מִצְרַ֫יִם
Egypt
BDB lists 3 entries for ‘Egypt’ fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
Every verse where H4714 appears in the Book of Genesis — 75 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis
- Genesis 10:6 וּ/מִצְרַ֖יִם conj + n Proper The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
- Genesis 10:13 וּ/מִצְרַ֡יִם conj + n Proper Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,
- Genesis 12:10 מִצְרַ֨יְמָ/ה֙ n Proper + sfx dem There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was sore in the land.
- Genesis 12:11 מִצְרָ֑יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem It happened, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look on.
- Genesis 12:14 מִצְרָ֑יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
- Genesis 13:1 מִ/מִּצְרַ֜יִם prep + n Proper Abram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South.
- Genesis 13:10 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.
- Genesis 15:18 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
- Genesis 21:21 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 25:18 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.
- Genesis 26:2 מִצְרָ֑יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem Yahweh appeared to him, and said, "Don't go down into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I will tell you of.
- Genesis 37:25 מִצְרָֽיְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
- Genesis 37:28 מִצְרָֽיְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.
- Genesis 37:36 מִצְרָ֑יִם n Proper The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.
- Genesis 39:1 מִצְרָ֑יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there.
- Genesis 40:1 מִצְרַ֖יִם מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper n Proper It happened after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt.
- Genesis 40:5 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.
- Genesis 41:8 מִצְרַ֖יִם n Proper It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men of it. Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
- Genesis 41:19 מִצְרַ֖יִם n Proper and, behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.
- Genesis 41:29 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:30 מִצְרָ֑יִם n Proper There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,
- Genesis 41:33 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:34 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt's produce in the seven plenteous years.
- Genesis 41:36 מִצְרָ֑יִם n Proper The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine."
- Genesis 41:41 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
- Genesis 41:43 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, "Bow the knee!" He set him over all the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:44 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."
- Genesis 41:45 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:46 מִצְרָ֑יִם מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper n Proper Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:48 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, he laid up in the same.
- Genesis 41:53 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper The seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end.
- Genesis 41:54 מִצְרַ֖יִם n Proper The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
- Genesis 41:55 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do."
- Genesis 41:56 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store-houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:57 מִצְרַ֔יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
- Genesis 42:1 בְּ/מִצְרָ֑יִם prep + n Proper Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"
- Genesis 42:2 בְּ/מִצְרָ֑יִם prep + n Proper He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die."
- Genesis 42:3 מִ/מִּצְרָֽיִם prep + n Proper Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
- Genesis 43:2 מִ/מִּצְרָ֑יִם prep + n Proper It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food."
- Genesis 43:15 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
- Genesis 45:4 מִצְרָֽיְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
- Genesis 45:8 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 45:9 מִצְרָ֑יִם n Proper Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait.
- Genesis 45:13 בְּ/מִצְרַ֔יִם prep + n Proper You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here."
- Genesis 45:18 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.'
- Genesis 45:19 מִצְרַ֜יִם n Proper Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
- Genesis 45:20 מִצְרַ֖יִם n Proper Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours."
- Genesis 45:23 מִצְרָ֑יִם n Proper To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.
- Genesis 45:25 מִ/מִּצְרָ֑יִם prep + n Proper They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father.
- Genesis 45:26 מִצְרָ֑יִם n Proper They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them.
- Genesis 46:3 מִצְרַ֔יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go down into Egypt; for there I will make of you a great nation.
- Genesis 46:4 מִצְרַ֔יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes."
- Genesis 46:6 מִצְרָ֑יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem They took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt-- Jacob, and all his seed with him,
- Genesis 46:7 מִצְרָֽיְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and he brought all his seed with him into Egypt.
- Genesis 46:8 מִצְרַ֖יְמָ/ה n Proper + sfx dem These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.
- Genesis 46:20 מִצְרַיִם֒ n Proper To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
- Genesis 46:26 מִצְרַ֨יְמָ/ה֙ n Proper + sfx dem All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were sixty-six.
- Genesis 46:27 בְ/מִצְרַ֖יִם מִצְרַ֖יְמָ/ה prep + n Proper n Proper + sfx dem The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.
- Genesis 47:6 מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ n Proper The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my cattle."
- Genesis 47:11 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
- Genesis 47:13 מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ n Proper There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
- Genesis 47:14 מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ n Proper Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
- Genesis 47:15 מִצְרַיִם֮ n Proper When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails."
- Genesis 47:20 מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ n Proper So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh's.
- Genesis 47:21 מִצְרַ֖יִם n Proper As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it.
- Genesis 47:26 מִצְרַ֛יִם n Proper Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn't become Pharaoh's.
- Genesis 47:27 מִצְרַ֖יִם n Proper Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
- Genesis 47:28 מִצְרַ֔יִם n Proper Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.
- Genesis 47:29 בְּ/מִצְרָֽיִם prep + n Proper The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don't bury me in Egypt,
- Genesis 47:30 מִ/מִּצְרַ֔יִם prep + n Proper but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place." He said, "I will do as you have said."
- Genesis 48:5 מִצְרַ֗יִם מִצְרַ֖יְמָ/ה n Proper n Proper + sfx dem Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
- Genesis 50:7 מִצְרָֽיִם n Proper Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt,
- Genesis 50:14 מִצְרַ֨יְמָ/ה֙ n Proper + sfx dem Joseph returned into Egypt--he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
- Genesis 50:22 בְּ/מִצְרַ֔יִם prep + n Proper Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father's house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years.
- Genesis 50:26 בְּ/מִצְרָֽיִם prep + n Proper So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, מצרים (Mitsrayim) means “Egypt.” It first appears in Genesis 10:6. It turns up in 569 verses across 28 books, one of the most common footprint. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4714 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 569
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 569 distinct verses.
- 28 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 28 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #76
- by frequency
- Top 100 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 76 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 569 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 569 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 286 verses · 50%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 239 verses · 42%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 44 verses · 8%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Egypt 553×, Egyptians 73×, All the egyptians 7×
- American Standard Version: Egypt 537×, Egyptians 65×, All the egyptians 6×
- Berean Standard Bible: Egypt 552×, Egyptians 45×, Egypt’s 5×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Egypt 553×, Egyptians 22×, The 6×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4714 across 680 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 24 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4714 across 680 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 49 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4714 across 624 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 12 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 17 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4714 across 596 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 5 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1.
- a. of land, Egypt, Gn 13:1 + 500 times, +, in all periods, incl. אֶרֶץ מ׳ 13:10 + c. 220 times (of course f., 47:6, 13); אַדְמַת מ׳ the soil of Egypt †47:20, 26; מֵימֵי מ׳ †Ex 7:19; 8:2; נְהַר מ׳ †Gn 15:18; יְאֹר מ׳ †Am 8:8; 9:5; יְאֹרֵי מ׳ †Is 7:18 (cf. מָצוֹר); שִׁיחוֹר מ׳ †1 Ch 13:5; לְשׁוֹן יָם־מ׳ †Is 11:15; נַחַל מ׳ Jos 15:4 + 6 times (v. these various wds.); land as productive Gn 45:20; 49:23, cf. שֵׁשׁ בְּרִקְמָה מִמּ׳ Ez 27:7, אֵטוּן מ׳ Pr 7:16; often ‖ כּוּשׁ, especially in proph. and poet. Is 20:3, 4, 5; 45:14 Ez 30:4, 9 +; ‖ אַשּׁוּר Ho 11:11; 12:1 Is 7:18 Je 2:18 +; incl. Upper Egypt (פַּתְרוֹס), as well as Lower, Je 44:1, cf. Ez 29:10; 30:6 appar. disting. from Upper Egypt Is 11:11, and poss. also Je 44:15 (cf. Gf Gie Buhl SS CheHpt. Isaiah); but פתרוס etc. in these vv somewhat dub. (cf. Du Gie). e.g. Genesis 13:1
- b. combinations are: (1) מ׳ as limit of motion: יָרַד מצרים(ה) Gn 43:15 Jos 24:4 + c. 12 times; בּוֹא מ׳ 1 S 12:8 + c. 26 times, בוא בְמ׳ †Is 19:23, בוא לְמ׳ †Je 44:28; שׁוּב מ׳ Ho 8:3 + 9 times, שׁוּב אֶל־מ׳ †Ho 11:5, שׁוּב לְאַרְצוֹ מ׳ †Je 37:7; בָּרַח מ׳ †1 K 11:40; שָׁלַח מ׳ †Je 26:22, so (+ אֶל־) v 22. In Je 42:16 b read בְּמ׳ with Gie. (2) מ׳ as point of departure (הֶעֱלָה) עָלָה מִן־(ארץ) מ׳ Gn 13:1 + c. 43 times; יָצָא (הוֹצִיא) מִן־(ארץ) מ׳ Ex 12:39 + c. 96 times; פָּדָה מִמּ׳ †2 S 7:23 (but del. GeiUrschr. 288 We Dr Kit Bu)=1 Ch 17:21; בּוֹא מִמּ׳ †2 Ch 12:3; 20:10; שׁוּב מִמּ׳ †Je 44:28 2 Ch 10:2; אָתָה מִמּ׳ †ψ 68:32; קָרָא מִמּ׳ †Ho 11:1. e.g. Genesis 43:15
- 2. of people:
- a. in table of nations, personif. as second son of Ham †Gn 10:6=1 Ch 1:8, cf. Gn 10:13=1 Ch 1:11. e.g. Genesis 10:6
- b. =Egypt (as a people), Egyptians Gn 41:56 + c. 134 times, incl. use=Egyptian kingdom, empire, i. e. land and people as political power; so c. vb. fs. אָֽבְדָה מ׳ Ex 10:7, cf. Ho 9:6 Jo 4:19 and (pron. fs.) Ez 30:18; c. vb. ms. Ex 12:33; 14:25 Is 19:16, 23, 25 Je 46:8; often c. vb. mpl. Gn 41:55 Is 19:21, 23 + 22 times; בְּנֵי מ׳ Ez 16:26; בְּתוּלַת בַּת מ׳ †Je 46:11, cf. v 19, 24.—In 1 K 10:28=2 Ch 1:16, 17, 2 K 7:6 WklAlttest. Unters. 171 f. thinks of Assyrian Muṣri in N. Syria. (On מִצְרַיִם as often=Muṣri in N. Arabia v. Wkl Altor. Unters. i. 24 ff., ii. 195, iii. 289, iv. 337 f.; MVG 1898, 1. 4). e.g. Genesis 41:56
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.pr.terr. et gent.f. Ex 10:7, m. Ex 12:33, mpl. Gn 41:55 etc. (v. infr. 2), Egypt, Egyptians (Ph. מצרם; Assyrian Mŭṣŭr, Muṣru, Miṣir, DlPar 308 SchrCOT Gloss. KGF 246 ff., TelAm. Miṣrî, Wkl TA 39 BezBM 152, and Mas̆rî Wkl l.c.; Arabic مَصْر Cairo, Egypt (Spiro); Min. Miṣru HomA. and A. (1892), 125; v. also EbÄgM 71 ff.; 𝔊 Αἴγυπτος;—deriv. and form dub.; יִם—ַusually regarded as dual term. (Upper and Lower Egypt? cf. Di Gn 10:6), but as loc. ending EMey Gesch. i. § 42 BaNB p. 319 R. 5; JenZA iv (1889), 268 ff. thinks מִצְרַיִם abs. formed by anal. of מַיִם, שָׁמַיִם from Miṣrî (cf. TelAm.); v. further Wkl infra, ad fin.);—מ׳ Gn 13:1 +; מִצְרָ֑יִם 37:36 +; מִצְרַ֫יְמָה 12:10 + 12 times, מִצְרָ֑יְמָה 12:11 + 4 times;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from מצור (mâtsôwr) (H4693) — siege.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
מֵצַר
- 1. narrow, pass. Ḥull. 50ᵇ (expl. כרס הפנימי) מן המי׳ ולמטה from where the stomach begins to narrow and downward (the animal being suspended with its head down).
- 2. distress. Midr. Till. to CXVIII, 5 מן המ׳ מדבר במצרים ‘out of distress’ (ib.) alludes to Egypt; Yalk. ib. 875.
- 3. a narrow path marking the boundary between fields, balk, ridge; in gen. boundary. B. Bath. 55ᵃ, v. חֲצָב II. Y. ib. III, beg. 13ᵈ; Y. Kidd. I, 60ᵈ top אפי׳ מי׳ בנתיים even the (common) balk between them; Y. Peah II, beg. 16ᵈ. B. Mets. 107ᵃ אילן העומד על המ׳ a tree standing on the balk. Ib. בממלא כל המ׳ כולו when it covers the entire width of the balk. B. Bath. 53ᵇ מי אמרינן האי מ׳ דהאי ארעא ודהאי ארעא הוא Ms. M. (ed. מ׳ דארעא חד הוא) do we say, this balk belongs to both fields (and taking possession of it means possession of both)? Ib. מ׳ אפסרא דארעא וכ׳ (Ms. O. מוֹסֵרָא; differ. in Ms. M.), v. אַפְסָרָא. Ib. 62ᵃ מ׳ ראובן וכ׳ the field which I sell thee is contiguous to Reuben’s on the east and on the west side; a. fr.—Pl. מְצָרִים boundary lines, bounds. Ib. 61ᵇ אע"פ שמָצַר לו מ׳ החיצונים although he defined (in the agreement) the outermost lines (of the group of buildings or fields), מ׳ הרחיב לו he intended only to give an amplified description of the situation (not to sell him the entire group). Ib. VII, 3 בסימניו ובמְצָרָיו (if he says, I sell thee a Beth Kor of land) giving its description and boundaries (and it turns out to be less than a Beth Kor); a. fr.—Sabb. 118ᵃ נחלה בלא מ׳ a boundless possession.
מִצְרַיִם
- (b. h.) pr. n. Egypt. Pes. IX, 5 פסח מ׳, v. דּוֹר. Ex. R. s. 1; a. v. fr.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 63 distinct written forms H4714 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | Noun, Proper | Amos 4:10 | 98 |
| מִצְרָ֑יִם | Noun, Proper | Amos 2:10 | 94 |
| מִצְרָֽיִם | Noun, Proper | Amos 8:8 | 91 |
| מִצְרַ֖יִם | Noun, Proper | Amos 3:1 | 58 |
| מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ | Noun, Proper | Daniel 9:15 | 30 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֔יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 26:8 | 21 |
| מִ/מִּצְרָֽיִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 4:37 | 20 |
| מִ/מִּצְרָ֑יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 4:20 | 19 |
| מִצְרַ֛יִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 7:11 | 16 |
| בְּ/מִצְרָ֑יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 6:21 | 15 |
| בְּ/מִצְרַ֔יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 24:18 | 13 |
| מִצְרַ֗יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 9:7 | 13 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֨יִם֙ | Noun, Proper | Exodus 13:3 | 11 |
| מִצְרַיִם֒ | Noun, Proper | Exodus 3:17 | 10 |
| מִצְרַ֜יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 11:4 | 9 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֖יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 6:21 | 8 |
| מִצְרָֽיְמָ/ה | Noun, Proper | Exodus 13:17 | 8 |
| בְּ/מִצְרָֽיִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 3:16 | 7 |
| מִצְרַ֔יְמָ/ה | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 17:16 | 7 |
| בְּ/מִצְרַ֖יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 1:30 | 6 |
| מִצְרָ֑יְמָ/ה | Noun, Proper | Exodus 1:1 | 6 |
| וּ/מִצְרַ֖יִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 14:27 | 5 |
| מִצְרַיִם֮ | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 28:68 | 5 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֗יִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 12:39 | 4 |
| מִצְרַ֣יִם | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 9:26 | 4 |
| מִצְרַ֥יִם | Noun, Proper | Hosea 7:11 | 4 |
| בְ/מִצְרַ֔יִם | Noun, Proper | Ezekiel 23:3 | 3 |
| בְ/מִצְרַ֖יִם | Noun, Proper | Genesis 46:27 | 3 |
| בְ/מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ | Noun, Proper | Exodus 14:12 | 3 |
| מִצְרַ֖יְמָ/ה | Noun, Proper | Genesis 46:8 | 3 |
| מִצְרַ֨יְמָ/ה֙ | Noun, Proper | Genesis 12:10 | 3 |
| וּ/מִצְרַ֡יִם | Noun, Proper | Genesis 10:13 | 2 |
| לְ/מִצְרַ֖יִם | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 19:15 | 2 |
| לְ/מִצְרָ֑יִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 19:4 | 2 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֛יִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 12:39 | 2 |
| מִצְרַ֨יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 7:15 | 2 |
| מִצְרַיִם֩ | Noun, Proper | 1 Kings 6:1 | 2 |
| בְ/מִצְרַ֨יִם | Noun, Proper | Psalms 106:7 | 1 |
| בְ/מִצְרָֽיִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 1:5 | 1 |
| בְּ/מִצְרַ֗יִם | Noun, Proper | 1 Kings 11:21 | 1 |
| בְּ/מִצְרַ֛יִם | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 6:22 | 1 |
| בְּ֭/מִצְרַיִם | Noun, Proper | Psalms 78:43 | 1 |
| וּ/בְ/מִצְרַ֔יִם | Noun, Proper | Joshua 24:14 | 1 |
| וּ/לְ/מִצְרַ֔יִם | Noun, Proper | Exodus 18:8 | 1 |
| וּ/מִ/מִּצְרַ֖יִם | Noun, Proper | Hosea 11:1 | 1 |
| וּ/מִ/מִּצְרַ֜יִם | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 11:11 | 1 |
| וּ/מִצְרַ֕יִם | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 30:7 | 1 |
| וּ/מִצְרַ֣יִם | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 19:23 | 1 |
| וּ/מִצְרַ֤יִם | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 31:3 | 1 |
| לְ/מִצְרַ֔יִם | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 19:21 | 1 |
| לְ/מִצְרַ֗יִם | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 46:2 | 1 |
| לְ/מִצְרַ֥יִם | Noun, Proper | Hosea 12:1 | 1 |
| לְ/מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 19:17 | 1 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֜יִם | Noun, Proper | Genesis 13:1 | 1 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֣יִם | Noun, Proper | Psalms 80:8 | 1 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֤יִם | Noun, Proper | 2 Chronicles 1:17 | 1 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַ֨יִם | Noun, Proper | Joshua 5:4 | 1 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַיִם֒ | Noun, Proper | 1 Kings 8:16 | 1 |
| מִ/מִּצְרַיִם֮ | Noun, Proper | Joshua 24:32 | 1 |
| מִ֭צְרַיִם | Noun, Proper | Psalms 136:10 | 1 |
The 60 most common forms are shown; 3 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4714, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Bible dictionary
Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Egypt). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.
Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897
The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture.
The Egyptians belonged to the white race, and their original home is still a matter of dispute. Many scholars believe that it was in Southern Arabia, and recent excavations have shown that the valley of the Nile was originally inhabited by a low-class population, perhaps belonging to the Nigritian stock, before the Egyptians of history entered it. The ancient Egyptian language, of which the latest form is Coptic, is distantly connected with the Semitic family of speech.
Egypt consists geographically of two halves, the northern being the Delta, and the southern Upper Egypt, between Cairo and the First Cataract. In the Old Testament, Northern or Lower Egypt is called Mazor, "the fortified land" (Isa. 19:6; 37: 25, where the A.V. mistranslates "defence" and "besieged places"); while Southern or Upper Egypt is Pathros, the Egyptian Pa-to-Res, or "the land of the south" (Isa. 11:11). But the whole country is generally mentioned under the dual name of Mizraim, "the two Mazors."
The civilization of Egypt goes back to a very remote antiquity. The two kingdoms of the north and south were united by Menes, the founder of the first historical dynasty of kings. The first six dynasties constitute what is known as the Old Empire, which had its capital at Memphis, south of Cairo, called in the Old Testament Moph (Hos. 9:6) and Noph. The native name was Mennofer, "the good place."
The Pyramids were tombs of the monarchs of the Old Empire, those of Gizeh being erected in the time of the Fourth Dynasty. After the fall of the Old Empire came a period of decline and obscurity. This was followed by the Middle Empire, the most powerful dynasty of which was the Twelfth. The Fayyum was rescued for agriculture by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty; and two obelisks were erected in front of the temple of the sun-god at On or Heliopolis (near Cairo), one of which is still standing. The capital of the Middle Empire was Thebes, in Upper Egypt.
The Middle Empire was overthrown by the invasion of the Hyksos, or shepherd princes from Asia, who ruled over Egypt, more especially in the north, for several centuries, and of whom there were three dynasties of kings. They had their capital at Zoan or Tanis (now San), in the north-eastern part of the Delta. It was in the time of the Hyksos that Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph entered Egypt. The Hyksos were finally expelled about B.C. 1600, by the hereditary princes of Thebes, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty, and carried the war into Asia. Canaan and Syria were subdued, as well as Cyprus, and the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire were fixed at the Euphrates. The Soudan, which had been conquered by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, was again annexed to Egypt, and the eldest son of the Pharaoh took the title of "Prince of Cush."
One of the later kings of the dynasty, Amenophis IV., or Khu-n-Aten, endeavoured to supplant the ancient state religion of Egypt by a new faith derived from Asia, which was a sort of pantheistic monotheism, the one supreme god being adored under the image of the solar disk. The attempt led to religious and civil war, and the Pharaoh retreated from Thebes to Central Egypt, where he built a new capital, on the site of the present Tell-el-Amarna. The cuneiform tablets that have been found there represent his foreign correspondence (about B.C. 1400). He surrounded himself with officials and courtiers of Asiatic, and more especially Canaanitish, extraction; but the native party succeeded eventually in overthrowing the government, the capital of Khu-n-Aten was destroyed, and the foreigners were driven out of the country, those that remained being reduced to serfdom.
The national triumph was marked by the rise of the Nineteenth Dynasty, in the founder of which, Rameses I., we must see the "new king, who knew not Joseph." His grandson, Rameses II., reigned sixty-seven years (B.C. 1348-1281), and was an indefatigable builder. As Pithom, excavated by Dr. Naville in 1883, was one of the cities he built, he must have been the Pharaoh of the Oppression. The Pharaoh of the Exodus may have been one of his immediate successors, whose reigns were short. Under them Egypt lost its empire in Asia, and was itself attacked by barbarians from Libya and the north.
The Nineteenth Dynasty soon afterwards came to an end; Egypt was distracted by civil war; and for a short time a Canaanite, Arisu, ruled over it.
Then came the Twentieth Dynasty, the second Pharaoh of which, Rameses III., restored the power of his country. In one of his campaigns he overran the southern part of Palestine, where the Israelites had not yet settled. They must at the time have been still in the wilderness. But it was during the reign of Rameses III. that Egypt finally lost Gaza and the adjoining cities, which were seized by the Pulista, or Philistines.
After Rameses III., Egypt fell into decay. Solomon married the daughter of one of the last kings of the Twenty-first Dynasty, which was overthrown by Shishak I., the general of the Libyan mercenaries, who founded the Twenty-second Dynasty (1 Kings 11:40; 14:25, 26). A list of the places he captured in Palestine is engraved on the outside of the south wall of the temple of Karnak.
In the time of Hezekiah, Egypt was conquered by Ethiopians from the Soudan, who constituted the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The third of them was Tirhakah (2 Kings 19:9). In B.C. 674 it was conquered by the Assyrians, who divided it into twenty satrapies, and Tirhakah was driven back to his ancestral dominions. Fourteen years later it successfully revolted under Psammetichus I. of Sais, the founder of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Among his successors were Necho (2 Kings 23:29) and Hophra, or Apries (Jer. 37:5, 7, 11). The dynasty came to an end in B.C. 525, when the country was subjugated by Cambyses. Soon afterwards it was organized into a Persian satrapy.
The title of Pharaoh, given to the Egyptian kings, is the Egyptian Per-aa, or "Great House," which may be compared to that of "Sublime Porte." It is found in very early Egyptian texts.
The Egyptian religion was a strange mixture of pantheism and animal worship, the gods being adored in the form of animals. While the educated classes resolved their manifold deities into manifestations of one omnipresent and omnipotent divine power, the lower classes regarded the animals as incarnations of the gods.
Under the Old Empire, Ptah, the Creator, the god of Memphis, was at the head of the Pantheon; afterwards Amon, the god of Thebes, took his place. Amon, like most of the other gods, was identified with Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis.
The Egyptians believed in a resurrection and future life, as well as in a state of rewards and punishments dependent on our conduct in this world. The judge of the dead was Osiris, who had been slain by Set, the representative of evil, and afterwards restored to life. His death was avenged by his son Horus, whom the Egyptians invoked as their "Redeemer." Osiris and Horus, along with Isis, formed a trinity, who were regarded as representing the sun-god under different forms.
Even in the time of Abraham, Egypt was a flourishing and settled monarchy. Its oldest capital, within the historic period, was Memphis, the ruins of which may still be seen near the Pyramids and the Sphinx. When the Old Empire of Menes came to an end, the seat of empire was shifted to Thebes, some 300 miles farther up the Nile. A short time after that, the Delta was conquered by the Hyksos, or shepherd kings, who fixed their capital at Zoan, the Greek Tanis, now San, on the Tanic arm of the Nile. All this occurred before the time of the new king "which knew not Joseph" (Ex. 1:8). In later times Egypt was conquered by the Persians (B.C. 525), and by the Greeks under Alexander the Great (B.C. 332), after whom the Ptolemies ruled the country for three centuries. Subsequently it was for a time a province of the Roman Empire; and at last, in A.D. 1517, it fell into the hands of the Turks, of whose empire it still forms nominally a part. Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt in the time of the shepherd kings. The exile of Joseph and the migration of Jacob to "the land of Goshen" occurred about 200 years later. On the death of Solomon, Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded Palestine (1 Kings 14:25). He left a list of the cities he conquered.
A number of remarkable clay tablets, discovered at Tell-el-Amarna in Upper Egypt, are the most important historical records ever found in connection with the Bible. They most fully confirm the historical statements of the Book of Joshua, and prove the antiquity of civilization in Syria and Palestine. As the clay in different parts of Palestine differs, it has been found possible by the clay alone to decide where the tablets come from when the name of the writer is lost. The inscriptions are cuneiform, and in the Aramaic language, resembling Assyrian. The writers are Phoenicians, Amorites, and Philistines, but in no instance Hittites, though Hittites are mentioned. The tablets consist of official dispatches and letters, dating from B.C. 1480, addressed to the two Pharaohs, Amenophis III. and IV., the last of this dynasty, from the kings and governors of Phoenicia and Palestine. There occur the names of three kings killed by Joshua, Adoni-zedec, king of Jerusalem, Japhia, king of Lachish (Josh. 10:3), and Jabin, king of Hazor (11:1); also the Hebrews (Abiri) are said to have come from the desert.
The principal prophecies of Scripture regarding Egypt are these, Isa. 19; Jer. 43: 8-13; 44:30; 46; Ezek. 29-32; and it might be easily shown that they have all been remarkably fulfilled. For example, the singular disappearance of Noph (i.e., Memphis) is a fulfilment of Jer. 46:19, Ezek. 30:13.
Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863
(land of the Copts), a country occupying the northeast angle of Africa. Its limits appear always to have been very nearly the same. It is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by Palestine, Arabia and the Red Sea, on the south by Nubia, and on the west by the Great Desert. It is divided into upper Egypt--the valley of the Nile--and lower Egypt, the plain of the Delta, from the Greek letter; it is formed by the branching mouths of the Nile, and the Mediterranean Sea. The portions made fertile by the Nile comprise about 9582 square geographical miles, of which only about 5600 is under cultivation.--Encyc. Brit. The Delta extends about 200 miles along the Mediterranean, and Egypt is 520 miles long from north to south from the sea to the First Cataract. Names.--The common name of Egypt in the Bible is "Mizraim." It is in the dual number, which indicates the two natural divisions of the country into an upper and a lower region. The Arabic name of Egypt--Mizr-- signifies "red mud." Egypt is also called in the Bible "the land of Ham," (Psalms 105:23,27) comp. Psalms 78:51--a name most probably referring to Ham the son of Noah--and "Rahab," the proud or insolent: these appear to be poetical appellations. The common ancient Egyptian name of the country is written in hieroglyphics Kem, which was perhaps pronounced Chem. This name signifies, in the ancient language and in Coptic, "black," on account of the blackness of its alluvial soil. We may reasonably conjecture that Kem is the Egyptian equivalent of Ham. GENERAL APPEARANCE, CLIMATE, ETC.--The general appearance of the country cannot have greatly changed since the days of Moses. The whole country is remarkable for its extreme fertility, which especially strikes the beholder when the rich green of the fields is contrasted with the utterly bare, yellow mountains or the sand-strewn rocky desert on either side. The climate is equable and healthy. Rain is not very unfrequent on the northern coast, but inland is very rare. Cultivation nowhere depends upon it. The inundation of the Nile fertilizes and sustains the country, and makes the river its chief blessing. The Nile was on this account anciently worshipped. The rise begins in Egypt about the summer solstice, and the inundation commences about two months later. The greatest height is attained about or somewhat after the autumnal equinox. The inundation lasts about three months. The atmosphere, except on the seacoast, is remarkably dry and clear, which accounts for the so perfect preservation of the monuments, with their pictures and inscriptions. The heat is extreme during a large part of the year. The winters are mild,--from 50
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869
that troubles or oppresses; anguish
Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 541 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 569 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 10:6
- Exodus 1:1
- Leviticus 11:45
- Numbers 1:1
- Deuteronomy 1:27
- Joshua 2:10
- Judges 2:1
- 1 Samuel 2:27
- 2 Samuel 7:6
- 1 Kings 6:1
- 2 Kings 7:6
- 1 Chronicles 1:8
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
