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מְצוֹלָה

𐤌𐤑𐤅𐤋𐤄

mᵉtsôwlâh

H4688 noun

SILEX Entry

Root צול to sink, subside, descend

Definition

A deep or abyssal place, principally used to denote the depths of a body of water, such as the sea, often conveying the sense of water's utterly inaccessible or unfathomable regions. The term may also refer to muddy or miry depths in certain contexts. Used both literally and metaphorically, it evokes a location that is unreachable, overwhelming, or inaccessible.

Semantic Range

deep place (especially of the sea), abyss, depth, deep, deep water, muddy or miry depths, place of submersion or unreachability

Root / Etymology

Derived from the root צול, which has the basic sense of 'sink down, abate, subside.' While the root rarely appears outside nouns related to depth, מְצוֹלָה (with its variant spellings מְצֹלָה, מְצוּלָה, מְצֻלָה) is formed with the mem (מ־) preformative, commonly creating nouns indicating place or instrument.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In biblical texts, מְצוֹלָה most commonly refers to the literal depths of the sea (e.g., Exodus 15:5; Jonah 2:6), often as a locus of destruction or divine judgment—the Israelites see the Egyptian army cast into the 'depths' of the sea. In poetry and metaphor, it suggests an overwhelming predicament or inaccessibility (as in Micah 7:19). While frequently translated as 'depths' or 'deep,' the term may evoke connotations not always present in English, including finality and irretrievability. Rabbinic and later usage can expand the meaning toward any unfathomable or abyssal place, but in the Hebrew Bible it is predominantly aquatic, distinct from related terms such as תְּהוֹם (tehom, 'primeval deep/abyss') and שַׁחַת (shachat, 'pit'). English translations tend to flatten the term to 'depths,' losing nuances of inaccessibility or cataclysm. The word appears primarily in poetic and elevated registers rather than prose narrative.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

or מְצֹלָה; also מְצוּלָה; or מְצֻלָה; from the same as צוּלָה; a deep place (of water or mud); bottom, deep, depth.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

צול (ṣ-w-l) — sink down, descend, subside

Word Forms

7 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H4688-04 מְצוּלָה֙ metsulah HNcfsa deep sunken deep-place 4
H4688-07 בִ/מְצוֹלֹ֖ת vimetsolot HR/Ncfpa into-depths in abyssal depths 2
H4688-02 בִּ/מְצוּלָֽה bimetsulah HR/Ncfsa in the deep in the abyssal deep 1
H4688-06 מִֽ/מְּצֻל֥וֹת mimetsulot HR/Ncfpc from the depths from the sinking depths of 1
H4688-05 מְצוּל֣וֹת metsulot HNcfpc depths abyssal depths of 1
H4688-01 בִּ/מְצֹלֽוֹת bimetsolot HR/Ncfpa in depths in the sinking-depths 1
H4688-03 בִּ/מְצֻל֥וֹת bimetsulot HR/Ncfpc into the depths sinking-depths of 1

Occurrences in Scripture

11 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H4688-07 Exodus 15:5 בִ/מְצוֹלֹ֖ת vimetsolot HR/Ncfpa into the depths in abyssal depths
H4688-04 Jonah 2:4 מְצוּלָה֙ metsulah HNcfsa into the deep sunken deep-place
H4688-03 Micah 7:19 בִּ/מְצֻל֥וֹת bimetsulot HR/Ncfpc into the depths sinking-depths of
H4688-05 Zechariah 10:11 מְצוּל֣וֹת metsulot HNcfpc depths abyssal depths of
H4688-06 Psalms 68:23 מִֽ/מְּצֻל֥וֹת mimetsulot HR/Ncfpc from the depths from the sinking depths of
H4688-04 Psalms 69:3 מְ֭צוּלָה metsulah HNcfsa deep sunken deep-place
H4688-04 Psalms 69:16 מְצוּלָ֑ה metsulah HNcfsa deep sunken deep-place
H4688-01 Psalms 88:7 בִּ/מְצֹלֽוֹת bimetsolot HR/Ncfpa in depths in the sinking-depths
H4688-02 Psalms 107:24 בִּ/מְצוּלָֽה bimetsulah HR/Ncfsa in the deep in the abyssal deep
H4688-04 Job 41:23 מְצוּלָ֑ה metsulah HNcfsa of deep water sunken deep-place
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