מְצוּקָה (me.tsu.qah)
me.tsu.qah
distress
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 7 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Definition
Definition
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
What This Word Means for Your Faith
When life feels heavy, the Hebrew word meṣûqâ describes that tight, crushing pressure in your chest. It is not just a passing worry but a genuine entrapment where freedom seems impossible. You are not alone in feeling this weight; the Psalms show us that even those who walked closely with God experienced this deep sense of confinement.
What brings hope is how Scripture responds to this state. The text does not ask you to ignore the pain but to cry out. In these moments, turning to Yahweh becomes the pathway from being stuck to being set free. His deliverance is real and tangible, offering relief when your own strength runs out.
This word reminds us that distress is a place where we can meet God. He hears the cry of the trapped and acts with power. You can bring your current struggles to Him, trusting that He sees your confinement and desires to lead you into open space and peace.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 7 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- from/ troubles/ their3×
- and/ distress2×
- from/ distresses/ my1×
- and/ from/ troubles/ their1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- מִ֝/מְּצֻֽקוֹתֵי/הֶ֗ם2×
- מִ֝/מְּצֽוּקוֹתַ֗/י1×
- מִ֝/מְּצֽוּקוֹתֵי/הֶ֗ם1×
- וּֽ֝/מִ/מְּצֽוּקֹתֵי/הֶ֗ם1×
- וּ/מְצוּקָ֗ה1×
- וּ/מְצוּקָ֑ה1×
Key Verses
-
Psalms 25:17
The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh bring me out of my distresses.
This verse personalizes the word by showing David asking God specifically to extract him from his enlarged heart troubles.
-
Psalms 107:6
Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
It highlights the pattern of crying out in trouble and receiving immediate deliverance from distresses.
-
Job 15:24
Distress and anguish make him afraid. They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
This occurrence shows the terrifying side of distress, where it prevails against a person like an advancing army.