אָטַר

# The Hebrew Word אָטַר (atar): "To Shut" The Hebrew verb אָטַר appears only once in the biblical text, making it an extremely rare word in the Hebrew scriptures. According to the lexical data, its core meaning is "to shut," indicating the action of closing something, likely a door or opening. The singular occurrence in the biblical record provides limited context for understanding the full range of how this verb might have been used or understood by ancient Hebrew speakers. Because אָטַר occurs only once, it is impossible to determine from the provided data whether this was a common word in everyday Hebrew that happened to be used minimally in the biblical texts, or whether it was itself an uncommon or archaic term. The rarity of attestation also means we cannot establish whether the word had extended metaphorical meanings or remained strictly literal in its application. The lexical definition—simply "to shut"—represents the entirety of what the available data tells us about this word's semantic range and biblical significance.