StrongerBible

otsar

אוֹצָר

HebrewH0214treasure, treasury, ...

Appears 79 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Deu 28:12Deu 32:34Jos 6:19Jos 6:241Ki 7:511Ki 14:26 (2×)1Ki 15:18 (2×)2Ki 12:18(19)2Ki 14:142Ki 16:82Ki 18:152Ki 20:132Ki 20:152Ki 24:13 (2×)1Ch 9:261Ch 26:20 (2×)1Ch 26:221Ch 26:241Ch 26:261Ch 27:25 (2×)1Ch 27:271Ch 29:82Ch 8:152Ch 32:27Ezr 2:69Neh 7:70(69)Neh 7:71(70)Neh 10:38(39)Neh 12:44Neh 13:12Neh 13:13Psa 33:7Psa 135:7Pro 8:21Pro 10:2Pro 15:16Pro 21:6Pro 21:20Isa 2:7Isa 30:6Isa 33:6Isa 39:2Isa 39:4Isa 45:3Jer 10:13Jer 15:13Jer 17:3Jer 20:5Jer 38:11Jer 48:7
Root family
Word studyoh-TSARnoun

What otsar means

a store of valuables, or the place that holds them: treasure, and the treasury or storehouse where treasure is kept

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This one word slides between the valuables and the room that holds them, the way English does with "the king's treasure" and "the royal treasury." Sometimes it points to the wealth itself, the silver and gold and precious things piled up; sometimes to the strong-room, store-chamber, or granary built to keep them. Context, not a different word, tells you which is in view, and in many verses both are present at once.

The physical-place sense is concrete and institutional. The treasuries of the temple and the palace are real chambers, repeatedly emptied to pay off invaders or refilled by a faithful king. The grain store and the tithe storehouse work the same way: a designated place where something of value is gathered and kept in reserve.

The word also rises to a cosmic picture. The skies are God's storehouses, holding snow, hail, wind, the deep, and the rain that he opens up and dispenses at will. Here the stored thing is not money but weather and even sealed-up judgment, and the storeroom belongs to God alone. It is the same idea stretched to its largest scale: a reserve held back, under an owner's control, to be brought out when he chooses.

Nuances

1athe valuables themselves: a store of wealth, precious things laid up
Pro 8:21Pro 10:2Pro 15:16Pro 21:6Pro 21:20Isa 2:7Isa 30:6Isa 33:6Isa 45:3Jer 15:13Jer 17:3Hos 13:15
1bthe place that holds the valuables: a treasury, storehouse, store-chamber, or granary
Jos 6:19Jos 6:241Ki 7:511Ki 14:26 (2×)1Ki 15:18 (2×)2Ki 12:18(19)2Ki 14:142Ki 16:82Ki 18:152Ki 20:132Ki 24:13 (2×)1Ch 9:26
1cthe heavens pictured as God's storehouses, from which he releases weather and held-back judgment
Deu 28:12Deu 32:34Job 38:22Psa 33:7Psa 135:7Jer 10:13Jer 50:25Jer 51:16

What scholars say about otsar

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat אוֹצָר as a single noun whose reference shifts with context between the stored valuables (treasure, store of wealth) and the place that holds them (treasury, storehouse, store-chamber, granary), with a well-attested figurative extension to the heavenly storehouses from which God releases snow, hail, wind, rain, and the deep. The word is widely held to derive from the root אצר "to store up, lay up." It is not analyzed as two homonyms; the place sense and the contents sense are facets of one word.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. אוֹצָרlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. אוֹצָרlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. אוֹצָרlexicon
  • TWOT, no. 154a (אצר)theological-dictionary

All attested forms of אוֹצָר

f p construct

אֹצְרוֹת, אוֹצְרוֹת, בְּאוֹצְרוֹת, וְאוֹצְרוֹת

1Ki 7:51, 1Ki 14:26, 2Ki 12:18, 2Ki 14:14, 2Ki 16:8, 2Ki 18:15, 1Ch 9:26, 1Ch 26:20

f p absolute

אֹצָרוֹת, אוֹצָרוֹת, לָאוֹצָרוֹת, אוֹצָרֹת

1Ch 26:24, 1Ch 27:25, 2Ch 8:15, 2Ch 32:27, Psa 33:7, Jol 1:17, Neh 13:13, Pro 21:6

m s construct

אוֹצַר, לְאוֹצַר

Jos 6:19, Jos 6:24, Dan 1:2, Hos 13:15, 1Ch 29:8, Ezr 2:69, Neh 7:71

f p construct

אֹצְרֹתָיו, בְּאוֹצְרֹתָיו, מֵאוֹצְרוֹתָיו

Isa 2:7, Isa 39:2, Jer 10:13, Jer 51:16, 2Ki 20:13, Psa 135:7

m s absolute

הָאוֹצָר, אוֹצָר, לָאוֹצָר, מֵאוֹצָר

Neh 10:38, Jer 38:11, Mal 3:10, Pro 21:20, Neh 7:70, Pro 15:16

f p construct

בְּאוֹצְרֹתָי, אֹצְרֹתָי

Deu 32:34, Isa 39:4, 2Ki 20:15

f p construct

אוֹצְרוֹתֶיךָ, בְּאוֹצְרוֹתֶיךָ, וְאוֹצְרוֹתֶיךָ

Jer 17:3, Ezk 28:4, Jer 15:13

m s construct

אוֹצָרוֹ

Deu 28:12, Isa 33:6, Jer 50:25

f p construct

אוֹצְרֹתֶיהָ, אֹצְרֹתֶיהָ

Jer 50:37, Jer 49:4

f p construct

אוֹצְרֹתָם, אֹצְרֹתֵיהֶם

Isa 30:6, Pro 8:21

f p construct

וּבְאוֹצְרוֹתַיִךְ

Jer 48:7