סָתַר
sa.tar
to hide
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word סָתַר (satar): Concealment and Protection The Hebrew verb סָתַר (satar) carries the fundamental meaning of "to hide," appearing 81 times throughout the biblical text. This frequency suggests the concept held considerable importance in ancient Hebrew thought and communication. The word describes the action of concealing something or someone from view, whether physically removing visibility or keeping information secret. In biblical contexts, this basic sense extends across various scenarios—hiding objects, concealing oneself, or obscuring knowledge from discovery. The repeated use of this verb across 81 occurrences indicates it addressed multiple practical and theological concerns in ancient Israelite life. The word could describe everyday acts of concealment (such as hiding valuables or taking refuge) as well as more abstract notions of divine protection or hiddenness. This range suggests that ancient Hebrew speakers used סָתַר to express both the simple action of making something invisible and more complex ideas about shelter, secrecy, and the relationship between what is seen and unseen. Without access to the specific biblical passages in which סָתַר appears, the full scope of its theological and practical implications cannot be detailed here. However, its substantial presence in the biblical text (81 occurrences) confirms that concealment—whether literal or figurative—constituted an important concept worthy of repeated reference and varied application in ancient Hebrew literature and discourse.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
81 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
But Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stealthily rescued him from among the king’s sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn’t kill him.
Job 3:10because it didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
Job 3:23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
Job 13:20“Only don’t do two things to me, then I will not hide myself from your face:
Job 13:24Why do you hide your face, and consider me your enemy?
Job 14:13“Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!
Job 28:21Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
Job 34:22There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
Job 34:29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike,
Psalms 10:11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”
Psalms 13:1How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
Psalms 17:8Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings,
Psalms 19:6His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends. There is nothing hidden from its heat.
Psalms 19:12Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.
Psalms 22:24For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
Psalms 27:5For in the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock.
Psalms 27:9Don’t hide your face from me. Don’t put your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Don’t abandon me, neither forsake me, God of my salvation.
Psalms 30:7You, Yahweh, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled.
Psalms 31:20In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.
Psalms 38:9Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.
Psalms 44:24Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?
Psalms 51:9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
Psalms 54:0to the/ choirmaster with/ stringed instruments a poem of/ David when/ came the/ Ziphites and/ they said to/ Saul ¿/ not is David hiding himself with/ us
Psalms 55:12For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
Psalms 64:2Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;
Psalms 69:17Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!
Psalms 88:14Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?
Psalms 89:46How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
Psalms 102:2Don’t hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Turn your ear to me. Answer me quickly in the day when I call.
Psalms 104:29You hide your face; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust.
Psalms 119:19I am a stranger on the earth. Don’t hide your commandments from me.
Psalms 143:7Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
Proverbs 22:3A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
Proverbs 27:5Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Proverbs 27:12A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
Proverbs 28:28When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous thrive.
Isaiah 8:17I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
Isaiah 16:3Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive!
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 29:14therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”
Isaiah 29:15Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”
Isaiah 40:27Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?”
Isaiah 45:15Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’ ”
Isaiah 49:2He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close in his quiver.
Isaiah 50:6I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
Isaiah 54:8In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says Yahweh your Redeemer.
Isaiah 57:17I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
Isaiah 59:2But your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Isaiah 64:7There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.