ma.tsu.dah denotes a defended place or stronghold, and in prayers can name God as protection and refuge.

The term most often denotes a physical defended place occupied, captured, or used for shelter; it also occurs in prayers and praise as a designation for God in relation to refuge, protection, and deliverance. Job 19:6 presents a further clause in which God's fortress surrounds the speaker.

1. Physical defended place or stronghold · dominant

   In 2 Samuel 5:7 the construct form identifies the stronghold of Zion that David captured, while 2 Samuel 5:9 describes David residing there and building from it. In 1 Samuel 22:4 and 1 Samuel 22:5, David stays in the fortress, and in Ezekiel 33:27 the plural names places where people remain alongside caves.

   2 Samuel 5:72 Samuel 5:91 Samuel 22:41 Samuel 22:5Ezekiel 33:27Job 39:28
2. God named as protection in prayer or praise · common

   In 2 Samuel 22:2, the construct form occurs in a list naming the LORD as rock, fortress, and deliverer. Psalm 91:2 places the same possessive construction within an address of trust, while Psalm 71:3 joins it to a request for salvation and continual access to God as a rock.

   2 Samuel 22:2Psalm 144:2Psalm 31:4Psalm 71:3Psalm 91:2
3. A fortress surrounding the speaker · rare

   In Job 19:6, the singular construct form appears in the clause that God's fortress has surrounded the speaker. The verse presents the enclosure as part of the speaker's complaint that God has perverted him, rather than as a refuge claim.

   Job 19:6

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term in physical settings as "stronghold" or "fortress," including David's location and the places named with caves in Ezekiel 33:27. In prayer contexts it uses "fortress" and, in Psalm 31:4, "security"; These renderings do not by themselves establish separate lexical meanings.