עֹצֶר
𐤏𐤑𐤓
ʻôtser
H6115 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A state or act of restraint, confinement, or being withheld; refers to closure, restriction, or prevention, especially in contexts of imprisonment, withheld fertility, or blocked movement. Semantic range includes physical closure (such as a barred place or prison), restraint from activity or fertility, and the experience or condition of oppression or being restrained.
Semantic Range
restraint, confinement, closure, oppression, barrenness, prison, constraint, state of being withheld
Root / Etymology
Root/etymology: Derived from the root עצר (ʿ-ṣ-r), which fundamentally means 'to restrain, hold back, shut up, withhold.' The nominal form עֹצֶר (ʿōṣer) thus signifies a condition or means of restraint or closure, whether physical (as in a barred place or prison) or metaphorical (as in the prevention or withholding of something).
Historical & Contextual Notes
In the Hebrew Bible, עֹצֶר most commonly occurs in poetic or figurative contexts to describe a situation or state where something is held back or constrained, such as the womb being closed (infertility or barrenness) or waters being stopped. The noun may implicitly refer to a place of confinement (prison) or to the event of restraint itself (oppression or barrenness). Most English translations sharply narrow the sense depending on context, often choosing 'oppression,' 'barrenness,' or 'prison,' but the Hebrew term maintains a consistent core idea of something forcibly withheld or restrained. Over time, the term is less frequently used, with synonyms (e.g., מַסְגֵּר for 'prison') becoming more common in later biblical Hebrew. The idiomatic usage as 'prison' arises contextually, not as a primary lexical meaning. The nuance of 'constraint' extends to both physical and metaphorical forms.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from עָצָר; closure; also constraint; [idiom] barren, oppression, [idiom] prison.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
עצר (ʿ-ṣ-r) — restrain, hold back, shut up, withhold
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H4622 | מַעְצוֹר | hindrance |
| H4623 | מַעְצָר | restraining control |
| H6113 | עָצָר | he restrained |
| H6114 | עֶצֶר | restraint |
| H6116 | עֲצָרָה | festival convocation |
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6115-01 |
מֵ/עֹ֤צֶר | meotser | HR/Ncmsa |
from oppression | from restraint | 2 |
H6115-02 |
וְ/עֹ֪צֶ֫ר | veotser | HC/Ncmsc |
and the barren | and restraint-of | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
3 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6115-01 |
Isaiah 53:8 | מֵ/עֹ֤צֶר | meotser | HR/Ncmsa |
from oppression | from restraint |
H6115-01 |
Psalms 107:39 | מֵ/עֹ֖צֶר | meotser | HR/Ncmsc |
through oppression | from restraint |
H6115-02 |
Proverbs 30:16 | וְ/עֹ֪צֶ֫ר | veotser | HC/Ncmsc |
and the barren | and restraint-of |