To constrain
צָרַרStrong’s H6887tsarar (tsa-rar)
Appears in 52 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Tsarar is the Hebrew word usually translated “it is distress”, “opposers my” and “opposers your”. It appears in 52 verses of the Old Testament.
“And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.”
Meaning
- To bind, be narrow, be in distress, make narrow, cause distress, besiege, be straitened, be bound(Qal) · (Pual) to be bound, be tied up · (Hiphil)
- To suffer distress
- To show hostility toward, vex
- To make a rival-wife
How it's translated
- it is distress 6
- opposers my 6
- opposers your 4
- bound up 3
- opposer of 3
- and it will lay siege 2
- people have opposed me 2
- and i will cause distress 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Psalms 18
- Numbers 4
- Esther 4
- 2 Chronicles 3
- Isaiah 3
- Jeremiah 3
18 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Exodus 23:22But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
- Leviticus 18:18Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
- Numbers 10:9And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
- Numbers 25:17Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
- Numbers 25:18For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.
- Numbers 33:55But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
All 52 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
צָרַר tsarar · to constrain
1) to bind, be narrow, be in distress, make narrow, cause distress, besiege, be straitened, be bound 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to bind, tie up, shut up 1a2) to be scant, be cramped, be in straits 1b) (Pual) to be bound, be tied up 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to make narrow for, cause distress to, press hard upon
צָרַר tsarar · to distress
to suffer distress
צָרַר tsarar · to vex
to show hostility toward, vex
צָרַר tsarar · to rival
to make a rival-wife
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “constrain” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
CONSTRAIN, verb transitive
[Latin, to strain, to bind. See Strain.]
In a general sense, to strain; to press; to urge; to drive; to exert force, physical or moral, either in urging to action or in restraining it. Hence,
- To compel or force; to urge with irresistible power, or with a power sufficient to produce the effect.“The spirit within me constraineth me” Job 32:18“I was constrained to appeal to Caesar” Acts 28:19“For the love of Christ constraineth us” 2 Corinthians 5:14
- To confine by fore; to restrain from escape or action; to repress.
- To hold by force; to press; to confine.
- To constringe; to bind.
All definitions
- To tie fast; to bind; to chain; to confine.
- To necessitate.
- To force; to ravish. [Not used.]
- To produce in opposition to nature; as a constrained voice; constrained notes.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.