H4307 H4307
guard, guardhouse, court of the guard; target, mark (for shooting)
1. guard, guardhouse, court of the guard — The feminine noun מַטָּרָה (mattarah) in its primary sense of 'guard, guardhouse, court of the guard', referring to a detention facility or guarded enclosure, typically within a royal compound. All 13 occurrences appear in Jeremiah (32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6, 13, 28; 39:14-15) and Nehemiah (3:25, 12:39), denoting the place where the prophet Jeremiah was confined and the architectural feature near the king's palace. The term consistently appears with the definite article as 'the guard' (chatsar hammattarah). Multilingual translations confirm the custodial/military sense: eng 'the guard/the Guard', spa 'la guardia/la cárcel', hin 'पहरेदारों/पहरे', arb 'الْحَرَسِ/السِّجْنِ' (the guard/the prison), kor '감시의/그 감시의', swa 'walinzi/Mlinzi'. The Arabic rendering alternates between 'guard' and 'prison', both confirming the custodial meaning. 13×
AR["السِّجنِ","السِّجْنِ","الْحَرَسِ"]·ben["-পাহারার","-প্রহরীদের","-প্রহরীর","প্রহরীদের","প্রহরীর"]·DE["[המטרה]","das-Ziel"]·EN["the-Guard","the-guard"]·FR["[המטרה]","cible"]·heb["ה-מטרה"]·HI["पहरे","पहरे-के","पहरेदारों"]·ID["Penjaga-itu","penjagaan","penjara"]·IT["[המטרה]","bersaglio"]·jav["Penjagian","pakunjaran","penjagaan","penjagi"]·KO["감시의","그-감시의","그-경비대-의"]·PT["a-Guarda","a-guarda","a-prisão"]·RU["Стражи","стражи"]·ES["la-cárcel","la-guardia"]·SW["Mlinzi","walinzi"]·TR["Muhafızlar'ın","muhafızların","muhafızların-o","muhafızın"]·urd["پہرے","پہرے-کے"]
Neh 3:25, Neh 12:39, Jer 32:2, Jer 32:8, Jer 32:12, Jer 33:1, Jer 37:21, Jer 37:21, Jer 38:6, Jer 38:13, Jer 38:28, Jer 39:14 (+1 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. target, mark (for shooting) — The feminine noun מַטָּרָה (mattarah) in its secondary sense of 'target, mark', referring to an object set up for archery or javelin practice. Found in Job 16:12 ('he has set me up as his target') and 1 Samuel 20:20 ('I will shoot arrows as though I shot at a target'), and possibly Lamentations 3:12 ('he set me as a target for the arrow'). This is a genuine polysemy distinct from the 'guard/guardhouse' sense, representing a concrete object aimed at rather than a place of detention. The semantic split is confirmed across all translation languages: eng 'as a target/at a target', spa 'por blanco/como blanco/al blanco', hin 'निशाने के लिए/निशाने की तरह/निशने पर', arb 'لِ هَدَفٍ/كَهَدَفٍ' (as a target/like a target), kor '과녕으로/과녁으로' (as a target), swa 'kama shabaha/kwa shabaha' (like a target/at a target). Every language uses a completely different lexical item from the 'guard' sense, confirming two distinct meanings. 3×
AR["كَهَدَفٍ","لِ-هَدَفٍ","لِـ-هَدَفٍ"]·ben["-লক্ষ্য-রূপে","লক্ষ্যবস্তুতে","লক্ষ্যের-মত"]·DE["[כמטרא]","[למטרה]","bei-ein-target"]·EN["as-a-target","at-a-target"]·FR["cible","à-un-target","à-למטרה"]·heb["כ-מטרה","ל-מטרה"]·HI["निशने-पर","निशाने-की-तरह","निशाने-के-लिए"]·ID["pada-sasaran","sebagai-sasaran","seperti-sasaran"]·IT["a-un-target","bersaglio","per-as-un-target"]·jav["dados-sasaran","kados-sasaran","sasaran"]·KO["과녁으로","과녉-처럼","과녕으로"]·PT["como-alvo","para-alvo"]·RU["к-цели","как-цель","мишенью"]·ES["al-blanco","como-blanco","por-blanco"]·SW["kama-shabaha","kwa-shabaha"]·TR["hedef","hedef-gibi","hedefe"]·urd["نشانے-پر۔","نشانے-کی-طرح","نشانے-کے-طور-پر"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מַטָּרָה and (La 3:12) מַטָּרָא n.f. 1. guard, ward, prison. 2. target, mark (as kept in the eye, watched, cf. נָצַר Pr 23:26, and σκόπος (watcher, mark) from σκέπτομαι; perhaps Nab. מט[רתא] Lzb323);—always abs.:— 1. guard, ward, prison, usually חֲצַר הַמּ׳ court of guard (v. i. חָצֵר) Je 32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21(×2); 38:6, 13, 28; 39:14, 15; Ne 3:25; שַׁעַר הַמּ׳ 12:39. 2. target, mark Jb 16:12 (fig. of י׳’s chastisement), כַּמַּטָּרָא לַחֵץ La 3:12 (sim. id.); lit. only 1 S 20:20.