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# מַחְשָׁךְ

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H4285

**dark place** — used 7 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

dark place [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4285/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

מַחְשָׁךְ: n.m. dark place [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4285/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. dark place (poet.)—abs. מ׳ Is 29:15; 42:16; מַחְשָׁ֑ךְ ψ 88:19; pl. מַחֲשַׁכִּים 88:7; 143:3 = La 3:6; cstr. מַחֲשַׁכֵּי ψ 74:20;—dark place: = hiding-place מח׳־ארץ 74:20. dark region, in which men may lose their way Is 42:16. = grave, or שׁאול ψ 88:19 (v. Che); of dark place of God’s wrath (like Sheʾôl) 88:7; cf. 143:3 = La 3:6. = secret place, secrecy (of plots) Is 29:15.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 7 of its verses cited, 2 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 words shared with the BDB entry, 2 with the glosses (1 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: dark places (3); \[is\] a dark place (1); \[the\] dark place (1).

## In the verses

[Lamentations 3:6](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.3.6/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.3.6/#tree)

בְּמַחֲשַׁכִּ֥ים הוֹשִׁיבַ֖נִי כְּמֵתֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם׃ס

*Word for word:* in dark.places he has.caused.me.to.dwell like dead.\[people\] of.antiquity

*JPS 1917:* He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.

[Psalms 88:7](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.88.7/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.88.7/#tree)

שַׁ֭תַּנִי בְּב֣וֹר תַּחְתִּיּ֑וֹת בְּ֝מַחֲשַׁכִּ֗ים בִּמְצֹלֽוֹת׃

*Word for word:* you have.put.me in a.pit of.lowest.parts in.\[the\] dark.places in.\[the\] depths

*JPS 1917:* Thou hast laid me in the nethermost pit, in dark places, in the deeps.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4285/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).