---
title: בִּירָה — castle · The Tanakh dictionary
description: בִּירָה (1002), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 16 times: castle. BDB 1906: n.f. castle, palace. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# בִּירָה

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«בִּירָה» in the Tanakh dictionary: **castle** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 16 times · **Key:** 1002 · **BDB:** בִּירָה

### Glosses

citadel (12); temple (2); the.citadel (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

castle [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1002/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.f. castle, palace [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1002/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.f. castle, palace (late \& prob. loan-word; cf. Assyrian bîrtu, fortress DlHA 22; Pers. bâru = Skr. bura, bari, v. Ry Ne 2:8)— of temple at Jerusalem 1 Ch 29:1, 19 הַבִּירָה; of fortress near temple Ne 2:8; 7:2 (cf. βᾶρις 𝔊L Ne 1:1; 2:8; 7:2—B ἁβιρά, βειρά—and later βᾶρις JosAnt. xv, 11, 4). בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה Ne 1:1 Est 1:2, 5; 2:3, 5, 8; 3:15; 8:14; 9:6, 11, 12 Dn 8:2; in these passages it appar. means a fortress in the city bearing the same name (cf. especially Est 3:15; 8:14, 15; 9:6, 12, 15, 18).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 16 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «בִּירָה» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1002/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Esther 9:6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/EST.9.6/)

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וּבְשׁוּשַׁ֣ן הַבִּירָ֗ה הָרְג֤וּ הַיְּהוּדִים֙ וְאַבֵּ֔ד חֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת אִֽישׁ׃

*Word for word:* and in Susa the citadel they.killed the Jews and they.destroyed five hundred(s) man

*JPS 1917:* And in Shushan the castle the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

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[Esther 9:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/EST.9.11/)

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בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא בָּ֣א מִסְפַּ֧ר הַֽהֲרוּגִ֛ים בְּשׁוּשַׁ֥ן הַבִּירָ֖ה לִפְנֵ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ס

*Word for word:* on the day (the) that it.came the.number of.\[those\] killed in Susa the citadel before the king

*JPS 1917:* On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the castle was brought before the king.

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