צָרָה
tsârâh · H6869 · Hebrew · 71 occurrences
Meanings
-
trouble, distress, anguish
A process by which humans go through extremely difficult circumstances, resulting in severe anxiety, as if one were confined to a narrow and cramped space from which there is no escape
ExamplesGenesis 35:3 and let’s arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me on the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Genesis 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.”
Deuteronomy 31:17 “Then My anger will be kindled against them on that day, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them; so they will say on that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?’
-
rival-wife
Woman who shares a husband with another woman; which can be a source of trouble and contention
Examples1 Samuel 1:6 Her rival, moreover, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.
How it’s used In 10 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
17 occurrences in 8 groups
- יmy 4
- הוּhis 3
- הֶםtheir 3
- נֶפֶשׁsoul, life 2
- כֶםyour 2
- לֵבָבheart, mind 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
5 occurrences in 6 groups
- גָּדוֹלgreat, large 1
- זֹאתthis 1
- רִאשׁוֹןfirst, former 1
- רַבmany, great 1
- רַעevil, bad 1
- שֵׁשׁsix 1
Named alongside itApposition
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- חָרוֹןburning anger, fierce anger 1
- קוֹלvoice, sound 1
What it doesIt is the subject
12 occurrences in 8 groups
- בּוֹאto come, to go in, to bring 3
- חָזַקto be strong, to strengthen 2
- מָצָאto find 2
- אָחַזto seize, to hold 1
- כַּעַסto provoke to anger 1
- קוּםto arise 1
What is done to itIt is the object
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- מָצָאto find 1
- נָגַדto tell, to inform, to report 1
- רָאָהto see 1
Second object ofSecond object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- רָאָהto see 1
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- קָרוֹבnear 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- אֲנַחְנוּwe 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
25 occurrences in 3 groups
- מִןfrom 30
- בin/on/with 14
- לto/for 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
26 occurrences in 5 groups
- יוֹםday, time 15
- עֵתtime, moment, period 8
- יָםsea 1
- קֶרֶבmidst, among, inner parts 1
- אֶרֶץland, earth, ground 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 2 words
- θλῖψις thlîpsis · G2347 · trouble and suffering, suffering, persecution
- Greek θλῖψις (‘pressure,’ literally or figuratively; tribulation) is the standard Septuagint and New Testament rendering of Hebrew צָרָה across its full range of adversity, distress, and affliction, whether external opposition or internal anguish.
- ἀνάγκη anánkē · G318 · trouble, distress, troublous times
- Hebrew צָרָה covers a broad semantic range of adversity and trouble situations, while Greek ἀνάγκη emphasizes the constraining or compulsory aspect of distress—necessity that produces affliction—though both terms converge on the core experience of distress and tribulation in context.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- Unsafe002003003022
- צָרָה most often means distress or trouble, as of Jacob's day of distress in Genesis 35:3, his sons' recollection of Joseph's distress in Genesis 42:21, the troubles the LORD warns will find Israel in Deuteronomy 31:17 and 31:21, and the time of distress Israel cries out in during the judges in Judges 10:14.
- Relatives001001003012
- This domain's connection to צָרָה is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations, which show the word's sense of distress or trouble rather than a family relation, though the same form elsewhere denotes a rival wife.
Word family 5 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H6869. tsarah I. צָרָה72 noun feminine id.; — absolute ׳צ 1Sa 26:24 +, צָרָתָה Psa 120:1…
I. צָרָה72 noun feminine id.; — absolute ׳צ 1Sa 26:24 +, צָרָתָה Psa 120:1 (Ges§ 90g); construct צָרַת Gen 42:21; suffix צָרָתִי Gen 35:3 +, צָרַתְכֶם Jdg 10:14, etc.; plural צָרוֺת absolute Isa 65:16 +; suffix צָרֹתֵיכֶם 1Sa 10:19, etc.; — straits, distress, Gen 42:21 (E), 1Sa 26:24; 2Sa 4:9; 1Ki 1:29; Isa 8:22; Job 5:19; Job 27:9; especially Psalms (24 t.), e.g. Job 22:12; Job 25:17 (see רחב), Job 25:22; Job 31:8; Job 34:17-18, specifically of travail, וַחֲבָלִים צָרָה Jer 49:24 (simile), compare Jer 4:31 (Gie צְוָחָה, after ᵐ5); נַפְשׁוֺ צָרַת Gen 42:21 (E); צָרָתִי בְּיוֺם Gen 35:3 (E), Psa 77:3; Psa 86:7, compare 2Ki 19:3 = Isa 37:3; Psa 20:2; Psa 50:15; Pro 24:10; Pro 25:19; Jer 16:19; Obadiah 12, 14; Nah 1:7; Hab 3:16, צ ׳יוֺם וּמְצוּקָה Zep 1:15; בְּעֵתצָֿרַתְכֶם Jdg 10:14, compare Neh 9:27; Psa 37:39; Isa 33:2; Jer 14:8; Jer 15:11; Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; also בַּצָּרָה Psa 81:8, בְּצָרָה Psa 91:15; Neh 9:37, בְּצָדוֺת Psa 46:2, etc.; וְצָרוֺת רָעוֺת Deu 31:17, Deu 31:21 compare 1Sa 10:19; Psa 71:20, וְצוּקָה צָרָה Pro 1:27, צ ׳אֶרֶץ ׳וְצ Isa 30:6; with ל (poetry), לִי בַּצָּרָ֫תָה Psa 120:1 in my distress, לִי מִצָּרָה Jon 2:3. — צָרָה Zec 10:11, read מִצְרַיִם [or מָצוֺר] We Now GASm; צֹ֫רָה KloThLz, 1879, 566 StaZAW i (1881), 22; Psa 9:10; Psa 10:1 see בַּצָּרָה.
II. [צָרָה] noun feminine vexer, rival-wife (see references below √; also Ecclus 37:11); — suffix צָרָתָהּ 1Sa 1:6.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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