מַחְסֶּה
ma.cha.seh
refuge
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "ma.cha.seh" (H4268) is defined as "refuge." This concept is rooted in geography and place, suggesting a physical location where one can find safety or shelter. The word appears 20 times in the Bible, indicating its significance in various contexts. In its usage, "ma.cha.seh" often refers to a specific place where people can escape danger, persecution, or hardship. This can be a physical location, such as a city or a mountain, or a more abstract concept, like the protection of God. The word conveys a sense of security and protection, implying a place where one can find respite from adversity. The frequency and range of usage of "ma.cha.seh" in the Bible suggest its importance in the lives of ancient Israelites. It highlights the human desire for safety and security, as well as the role of physical and divine protection in their lives.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
20 total occurrences across the text
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
Psalms 14:6You frustrate the plan of the poor, because Yahweh is his refuge.
Psalms 46:1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalms 61:3For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
Psalms 62:7My salvation and my honor is with God. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Psalms 62:8Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.
Psalms 71:7I am a marvel to many, but you are my strong refuge.
Psalms 73:28But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Psalms 91:2I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalms 91:9Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,
Psalms 94:22But Yahweh has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge.
Psalms 104:18The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
Psalms 142:5I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
Proverbs 14:26In the fear of Yahweh is a secure fortress, and he will be a refuge for his children.
Isaiah 4:6There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain.
Isaiah 25:4For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall.
Isaiah 28:15“Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’ ”
Isaiah 28:17I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
Jeremiah 17:17Don’t be a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of evil.
Joel 3:16Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.