pillar
mats.tse.vah denotes an erected stone monument, often a cultic installation, but also a witness, memorial, or dedicated marker.
The term most often identifies cultic monuments that are set up, prohibited, or destroyed alongside altars and Asherah. It also denotes stones erected as covenant witnesses, memorials, or markers, while a few contexts describe dedicated or prominent monuments in other settings.
Senses in use
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Cultic monuments set up or dismantled · dominant
Plural forms occur among altars, Asherah, and other objects that are to be broken, burned, or torn down: in Deuteronomy 7:5 the APB renders commands to break “their pillars,” and in 2 Kings 10:26 it renders pillars brought from the house of Baal and burned. In 1 Kings 14:23 and 2 Kings 17:10, the plural stands among installations set up on hills and beneath trees; Leviticus 26:1 prohibits erecting such a monument for bowing down.
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Erected witness, memorial, or sacred marker · common
Singular absolute forms identify stones deliberately set up in personal and communal settings. In Genesis 28:18 the APB renders Jacob setting up a stone and pouring oil on it; in Genesis 31:52 the pillar is explicitly called a witness between Jacob and Laban. Genesis 35:20 places such a marker upon Rachel’s tomb, while Exodus 24:4 describes twelve such monuments for the tribes.
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Dedicated or prominent monuments · rare
A smaller group places the noun in settings not described as Israelite memorial stones or dismantled cultic installations. In Isaiah 19:19 the singular is rendered as a monument “to the LORD” at Egypt’s border; construct plurals in Jeremiah 43:13 are rendered “obelisks,” while Ezekiel 26:11 renders them “pillars of strength.”
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly renders the term “pillar” or “pillars,” including monuments that are built, anointed, prohibited, or broken. It varies in Jeremiah 43:13 with “obelisks” and in Ezekiel 26:11 with “pillars of strength”; these are verse-level renderings rather than definitions.