se.ter denotes concealment or privacy, whether in hidden acts and speech or in a sheltering place.

The term most often marks actions, speech, or matters kept from open view; it also names a concealed or sheltering place, including refuge from danger and cover within natural or built settings.

1. Concealed acts, speech, and matters · dominant

   Absolute noun forms occur with acts done out of public view: in 2 Samuel 12:12 the APB renders the contrast as doing something “in secret” before it is exposed before Israel and the sun, and Deuteronomy 27:15 and Deuteronomy 27:24 place an idol and an attack on a neighbor in that concealed setting. The plural absolute form in Proverbs 9:17 is used of food kept in concealment, while Jeremiah 37:17 presents the king questioning Jeremiah privately.

   2 Samuel 12:12Deuteronomy 27:15Deuteronomy 27:24Jeremiah 37:17Proverbs 9:17Psalm 139:15
2. A hidden or sheltering place · common

   Construct forms occur in location phrases: Isaiah 32:2 describes protection from wind and storm, Job 40:21 places the animal among reed and swamp, and Psalm 27:5 speaks of being hidden in a tent during distress. In Isaiah 16:4 and Psalm 32:7, the surrounding clauses present such cover as protection from a destroyer or distress.

   Isaiah 16:4Isaiah 32:2Job 40:21Psalm 27:5Psalm 32:7Song of Songs 2:14

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously uses “in secret,” “in secrecy,” “privately,” “hiding place,” and “shelter” in these contexts. These renderings confirm the clauses’ contrast between concealment and exposure or between cover and danger rather than fixing a separate English equivalent in every verse.