---
title: סֶלַע — crag · The Tanakh dictionary
description: סֶלַע (5553), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 58 times: crag. BDB 1906: n.m. crag, cliff. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# סֶלַע

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«סֶלַע» in the Tanakh dictionary: **crag** — 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:** 58 times · **Key:** 5553 · **BDB:** סֶ֫לַע

### Glosses

rock (17); the.rock (10); of.rock (6)

### Meaning (OSHB)

crag [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/5553/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. crag, cliff [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/5553/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Ju 6:20 crag, cliff, synon. צוּר;—abs. ס׳ Ju 6:20 +, סָ֑לַע Nu 20:10 +; cstr. סֶ֫לַע 1 S 23:23; sf. סַלְעִי 2 S 22:2 +, סַלְעוֹ Is 31:9; pl. סְלָעִים Is 2:21 +;— lit. cliff, crag Ju 6:20; Is 2:21; 7:19 Am 6:12 Nu 20:8(×2), 10(×2), 11 (cf. Ne 9:15 ψ 78:16, and contr. the צוּר of Ex 17:6), Nu 24:21; Dt 32:13 (not elsewhere Hex) Je 13:4, + 9 times; שֵׁן הַסּ׳ 1 S 14:4(×2) tooth of the crag, i.e. sharp crag, so Jb 39:28; excav. in cliff as place of burial Is 22:16; abode of wild animals, יַעֲלֵי־ס׳ v 1, cf. ψ 104:18; Pr 30:26, of birds Jb 39:28 Ct 2:14 (in fig.), cf. Je 48:28, so of Edom Ob 3 = Je 49:16; cf. (Nu 24:21 supr. and) Is 42:11; particular cliffs are: ס׳ עֵיטָם Ju 15:8, 11 cf. v 13, ס׳ (הָ)רִמּוֹן 20:45, 47(×2); 21:13 ס׳ הַמַּחְלְקוֹת 1 S 23:28 cf. v 25; v. also ii. סֶלַע. fig., especially סַלְעִי of י׳ (only ψψ), ψ 18:3 = 2 S 22:2, ψ 31:4; 42:10; 71:3; of Assyrian god Is 31:9 (prob.; cf. צוּר Dt 32:31, 37); צֵל ס׳ כָּבֵד Is 32:2 (sim. of protecting care); fig. of security ψ 40:3 (feet on cliff), מְצָדוֹת סְלָעִים מִשְׂגַּבּוֹ Is 33:16; symb. of obstinacy חִזְּקוּ פְנֵיהֶם מִסּ׳ Je 5:3; צְחִיחַ ס׳ (bare cliff, lit. glare of \[the\] cliff), in fig. of openness, flagrancy Ez 24:7, 8, of razed city 26:4, 14 (only here Ez); in fig. of fall of Bab. Je 51:25.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 43 of its verses cited, 2 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (3 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (2 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «סֶלַע» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/5553/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Job 39:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.39.1/)

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הֲיָדַ֗עְתָּ עֵ֭ת לֶ֣דֶת יַעֲלֵי־סָ֑לַע חֹלֵ֖ל אַיָּל֣וֹת תִּשְׁמֹֽר׃

*Word for word:* do you.know? \[the\].time of.\[the\].bringing.forth of.mountain.goats of.rock \[the\].bringing.forth of.does do.you.watch?

*JPS 1917:* Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

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[Job 39:28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.39.28/)

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סֶ֣לַע יִ֭שְׁכֹּן וְיִתְלֹנָ֑ן עַֽל־שֶׁן־סֶ֝֗לַע וּמְצוּדָֽה׃

*Word for word:* a.rock it.dwells and it.passes.the.night on \[the\].tooth of.a.rock and a.stronghold

*JPS 1917:* She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the stronghold.

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