4685. matsowd
Lexical Summary
matsowd: Fortress, stronghold, net, bulwark

Original Word: מָצוֹד
Part of Speech: noun masculine; noun masculine; noun feminine; noun feminine
Transliteration: matsowd
Pronunciation: maw-tsode'
Phonetic Spelling: (maw-tsode')
KJV: bulwark, hold, munition, net, snare
Word Origin: [from H6679 (צּוּד - hunt)]

1. a net (for capturing animals or fishes)
2. (by interchange for H4679) a fastness or (beseiging) tower

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
bulwark, hold, net, snare

Or (feminine) mtsowdah {mets-o-daw'}; or mtsodah {mets-o-daw'}; from tsuwd; a net (for capturing animals or fishes) -- also (by interchange for mtsad) a fastness or (beseiging) tower -- bulwark, hold, munition, net, snare.

see HEBREW tsuwd

see HEBREW mtsad

Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. [מָצוֺד] noun masculine in plural, dubious, usually siege-works; — מְצוֺדִים נְּדֹלִים Ecclesiastes 9:14, but read מְצוּרִים WklAltor. Forsch. iv. 353, see מָצוֺר 2, p. 849 a.

II. [מָצוֺד] noun [masculine] hunting implement, specifically net (compare Syriac , ᵑ7 מְצַדְתָּא, net); — only figurative: construct מְצוֺד רָעִים Proverbs 12:12 (but text dubious, see conjecture in Toy); suffix מְצוּדוֺ Job 19:5 (of God as Job's hunter); plural מְצוֺדִים וַחֲרָמִים לִנָּהּ Ecclesiastes 7:26 (of woman).

I. מְצוֺדָה noun feminine net; — ׳מ Ecclesiastes 9:12 for fish (in simile); — plural Ezekiel 19:9 see מְצָד above

II. [מְצוֺדָה] noun feminine fastness, stronghold; — suffix מְצֹדָתָהּ Isaiah 29:7 (of Ariel); — plural Ezekiel 19:9 see מְצָד.

Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Imagery

The term מָצוֹד conveys two allied pictures. First, it can speak of a hunting device—net, snare, trap—designed to capture prey. Second, it can denote a military work—stronghold, bulwark, siege-tower—built to confine or overpower an enemy. Whether in the open field or on a city wall, the word always carries the idea of something constructed to seize, restrain, or dominate.

Occurrences in Scripture

1. Proverbs 12:12 contrasts the “plunder” (מָצוֹד) sought by the wicked with the enduring root of the righteous. The picture is of men who covet the gain produced by traps rather than the fruit produced by integrity.
2. Ecclesiastes 7:26 employs the hunting sense: “I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare; her heart is a trap and her hands are chains” (Berean Standard Bible). Moral seduction is likened to a carefully laid net.
3. Ecclesiastes 9:14 shifts to siege imagery. A great king “built large siege works” (מָצוֹדִים, plural) against a small city, surrounding it with fortifications meant to choke off escape.
4. Isaiah 29:7 foresees nations that “war against her, her stronghold and besiege her”. The defensive works of Ariel-Jerusalem cannot prevent God from turning the aggressors into a fleeting dream.

Symbolic Significance

Snare and stronghold share a single spiritual lesson: human schemes that appear powerful are in fact fragile before the LORD. The wicked rely on devices—either subtle enticements (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes) or massive fortifications (Ecclesiastes, Isaiah)—but all are dismantled by divine wisdom and sovereignty. Conversely, the righteous flourish apart from such contrivances.

Historical and Cultural Background

Ancient Israel knew both sides of מָצוֹד. Hunters spread nets for birds and small game; armies erected earthen ramps, towers, and wooden palisades against walled towns. Siege lines aimed to starve a city into surrender, while the besieged tried to build counter-defenses. The same ingenuity used for survival in the wilderness was scaled up for warfare, reinforcing the lexical overlap between “trap” and “stronghold.”

Theological and Practical Applications

• Moral vigilance: Ecclesiastes 7:26 warns that sin often presents itself as an attractive lure. Disciples must be alert, lest passion becomes the noose that enslaves (James 1:14-15).
• Trust in the Lord’s deliverance: The poor city in Ecclesiastes 9:14 was saved by “a poor wise man,” foreshadowing how God uses the humble to overthrow imposing structures (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).
• Spiritual warfare: Physical strongholds illustrate invisible ones. Believers engage with “divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4), confident that no fortress of deception is impregnable to truth.
• Hope for Zion: Isaiah 29:7 assures that besieging powers will vanish like a night vision. The church, grafted into Zion’s promises, rests in the same certainty that the gates of Hades will not prevail (Matthew 16:18).

Christological and Redemptive Anticipation

Jesus Christ experienced both aspects of מָצוֹד. His adversaries “plotted to entrap Him in His words” (Matthew 22:15), yet every snare failed. At the cross the rulers of this age erected their strongest siege against Him, but the resurrection turned their ramparts into rubble, “disarming the powers and authorities” (Colossians 2:15). In Him the believer is delivered from every net and sheltered in an unshakable fortress (Psalm 18:2).

Related Concepts

Snare (פַּח), net (רֶשֶׁת), fortress (מָעוֹז), bulwark (חֵיל), stronghold (מְצוּדָה). Each highlights either the craftiness of sin or the false confidence of human strength, both nullified by the Lord’s saving power.

Summary of Lessons

מָצוֹד reminds readers that what humanity builds to capture others eventually captures itself, while those who fear God escape and endure. Whether facing seductive temptation or overwhelming opposition, the faithful look beyond visible structures to the unseen God who alone is a “refuge and fortress” (Psalm 91:2).

Forms and Transliterations
וּמְצֹ֣דָתָ֔הּ ומצדתה מְצ֣וֹד מְצוֹדִ֥ים מְצוֹדִ֧ים מצוד מצודים mə·ṣō·w·ḏîm mə·ṣō·wḏ məṣōwḏ məṣōwḏîm meTzod metzoDim ū·mə·ṣō·ḏā·ṯāh ūməṣōḏāṯāh umeTzodaTah
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Englishman's Concordance
Proverbs 12:12
HEB: חָמַ֣ד רָ֭שָׁע מְצ֣וֹד רָעִ֑ים וְשֹׁ֖רֶשׁ
NAS: man desires the booty of evil men,
KJV: desireth the net of evil
INT: desires the wicked the booty of evil the root

Ecclesiastes 7:26
HEB: אֲשֶׁר־ הִ֨יא מְצוֹדִ֧ים וַחֲרָמִ֛ים לִבָּ֖הּ
NAS: heart is snares and nets,
KJV: whose heart [is] snares and nets,
INT: whose he is snares and nets heart

Ecclesiastes 9:14
HEB: וּבָנָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ מְצוֹדִ֥ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃
NAS: large siegeworks against
KJV: great bulwarks against it:
INT: and constructed against siegeworks large

Isaiah 29:7
HEB: וְכָל־ צֹבֶ֙יהָ֙ וּמְצֹ֣דָתָ֔הּ וְהַמְּצִיקִ֖ים לָֽהּ׃
NAS: who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress
KJV: even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress
INT: all war stronghold distress

4 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 4685
4 Occurrences


mə·ṣō·wḏ — 1 Occ.
mə·ṣō·w·ḏîm — 2 Occ.
ū·mə·ṣō·ḏā·ṯāh — 1 Occ.

4684
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