H5274a H5274a
To lock, bolt, or bar shut; to fasten a door securely, preventing entry or exit.
A verb meaning to bar, bolt, or lock a door or gate, securing it against entry. In the Ehud narrative (Judg 3:23-24), Ehud bolts the upper-room doors behind him after assassinating King Eglon, and the servants find them locked. In 2 Samuel 13:17-18, Amnon's servant locks the door behind Tamar after her violation -- a cruel detail underscored by the bolting action. Song of Songs 4:12 uses the passive participle poetically: the beloved is 'a locked garden,' an image of purity and inaccessibility. The Spanish translations consistently render it 'cerrado/cerrada' (closed, locked), capturing both the physical and figurative dimensions.
Senses
1. to lock, bolt shut — To fasten a door or gate with a bolt or bar, securing it shut. The Qal stem appears in both active forms (Judg 3:23, 2 Sam 13:17-18) describing the physical act of bolting doors, and passive participles (Song 4:12) conveying the state of being locked. In Judges 3:23-24 the locked doors create dramatic irony as Eglon's servants wait, assuming the king has locked himself in. In 2 Samuel 13, the bolting of the door intensifies the narrative's pathos. The figurative use in Song of Songs 4:12 -- 'a locked garden' -- transforms the concrete act into an image of exclusive intimacy. Spanish 'cerrado/cerrada' and German 'locked' confirm the core meaning across traditions. 6×
AR["مُغْلَقَةٌ", "نَعُول", "وَ-أَقْفَلَ", "وَأَغلَقَ", "وَأَغلِقوا-"]·ben["এবং-তালা-দাও", "এবং-তালা-দিল", "তালা-দেওয়া", "বন্ধ"]·DE["[נעול]", "locked", "und-bolt", "und-er-bolted", "und-locked"]·EN["and-bolt", "and-he-bolted", "and-locked", "locked"]·FR["et-bolt", "et-il-bolted", "et-locked", "fermé,", "fermée,", "locked"]·heb["ו-נעול", "ו-נעל", "נעול", "נעולות"]·HI["और-ताला-लगाया।", "और-बंद-करो", "और-बंद-किया", "ताला-लगे", "बंद"]·ID["dan-kuncilah", "dan-mengunci", "dan-menguncilah-ia", "terkunci"]·IT["e-bolt", "e-egli-bolted", "e-locked", "locked"]·jav["dipun-kunci", "kang-dipunkunci", "lan-kuncèn", "lan-ngunci"]·KO["그리고-잠갔다", "그리고-잠그라", "잠겼다", "잠긴"]·PT["e-tranca", "e-trancou", "fechada", "fechado", "trancadas"]·RU["заперты", "запертый", "и-запер", "и-запри"]·ES["cerrada", "cerradas", "cerrado", "y-cerró", "y-cierra", "y-echó-cerrojo"]·SW["iliyofungwa", "imefungwa", "na-akafunga", "na-akafunga-kwa-ufunguo", "na-ufunge"]·TR["kilitli", "ve-kilitle", "ve-kilitledi"]·urd["اور-بند-کر", "اور-بند-کیا", "اور-تالا-لگایا", "بند"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)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×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† נָעַל vb. bar, bolt, lock (NH id.);— Qal Pf. 3 ms. נָעַל 2 S 13:18, נָעָ֑ל Ju 3:23; Imv. נְעֹל 2 S 13:17; Pt. pass. נָעוּל Ct 4:12(×2); fpl. נְעֻלוֹת Ju 3:24;—bar, bolt, lock, usually c. acc. דֶּלֶת, דְּלָתוֹת: Ju 3:23, + אַחֲרֵי after, behind, v 24; 2 S 13:17, 18; elsewhere only גַּן נָעוּל Ct 4:12 a garden barred (fig. of Shulamite), so also v 12b (reading גַּן for גַּל, Vrss Gr Bu).