Defense
Defense This word, besides its ordinary and proper use, stands in the English Bible as a mistranslation of two Heb. terms.
1. Matsotr' מָצוֹר, in connection with יאֹרַים, streams, rendered in 2Ki 19:24, "rivers of besieged places," Sept. ποταμοι συνοχῆς, Vulg. aquae clausae; in Isa 19:6, "brooks of defense," Sept. διώρυες τοῦ ποταμοῦ, Vulg. rivi aggerum; in Isa 37:25, "rivers of the besieged places," Sept. συναγωγὴ ὕδατος, Vulg. rivi aggerum), a proper name for EGYPT, alluding to its canals, i.e. the branches of the Nile. The derivation of the term is obscure; perhaps it is only another application of the Heb. word of the same form, elsewhere signifying (literally straitness, hence) a mound or fortification, and applied to Egypt, especially Lower Egypt, as being strongly fortified, both by nature and art. SEE MAZOR.
2. Be'tser (בֶּצֶר, probably something dug out of a mine, occurring only in Job, and rendered in chap. 22:24, "gold," Sept. πέτρα, Vulg. silex; in ver. 25, "defense," Sept. βοηθὸς ἀπὸ ἐχθρῶν, Vulg. contra hostes; in chap. 36:19, 'gold," Sept. δυνατὸς ἐν ἀνάγκῃ, Vulg. tribulatio), precious ore, i.e. of gold or silver, in its native state; an interpretation evidently required by the corresponding terms in the parallel members of the hemistichs where it occurs. SEE GOLD.
