בָּצַר
𐤁𐤑𐤓
bâtsar
H1219 adjective
SILEX Entry
Definition
To cut off, prune, or harvest, especially in reference to gathering grapes at vintage. In extended usage, to make inaccessible through fortifying, securing, or enclosing. Occasionally, to withhold or restrain access. The term can refer both to the agricultural action of grape-picking and to rendering a place strong or unapproachable by fortification.
Semantic Range
to gather (especially grapes), to harvest, to cut off, to prune, to fortify, to make inaccessible, to restrain, to withhold
Root / Etymology
From the root בצר meaning 'to cut off, harvest, make inaccessible.' The verb form primarily denotes actions of cutting or gathering, particularly during the grape harvest, but by metaphorical extension also describes making something inaccessible or fortified. There is a denominative connection to בָּצִיר (bâtsîr, 'vintage, grape harvest').
Historical & Contextual Notes
In pre-exilic Israelite society, בָּצַר commonly appears in agricultural contexts, specifically regarding grape-harvest (Isaiah 5:2, Judges 9:27). The root concept of 'cutting off' leads to its use in military or defensive scenarios—especially in the sense of fortifying city walls, making towns or strongholds inaccessible by height or strength (Deuteronomy 3:5). This metaphoric extension develops particularly in monarchic and exilic literature. The noun derivative בִּצָּרוֹן (bitsaron) for 'stronghold' shares this sense of firmness or inaccessibility. Standard English translations 'gather,' 'fortify,' or 'make inaccessible' only partially express the semantic range; the term's agricultural and military connotations reflect a common biblical pattern of root extension. Post-exilic usage tends to favor derivatives rather than the verb form. The term should not be confused with other verbs for 'fortify' (e.g., חזק), which often imply strengthening rather than enclosing or making inaccessible by separation.
Translation Consistency
Most occurrences (24 of 38) are rendered with the idea of making inaccessible or secure (e.g., “fortified”), so choosing fortify gives the most consistent, natural English that matches the typical biblical usage. It also covers the extended sense of enclosing or cutting off; the rarer agricultural sense (gather/harvest grapes) will be handled by contextual glossing or alternate phrasing, while preserving consistency across all forms of H1219.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
a primitive root; to clip off; specifically (as denominative from בָּצִיר); to gather grapes; also to be isolated (i.e. inaccessible by height or fortification); cut off, (de-) fenced, fortify, (grape) gather(-er), mighty things, restrain, strong, wall (up), withhold.
Bantu Hebrew
| Language | Bantu Word | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bemba | kakata | to cut, slice | |
| Kikuyu | gata | to cut, chop, sever | |
| Kimbundu | kakata | to cut | |
| Kinyarwanda | gakata | to cut | |
| Kirundi | gakata | to cut |
Root Family
בצר (Betser) — to cut off, to make inaccessible, to fortify, to gather (in the agricultural sense)
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H1208 | בָּצוֹר | the fortified one |
| H1210 | בָּצִיר | grape harvest |
| H1220 | בֶּצֶר | extracted gold |
| H1221 | בֶּצֶר | Fortified-Place |
| H1222 | בְּצַר | gold |
Word Forms
16 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1219-02 |
בְּצֻרֽוֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones | 9 |
H1219-05 |
הַ/בְּצֻר֑וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
the fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones | 7 |
H1219-01 |
בְּצוּרָֽה | betsurah | HAafsa |
fortified | made-inaccessible | fortified | 3 |
H1219-11 |
וּ/בְצוּרֹ֖ת | uvetsurot | HC/Aafpa |
and fortified | and fortified ones (feminine) | and fortified ones (feminine) | 3 |
H1219-03 |
בֹּֽצְרִים֙ | botserim | HVqrmpa |
grape-gatherers | grape-harvesters | grape-gatherers | 2 |
H1219-10 |
תִבְצֹר֙ | tivetsor | HVqi2ms |
you gather | you harvest | you harvest | 2 |
H1219-14 |
בְצוּרָֽה | vetsurah | HAafsa |
fortified | fortified one | fortified one | 2 |
H1219-15 |
יִבָּצֵ֣ר | yibatser | HVNi3ms |
can-be-thwarted | he will be made inaccessible | be withheld | 2 |
H1219-04 |
הַ/בָּצִֽיר | habatsir | HTd/Ncmsa |
of the vintage | the grape-harvest | of the vintage | 1 |
H1219-06 |
כְּ/בוֹצֵ֖ר | kevotser | HR/Vqrmsa |
like a grape-gatherer | like a grape-harvester | like a grape-harvester | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
38 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1219-15 |
Genesis 11:6 | יִבָּצֵ֣ר | yibatser | HVNi3ms |
will be restrained | he will be made inaccessible | will be restrained |
H1219-10 |
Leviticus 25:5 | תִבְצֹ֑ר | tivetsor | HVqi2ms |
you shall gather | you harvest | you will gather |
H1219-09 |
Leviticus 25:11 | תִבְצְר֖וּ | tivetseru | HVqi2mp |
you-shall-gather | you will harvest | you shall harvest |
H1219-02 |
Numbers 13:28 | בְּצֻר֤וֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-11 |
Deuteronomy 1:28 | וּ/בְצוּרֹ֖ת | uvetsurot | HC/Aafpa |
and fortified | and fortified ones (feminine) | and fortified ones (feminine) |
H1219-02 |
Deuteronomy 3:5 | בְּצֻר֛וֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-11 |
Deuteronomy 9:1 | וּ/בְצֻרֹ֖ת | uvetsurot | HC/Aafpa |
and fortified | and fortified ones (feminine) | and fortified ones (feminine) |
H1219-10 |
Deuteronomy 24:21 | תִבְצֹר֙ | tivetsor | HVqi2ms |
you gather | you harvest | you harvest |
H1219-13 |
Deuteronomy 28:52 | וְ/הַ/בְּצֻר֔וֹת | vehabetsurot | HC/Td/Aafpa |
and-the-fortified | and the fortified ones | and the fortified ones |
H1219-02 |
Joshua 14:12 | בְּצֻר֔וֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-12 |
Judges 9:27 | וַֽ/יִּבְצְר֤וּ | vayivetseru | HC/Vqw3mp |
and they gathered | and they harvested | and they harvested |
H1219-02 |
2 Samuel 20:6 | בְּצֻר֖וֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-05 |
2 Kings 18:13 | הַ/בְּצֻר֖וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones |
H1219-02 |
2 Kings 19:25 | בְּצֻרֽוֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-14 |
Isaiah 2:15 | בְצוּרָֽה | vetsurah | HAafsa |
fortified | fortified one | fortified one |
H1219-07 |
Isaiah 22:10 | לְ/בַצֵּ֖ר | levatser | HR/Vpc |
to fortify | to harvest fully | to fortify |
H1219-14 |
Isaiah 25:2 | בְצוּרָ֖ה | vetsurah | HAafsa |
fortified | fortified one | fortified one |
H1219-01 |
Isaiah 27:10 | בְּצוּרָה֙ | betsurah | HAafsa |
fortified | made-inaccessible | fortified |
H1219-05 |
Isaiah 36:1 | הַ/בְּצֻר֖וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
the-fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones |
H1219-02 |
Isaiah 37:26 | בְּצֻרֽוֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-06 |
Jeremiah 6:9 | כְּ/בוֹצֵ֖ר | kevotser | HR/Vqrmsa |
like a grape-gatherer | like a grape-harvester | like a grape-harvester |
H1219-01 |
Jeremiah 15:20 | בְּצוּרָ֔ה | betsurah | HAafsa |
fortified | made-inaccessible | fortified |
H1219-11 |
Jeremiah 33:3 | וּ/בְצֻר֖וֹת | uvetsurot | HC/Aafpa |
and mighty things | and fortified ones (feminine) | and fortified ones (feminine) |
H1219-03 |
Jeremiah 49:9 | בֹּֽצְרִים֙ | botserim | HVqrmpa |
grape-gatherers | grape-harvesters | grape-harvesters |
H1219-08 |
Jeremiah 51:53 | תְבַצֵּ֖ר | tevatser | HVpi3fs |
she fortifies | she will fortify | it will fortify |
H1219-01 |
Ezekiel 21:25 | בְּצוּרָֽה | betsurah | HAafsa |
fortified | made-inaccessible | fortified |
H1219-02 |
Ezekiel 36:35 | בְּצוּר֥וֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-02 |
Hosea 8:14 | בְּצֻר֑וֹת | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-03 |
Obadiah 1:5 | בֹּֽצְרִים֙ | botserim | HVqrmpa |
grape-gatherers | grape-harvesters | grape-gatherers |
H1219-05 |
Zephaniah 1:16 | הַ/בְּצֻר֔וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones |
H1219-04 |
Zechariah 11:2 | הַ/בָּצִֽיר | habatsir | HTd/Ncmsa |
of the vintage | the grape-harvest | of the vintage |
H1219-16 |
Psalms 76:13 | יִ֭בְצֹר | yivetsor | HVqi3ms |
He will cut off | he will cut off | he will cut off |
H1219-15 |
Job 42:2 | יִבָּצֵ֖ר | yibatser | HVNi3ms |
can-be-thwarted | he will be made inaccessible | be withheld |
H1219-02 |
Nehemiah 9:25 | בְּצֻרוֹת֮ | betsurot | HAafpa |
fortified | fortified ones | fortified ones |
H1219-05 |
2 Chronicles 17:2 | הַ/בְּצֻר֑וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
the fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones |
H1219-05 |
2 Chronicles 19:5 | הַ/בְּצֻר֖וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
the fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones |
H1219-05 |
2 Chronicles 32:1 | הַ/בְּצֻר֔וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
the fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones |
H1219-05 |
2 Chronicles 33:14 | הַ/בְּצֻר֖וֹת | habetsurot | HTd/Aafpa |
the-fortified | the fortified ones | the fortified ones |