H5526a H5526a
to shut in, hedge about—to enclose, confine, or fence in something or someone
This verb means to shut in, hedge about, or fence something in, creating an enclosure or barrier. Job 38:8 asks who shut in the sea with doors when it burst from the womb, depicting God's control over creation's boundaries. Job 3:23 laments that God has hedged in the sufferer, leaving no way out. The imagery is of being enclosed by barriers—sometimes protective (as with the sea's limits), sometimes confining (as with Job's suffering). The root may be related to words meaning to finish or enclose. Both uses emphasize divine sovereignty in setting boundaries, whether cosmic or personal.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Means to shut in, hedge about, or fence in, appearing in Job 38:8 ('who shut in the sea with doors?') and Job 3:23 ('God has hedged him in'). In chapter 38, God's enclosing of the sea demonstrates creative power and order. In chapter 3, God's hedging represents Job's sense of being trapped in suffering. The multilingual evidence shows 'shut in/hedged in' (English), 'cerró/cercó' (Spanish = closed/fenced), both conveying the action of enclosing or confining, whether to establish cosmic boundaries or to limit human freedom. 2×
AR["وَأَغْلَقَ", "وَسَيَّجَ"]·ben["আর-আবৃত-করল", "এবং-বেড়া-দিয়েছে"]·DE["[ויסך]"]·EN["and-hedged-in", "and-shut-in"]·FR["et-ויסך"]·heb["ו-יסוך", "ו-יסך"]·HI["और-घेरा-है", "और-बंद-किया"]·ID["Dan-Ia menutup", "dan-memagari"]·IT["e-e-hedged-in", "e-e-shut-in"]·jav["Lan-Kula-nutup", "lan-nutup"]·KO["그리고-닫으셨다", "그리고-둘러싼다"]·PT["E-fechou", "e-cercou"]·RU["и-запер", "и-оградил"]·ES["Y-cerró", "y-cercó"]·SW["na-alifunga", "na-amemzungushia-kizuizi"]·TR["Ve-kapattı", "ve-çevreledi"]·urd["اور-بند کیا", "اور-گھیرا"]
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
† II. [סוּךְ, סִיךְ] vb. hedge, or fence about, shut in (‖ form of שׂוּךְ; prob. not connected with Arabic شَوْكٌ, Ethiopic ሦክ thorns; poss. cf. Syriac ܣܳܟ finish, Pa. ܣܰܝܶܟ finish, conclude, comprehend, and Arabic سَكَّ close, close up, stop, stop up, lock up, Lane 1386);— Qal (al. Hiph., but cf. שׂוּךְ) Impf. 3 ms. וַיָּ֫סֶךְ אֱלוֹהַּ בַּעֲדוֹ Jb 3:23, c. acc. + בְּ instr. וַיָּ֫סֶךְ בִּדְלָתַיִם יָ֑ם 38:8 and (who) shut in the sea with doors? (Bi Bu וּמִי סָךְ, Me מִי סָךְ).