortress called Arsamus, and
following on the siege vigorously, he took that fortress. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 4 how izates was.htm

Antigonus Besieges those that were in Masada, whom Herod Frees ...
... he had heard that Malichus repented of his offenses with regard to Herod; and he
had been so quick as to have been gone out of the fortress already, unless, on ...
/.../chapter 15 antigonus besieges those.htm

Thesaurus

Fortress (75 Occurrences)
... 2. (vt) To furnish with a fortress or with fortresses; to guard; to fortify. Int.
Standard Bible Encyclopedia. FORTIFICATION; FORT; FORTIFIED CITIES; FORTRESS. ...
/f/fortress.htm - 60k

Millo (9 Occurrences)
... reads Bethmaalon, also Maalon and oikos Maallon): 1. Old Testament References It
is generally supposed that "The Millo" was some kind of fortress or other ...
/m/millo.htm - 14k

Stronghold (68 Occurrences)
... (n.) A fastness; a fort or fortress; fortified place; a place of security. Int. ...
(See NAS). Psalms 62:6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. ...
/s/stronghold.htm - 25k

Kir-haraseth (1 Occurrence)
... Built fortress, a city and fortress of Moab, the modern Kerak, a small town on the
brow of a steep hill about 6 miles from Rabbath-Moab and 10 miles from the ...
/k/kir-haraseth.htm - 8k

Kirharaseth (1 Occurrence)
... Built fortress, a city and fortress of Moab, the modern Kerak, a small town on the
brow of a steep hill about 6 miles from Rabbath-Moab and 10 miles from the ...
/k/kirharaseth.htm - 8k

Misgab (1 Occurrence)
... Height, a town of Moab, or simply, the height=the citadel, some fortress so called;
or perhaps a general name for the highlands of Moab, as some think ...
/m/misgab.htm - 7k

Machaerus
... The Black Fortress, was built by Herod the Great in the gorge of Callirhoe, one
of the wadies 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, as a frontier rampart against Arab ...
/m/machaerus.htm - 9k

Castle (26 Occurrences)
... A military fortress (1 Chronicles 11:7), also probably a kind of tower used by the
priests for making known anything discovered at a distance (1 Chronicles 6:54 ...
/c/castle.htm - 15k

Deliverer (29 Occurrences)
... 2 Samuel 22:2 and he said, "Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
even mine; (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV). ...
/d/deliverer.htm - 15k

Kir (11 Occurrences)
... A wall or fortress, a place to which Tiglath-pileser carried the Syrians captive
after he had taken the city of Damascus (2 Kings 16:9; Amos 1:5; 9:7). Isaiah ...
/k/kir.htm - 17k

Bible Concordance

Fortress (75 Occurrences)

Acts 21:34 And different persons cried some different thing in the crowd. But he, not being able to know the certainty on account of the uproar, commanded him to be brought into the fortress.
(DBY)

Acts 21:37 But as he was about to be led into the fortress, Paul says to the chiliarch, Is it allowed me to say something to thee? And he said, Dost thou know Greek?
(DBY)

Acts 22:24 the chiliarch commanded him to be brought into the fortress, saying that he should be examined by scourging, that he might ascertain for what cause they cried thus against him.
(DBY)

Acts 23:16 But Paul's sister's son, having heard of the lying in wait, came and entered into the fortress and reported it to Paul.
(DBY)

Acts 23:32 and on the morrow, having left the horsemen to go with him, returned to the fortress.
(DBY)

1 Samuel 22:4 and he leadeth them before the king of Moab, and they dwell with him all the days of David's being in the fortress.
(YLT)

1 Samuel 22:5 And Gad the prophet saith unto David, 'Thou dost not abide in a fortress, go, and thou hast entered for thee the land of Judah;' and David goeth and entereth the forest of Hareth.
(YLT)

1 Samuel 24:22 And David sweareth to Saul, and Saul goeth unto his house, and David and his men have gone up unto the fortress.
(YLT)

2 Samuel 5:7 And David captureth the fortress of Zion, it 'is' the city of David.
(YLT NIV)

2 Samuel 5:9 And David dwelleth in the fortress, and calleth it -- City of David, and David buildeth round about, from Millo and inward,
(YLT NIV)

2 Samuel 5:17 And the Philistines hear that they have anointed David for king over Israel, and all the Philistines come up to seek David, and David heareth, and goeth down unto the fortress,
(YLT)

2 Samuel 22:2 and he said, "Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 22:33 God is my strong fortress. He makes my way perfect.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS)

2 Samuel 23:14 and David 'is' then in a fortress, and the station of the Philistines 'is' then in Beth-Lehem,
(YLT)

2 Samuel 24:7 and they come in to the fortress of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivite, and of the Canaanite, and go out unto the south of Judah, to Beer-Sheba.
(YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 15:25 And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the fortress of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites; and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.
(DBY)

1 Chronicles 11:5 And the inhabitants of Jebus say to David, 'Thou dost not come in hither;' and David captureth the fortress of Zion -- it 'is' the city of David.
(YLT NIV)

1 Chronicles 11:7 And David dwelleth in the fortress, therefore they have called it, 'City of David;'
(YLT NIV)

1 Chronicles 11:16 and David 'is' then in the fortress, and the station of the Philistines 'is' then in Beth-Lehem,
(YLT)

1 Chronicles 12:8 And of the Gadite there have been separated unto David, to the fortress, to the wilderness, mighty of valour, men of the host for battle, setting in array target and buckler, and their faces the face of the lion, and as roes on the mountains for speed:
(YLT)

2 Chronicles 17:19 These 'are' those serving the king, apart from those whom the king put in the cities of fortress, in all Judah.
(YLT)

Ezra 6:2 And there was found at Achmetha in the fortress that is in the province of Media a roll, and therein was a record thus written:
(DBY NAS)

Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the fortress,
(DBY)

Nehemiah 2:8 and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's park, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.' And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
(See NAS RSV)

Nehemiah 7:2 that I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the castle, charge over Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.
(See NAS)

Esther 1:2 in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the fortress,
(DBY)

Esther 1:5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast to all the people that were present in Shushan the fortress, both to great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace.
(DBY)

Esther 2:3 and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the young virgins of beautiful countenance to Shushan the fortress, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given.
(DBY)

Esther 2:5 There was in Shushan the fortress a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
(DBY)

Esther 2:8 And it came to pass when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the fortress, unto the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was brought into the king's house, unto the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
(DBY)

Esther 3:15 The couriers went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the fortress. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was in consternation.
(DBY)

Esther 8:14 The couriers mounted on coursers and horses of blood went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the fortress.
(DBY)

Esther 9:6 And in Shushan the fortress the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.
(DBY)

Esther 9:11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the fortress was brought before the king.
(DBY)

Esther 9:12 And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the fortress, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? And what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee; and what is thy request further? and it shall be done.
(DBY)

Job 39:28 A rock he doth inhabit, Yea, he lodgeth on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.
(YLT)

Psalms 18:2 Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 28:8 The Lord is their strength, and a strong place of salvation for his king.
(See NIV)

Psalms 31:2 Bow down thine ear unto me; deliver me speedily: Be thou to me a strong rock, A house of defence to save me.
(See JPS RSV NIV)

Psalms 31:3 For you are my rock and my fortress, therefore for your name's sake lead me and guide me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 46:7 Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high fortress. Selah.
(DBY NIV)

Psalms 46:11 Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high fortress. Selah.
(DBY NIV)

Psalms 48:3 God is known in her palaces as a high fortress.
(DBY NIV)

Psalms 59:9 Their strength! ... I will take heed to thee; for God is my high fortress.
(DBY RSV NIV)

Psalms 59:16 But as for me, I will sing of thy strength; yea, I will sing aloud of thy loving-kindness in the morning; for thou hast been to me a high fortress, and a refuge in the day of my trouble.
(DBY RSV NIV)

Psalms 59:17 Unto thee, my strength, will I sing psalms; for God is my high fortress, the God of my mercy.
(DBY RSV NIV)

Psalms 62:2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress-- I will never be greatly shaken.
(WEB DBY RSV NIV)

Psalms 62:6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken.
(WEB DBY RSV NIV)

Psalms 71:3 Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 91:2 I will say of Yahweh, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 144:2 my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge; who subdues my people under me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 10:15 The property of the man of wealth is his strong town: the poor man's need is his destruction.
(See NAS)

Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of Yahweh is a secure fortress, and he will be a refuge for his children.
(WEB NIV)

Isaiah 17:3 The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel," says Yahweh of Armies.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Isaiah 17:10 For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and thou hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy stronghold; therefore thou didst plant plants of pleasantness, and didst set it with slips of a stranger;
(See NIV)

Isaiah 23:4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea hath spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying: 'I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I reared young men, nor brought up virgins.'
(See NIV)

Isaiah 23:14 Howl, ships of Tarshish! for your fortress is laid waste.
(DBY NIV)

Isaiah 25:4 For thou hast been a fortress to the poor, a fortress for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat: for the blast of the terrible ones has been as the storm against a wall.
(DBY)

Isaiah 25:12 He has brought the high fortress of your walls down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Isaiah 29:7 And all the nations making war on Ariel, and all those who are fighting against her and shutting her in with their towers, will be like a dream, like a vision of the night.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 33:16 he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.
(WEB DBY RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 6:27 I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people; that you may know and try their way.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 10:17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 48:1 Concerning Moab: 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Wo unto Nebo, for it is spoiled, Put to shame, captured hath been Kiriathaim, Put to shame hath been the high tower, Yea, it hath been broken down.
(See RSV)

Daniel 8:2 And I saw in the vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was in the fortress of Shushan, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.
(DBY)

Daniel 11:7 But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Daniel 11:10 His sons shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through; and they shall return and war, even to his fortress.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Daniel 11:31 Forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
(WEB ASV DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Amos 5:9 who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Micah 7:12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
(KJV WBS YLT)

Nahum 2:1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily!
(WEB ASV DBY NAS NIV)

Habakkuk 1:10 He makes little of kings, rulers are a sport to him; all the strong places are to be laughed at; for he makes earthworks and takes them.
(See NAS RSV)

Zechariah 9:3 And Tyre made for herself a strong place, and got together silver like dust and the best gold like the earth of the streets.
(See NAS)

Zechariah 9:12 Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Fortress

Related Terms

Millo (9 Occurrences)

Stronghold (68 Occurrences)

Kir-haraseth (1 Occurrence)

Kirharaseth (1 Occurrence)

Misgab (1 Occurrence)

Machaerus

Castle (26 Occurrences)