H4148 H4148
Discipline, correction, instruction; formative moral training and chastening, whether by teaching, reproof, or punishment.
Musar is one of the great organizing concepts of biblical wisdom literature — the word that binds together the gentle instruction of a father and the painful correction of a rod into a single educational vision. It opens the book of Proverbs (1:2, 'to know wisdom and musar') and threads through every chapter as the indispensable companion to chokmah ('wisdom'). What makes musar distinctive is its refusal to separate teaching from discipline: the same word covers a parent's verbal instruction, a prophet's stinging rebuke, and God's corrective affliction. The multilingual evidence reflects this breadth — Arabic splits between ta'lim ('teaching') and ta'dib ('disciplining'), French alternates between discipline and châtiment, and German Zucht captures the old-world fusion of 'upbringing' and 'chastisement' that English has lost. Isaiah 53:5's musar shelomenu — 'the chastisement of our peace' — represents the theological apex, where punishment becomes redemptive healing.
Senses
1. moral discipline and instruction — Formative moral discipline and character training — the dominant sense at 37 occurrences, concentrated in Proverbs and Job. This is musar as the total process of moral formation: accepting instruction, internalizing correction, growing in wisdom. 'Hear, my son, your father's musar' (Prov 1:8); 'whoever loves musar loves knowledge' (Prov 12:1); 'do not despise the musar of the Almighty' (Job 5:17). Spanish disciplina, German Zucht, and French discipline all converge here on the educational-formative sense. The word presupposes a relationship of authority — parent to child, sage to student, God to human — and the willingness to be shaped. 37×
AR["أَدَبٍ","أَدَبَ","أَدَبِ","التَّأْدِيبِ","الْأَدَبَ","الْأَدَبِ","تَأديبًا","تَأديبٌ","تَأديبٍ","تَأديبُ","تَأْدِيبًا"]·ben["-এর-শাসন","শাসন","শাসনের","শাস্তি"]·DE["Zucht"]·EN["discipline","discipline-of","heeds-discipline-of","him","the-discipline-of"]·FR["discipline"]·heb["מוסר"]·HI["अनुशासन","अनुशासन-की","शिक्षा","शिक्षा-की","शिक्षा-को","शिक्षा-से"]·ID["Ajaran","ajaran","dengan-ajaran","didikan"]·IT["disciplina"]·jav["piwulang","piwulang-saking"]·KO["징계는","훈계-다","훈계-로","훈계-를","훈계-의","훈계를"]·PT["Disciplina","Instrucao-de","disciplina","instrução","instrução-de"]·RU["Наставление","наказание","наставление","наставление!","наставления","наставления,","наставления."]·ES["Disciplina","Disciplina-de","corrección-de","disciplina","disciplina-de","instrucción","instrucción-de","la-instrucción"]·SW["Mafundisho-ya","adabu","adabu-ya","anapokea-nidhamu-ya","kwa-nidhamu","mafundisho","mafundisho-ya","nidhamu","nidhamu-ya","ya-adabu"]·TR["terbiye","terbiyeden","terbiyenin","terbiyesidir","terbiyesine","terbiyesini","terbiyeyi","terbiyeyle"]·urd["تادیب","تادیب-سے","تادیب-کی","تادیب-کے"]
2. correction and chastisement — Corrective punishment and chastisement — 9 occurrences where the punitive, pain-bearing aspect dominates over the didactic. Jeremiah's Israel 'did not receive musar' despite repeated blows (Jer 2:30; 5:3; 7:28), and the Suffering Servant bears 'the musar of our peace' — punishment that brings wholeness (Isa 53:5). French châtiment and Spanish castigo both shift to punishment-specific vocabulary here, while Arabic ta'dib ('disciplining') distinguishes this from ta'lim ('instruction'). The sense is not random suffering but purposeful, corrective affliction aimed at reformation. 9×
AR["بِتَأْدِيبِ","تَأْدِيبًا","تَأْدِيبٍ","تَأْدِيبَ","تَأْدِيبُ","مُؤَدِّبٌ"]·ben["নিন্দা","শাসন","শাসনে","শাস্তি","শিক্ষা"]·DE["Zucht"]·EN["chastisement-of","chastiser","discipline","discipline-of","the-reproof-of"]·FR["châtiment","correction","discipline"]·heb["מוסר"]·HI["अनुशासन","अनुशासन।","डाँट","ताड़ना","दण्ड","शिक्षा"]·ID["hajaran","hukuman","pengajaran","teguran"]·IT["disciplina"]·jav["pangandikan","pangrimatan","paukuman","pitutur","piwulang"]·KO["교훈을","꾼짓을","징계가","징계니라","징계를","징벌","훈계-를"]·PT["Reprovação-de","castigo-de","castigo-de-","correção"]·RU["наказание","наказанием","наставление","наставления","обличение"]·ES["La-reprensión-de","castigo","castigo-de","corrección","disciplina"]·SW["adhabu","adhabu-ya","kemeo","marudi"]·TR["azarlama","cezasi-","terbiye","terbiyesiyle"]·urd["تادیب","تربیت","تنبیہ","سزا"]
3. warning and admonition — Warning and admonition — 2 occurrences where musar is proactive rather than reactive, aimed at preventing wrongdoing before it happens. In Deut 11:2 Moses tells Israel to 'know today the musar of the LORD your God' — his disciplinary acts in history serve as a warning for the future. Ezek 5:15 uses Jerusalem's fate as musar ('a warning') to surrounding nations. Spanish advertencia and German discipline-von both select cautionary vocabulary. The distinction from sense 2 is temporal: this is discipline-as-deterrent rather than discipline-as-response. 2×
AR["تَأْديبًا","تَأْدِيبَ"]·ben["শাসন"]·DE["[מוסר]","discipline-von"]·EN["discipline-of","warning"]·FR["châtiment","discipline-de"]·heb["מוסר"]·HI["अनुशासन","चेतावनी"]·ID["didikan","peringatan"]·IT["disciplina","discipline-di"]·jav["piwulang"]·KO["훈계를","훈계와"]·PT["castigo","disciplina-de-"]·RU["наказание","предостережением"]·ES["advertencia","disciplina-de"]·SW["adhabu","onyo"]·TR["terbiyesini","öğretici"]·urd["تادیب","سبق"]
4. didactic instruction — Didactic instruction as content — a single occurrence at Jer 10:8 where the context emphasizes what is taught rather than the disciplinary process: 'the musar of idols is wood' — the 'instruction' that idols offer is nothing but a block of timber. Spanish instrucción and French correction attempt this nuance, but Arabic ta'lim ('teaching, doctrine') captures it most precisely. Here musar is not the act of training but the substance of what is communicated, reduced to absurdity when the 'teacher' is a lifeless idol. 1×
AR["تَعْلِيمُ"]·ben["শিক্ষা"]·DE["Zucht"]·EN["the-instruction-of"]·FR["correction"]·heb["מוסר"]·HI["शिक्षा"]·ID["pengajaran"]·IT["disciplina"]·jav["piwulang"]·KO["교훈이라"]·PT["Instrução-de"]·RU["наставление"]·ES["instrucción-de"]·SW["mafundisho-ya"]·TR["eğitimi"]·urd["تعلیم"]
5. bond or restraint — Bond, fetter, or restraint — a single occurrence at Job 12:18 where musar shifts from its usual educational domain to a concrete physical image: God 'loosens the musar of kings,' meaning their bonds, fetters, or regal sash. Spanish el lazo de ('the bond of') recognizes the shift to physical restraint vocabulary. BDB connects this to the root yasar in its binding sense (cf. Jer 5:5 where breaking 'bonds' uses the same semantic field). A striking outlier that preserves an archaic, concrete dimension of the root beneath its overwhelmingly abstract usage. 1×
AR["رِباطَ"]·ben["বন্ধন"]·DE["Zucht"]·EN["bond-of"]·FR["discipline"]·heb["מוסר"]·HI["बन्धन"]·ID["Ikatan"]·IT["disciplina"]·jav["tali"]·KO["결박-을-"]·PT["Vínculo-de"]·RU["узы"]·ES["El-lazo-de"]·SW["vifungo-vya"]·TR["bağını"]·urd["بندھن"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מוּסָר n.m. Pr 15:10 discipline (of the moral nature), chastening, correction;—מ׳ Je 2:30 + 31 times (Ez 5:15 del. Co); cstr. מוּסַר Dt 11:2 + 14 times (for Jb 12:18 see אסר); sf. מוּסָרִי Pr 8:10; מוּסָֽרְךָ Is 26:16; מֹסָרָם Jb 33:16 (for מֻסָרָם Di);— 1. a. discipline, correction, of God, Dt 11:2 מוּסַר י׳ the discipline of י׳ (of Y.’s wonders, as exercising a disciplinary, educating…