בְּקִיעַ (be.qi.a)
be.qi.a
breach
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The noun beqiʿa refers to a physical split, crack, or opening in a solid surface. It describes a fissure or breach that compromises the integrity of something previously whole. The word appears only twice in the Hebrew Bible, both times in prophetic literature where structural failure carries heavy symbolic weight.
In Isaiah 24:18, it depicts the windows of heaven breaking open during cosmic upheaval, suggesting a violent rupture between the sky and earth. Amos 9:1 uses the term for a breach in a wall, implying that the structure can no longer hold back what lies beyond. The sources emphasize its concrete nature as a gap created by force or decay.
Its root relates to splitting or cleaving apart. Translators often render it "breach" or "fissure," depending on context. Unlike words for gentle separation, beqiʿa implies damage or exposure. The imagery highlights vulnerability and the consequences of broken boundaries.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
In the ancient world, a breach in a city wall was not a cosmetic flaw. It meant the inside was exposed. When Isaiah looked at Jerusalem, he saw "the breaches of David's city, that they were many" (Isaiah 22:9). The Hebrew word beqiʿa names those cracks with unflinching honesty. It speaks of a gap that can no longer hold back what presses against it. For us, it might be a persistent strain in a relationship, a hope that has worn thin, or a sense that our carefully arranged defenses are giving way.
These fractures can feel like failure. Yet Scripture does not flinch from them. It holds space for the truth that sometimes the walls we have trusted will crack. That exposure can become a place where we stop patching things ourselves and turn our attention to the God who does not need walls to keep us safe. Beqiʿa is not the final word. It is an opening, a place where help can also enter.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- rubble<s>1×
- [the] breaches of1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- בְּקִעִֽים\׃1×
- בְּקִיעֵ֧י1×
Key Verses
-
Isaiah 22:9
You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
The word beqiʿa highlights the literal breaches in Jerusalem's fortifications, making tangible the city's deeper spiritual exposure.
-
Amos 6:11
“For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.
The term appears amid a vision of divine judgment, where the splitting of a house symbolizes the collapse of false security and self-reliance.