Lexicon
מִשְׁמֶ֫רֶת
mish.me.ret
H4931
H:N-F Hebrew

charge

78
Occurrences
18
Books
Hebrew
Language

mish.me.ret denotes an assigned responsibility, especially a sanctuary duty, and can also name obedience, guarding, or custody.

The term most often marks an assigned responsibility connected with sanctuary personnel, places, and service; it also describes keeping divine requirements and, in other settings, guarding a house or post or holding something in custody.

Senses in use

  1. Assigned sanctuary responsibility · dominant

    The term regularly identifies duties entrusted to priests, Levites, gatekeepers, or singers in connection with the tent, house, sanctuary, altar, or purification. In Numbers 3:25 the APB renders the clause as the Gershonites' responsibility for the tent and its furnishings, while Ezekiel 44:14 describes persons assigned to the house's service.

  2. Keeping commanded obligations · common

    In clauses about obeying God, the term stands alongside statutes, commandments, judgments, or instructions. In Deuteronomy 11:1 the APB renders keeping it together with God's statutes, judgments, and commandments; Leviticus 18:30 specifies keeping it by not doing the practices named in the verse.

  3. Guarded keeping or custody · occasional

    The term can concern a guarded place, a defensive post, or an item held for a stated time. In 2 Kings 11:6 the APB renders the house-duty as being kept "as a defense," while Exodus 16:33 places manna before the LORD "to be kept throughout your generations." Isaiah 21:8 and Habakkuk 2:1 place the speaker at a lookout or watchpost.

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses "charge" in service and obedience clauses, but also uses "watches," "posts," "guard," and forms of "kept" where the context concerns duty, protection, or preservation. Because its English is a whole-verse translation, these renderings show the verse contexts rather than a fixed English equivalent.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture