StrongerBible

motsa

מוֹצָא

HebrewH4161spring, going out, ...

Appears 27 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Num 30:12(13)Num 33:2 (2×)Deu 8:3Deu 23:23(24)2Sa 3:251Ki 10:282Ki 2:212Ch 1:162Ch 32:30Job 28:1Job 38:27Psa 19:6(7)Psa 65:8(9)Psa 75:6(7)Psa 89:34(35)Psa 107:33Psa 107:35Isa 41:18Isa 58:11Jer 17:16Ezk 12:4Ezk 42:11Ezk 43:11Ezk 44:5Dan 9:25Hos 6:3
Root family
Word studymo-TSAHnoun

What motsa means

a going out: the act of going forth, what issues forth, or the place it issues from

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is the noun built straight from the common verb "to go out," and it stays close to it. At its core it names a going forth, and the rest of its range simply asks what is going out and from where. It can be the event itself (a person leaving, the sun rising, an army setting out), the thing that comes out (words from the lips, a decree from a king), or the place something comes out of (a spring of water, a mine, the exit of a building).

Because one Hebrew word covers act, product, and place alike, English has to reach for a different word almost every time: going forth, utterance, spring, source, mine, exit. The link between them is easy to lose in translation, but in Hebrew it is a single, plain idea seen from different angles.

The exact shade always comes from the sentence, never from a hidden meaning in the word. Standing beside water it is a spring; beside the lips it is what a person has said; beside a building it is the way out. The word supplies the notion of coming out; the context supplies the rest.

Nuances

1aa going forth, the act of going out or setting out
TranslatabilityApproximate
Num 33:2 (2×)2Sa 3:25Psa 19:6(7)Psa 65:8(9)Ezk 12:4Hos 6:3
1bwhat comes out of the mouth: an utterance, a spoken promise, a decree
TranslatabilityApproximate
Num 30:12(13)Deu 8:3Deu 23:23(24)Psa 89:34(35)Jer 17:16Dan 9:25
1ca spring, the place water issues from
2Ki 2:212Ch 32:30Psa 107:33Psa 107:35Isa 41:18Isa 58:11
1da source or place of origin: a mine, an export, produce
1Ki 10:282Ch 1:16Job 28:1Job 38:27
1ean exit, a way out of a building
Ezk 42:11Ezk 43:11Ezk 44:5
1fthe east, the place where the sun rises
TranslatabilityDirect
Psa 75:6(7)

What scholars say about motsa

מוֹצָא is a deverbal noun from יָצָא "to go out," functioning as both a noun of action (a going forth) and a noun of place (the point from which something goes out). The standard lexicons treat it under a single entry with a range that runs from act, to product, to locale: a going forth (of the sun, of persons, of an army), that which proceeds from the lips (an utterance or vow, Num 30:13; Deut 23:24) and by extension a royal decree (Dan 9:25), a source or spring of water (Isa 41:18; 58:11), a mine of ore (Job 28:1), the export or origin of a commodity (1 Kgs 10:28), and the exits of a structure (Ezek 42:11; 43:11; 44:5). In Ps 75:7 (English 75:6) the absolute form is used elliptically for the east, the place of the sun's rising. The sense in each occurrence is contextually determined; there is no scholarly dispute over the lexeme's meaning.

Sources

  • BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs), s.v. מוֹצָאlexicon
  • HALOT (Koehler-Baumgartner), s.v. מוֹצָאlexicon
  • DCH (Clines, ed.), s.v. מוֹצָאlexicon
  • H.-J. Fabry and others, "יָצָא," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT) 6:225-250dictionary

All attested forms of מוֹצָא

m s construct

מוֹצָא, וּמוֹצָא, מֹצָא, וּכְמוֹצָא

Num 30:12, Deu 8:3, Deu 23:23, 2Ki 2:21, 2Ch 32:30, Jer 17:16, 1Ki 10:28, 2Ch 1:16

m p construct

מוֹצָאֵי, מֹצָאֵי, כְּמוֹצָאֵי, לְמוֹצָאֵי

Psa 65:8, Ezk 44:5, Psa 107:33, Psa 107:35, Ezk 12:4, Isa 41:18

m p construct

לְמוֹצָאֵיהֶם, מוֹצָאֵיהֶם

Num 33:2, Num 33:2

m s absolute

מוֹצָא, מִמּוֹצָא

Job 28:1, Psa 75:6

m s construct

מוֹצָאוֹ

Psa 19:6, Hos 6:3

m p construct

מוֹצָאֵיהֶן

Ezk 42:11

m p construct

וּמוֹצָאָיו

Ezk 43:11

m s construct

מוֹצָאֲךָ

2Sa 3:25