What does מְעָרָה (mĕʿārāh) mean in the Bible?
A cave is a physical place whose purpose depends on those who enter it. Abraham buries Sarah in the purchased cave at Machpelah, giving the location a particular place in the family's life and loss.
Hebrew · H4631
מְעָרָה
A cave is a physical place whose purpose depends on those who enter it. Abraham buries Sarah in the purchased cave at Machpelah, giving the location a particular place in the family's life and loss.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
מְעָרָהH4631
Pronunciationmĕʿārāh
What does מְעָרָה (mĕʿārāh) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for מְעָרָה (H4631) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H4631?
The BSB source-word alignment has 39 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the cave (13), in the cave (5), of the cave (5), a cave (2), caves (2).
Where does מְעָרָה (mĕʿārāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 19:30. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (11), Joshua (8), 1 Samuel (7), 1 Kings (4).
What This Word Actually Means
A cave is a physical place whose purpose depends on those who enter it. Abraham buries Sarah in the purchased cave at Machpelah, giving the location a particular place in the family's life and loss. David takes refuge in the cave of Adullam while his relatives and distressed people gather around him. Elijah spends a night in a cave at Horeb before the Lord questions and directs him.
Burial, refuge and a prophetic encounter are different uses of the same kind of place. The noun does not make isolation holy or distress a required preparation for leadership. Read what brings each person there and what the passage says next. A cave can locate grief or danger without explaining all of God's purposes for someone who feels hidden.
How the Bible Uses It
Machpelah holds Sarah's burial, Adullam shelters David and others, and Horeb becomes the setting of the Lord's question to Elijah. Their shared location does not erase distinct events.
- Gen.23.19
After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Sarah's burial follows a publicly witnessed purchase, locating the family's loss in a specifically acquired field and cave.
- 1Sam.22.1
So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
David's refuge attracts his family and distressed people; the cave is a gathering place within his flight from danger.
- 1Kgs.19.9
There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah spends the night before receiving the Lord's question; the following command calls him out onto the mountain.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itthe cave13×Genesis 23:9, Genesis 23:17, Genesis 23:19, Genesis 25:9
in the cave5×Genesis 50:13, Joshua 10:16, Joshua 10:17, 1 Samuel 24:10
of the cave5×Joshua 10:18, Joshua 10:22, Joshua 10:27, 1 Samuel 24:3
a cave2×1 Samuel 24:3, 1 Kings 19:9
caves2×Judges 6:2, Isaiah 32:14
per cave2×1 Kings 18:4, 1 Kings 18:13
. . .1×Joshua 10:22
a den1×Jeremiah 7:11
and caves1×Ezekiel 33:27
and the cave1×Genesis 49:32
cave1×Genesis 23:20
in a cave1×Genesis 19:30
in caves1×1 Samuel 13:6
into the cave1×Psalms 57:1
to caves1×Isaiah 2:19
you the cave1×Genesis 23:11
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 19:30בַּמְּעָרָ֔הtoin a cavePreposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 23:9מְעָרַ֤תtothe caveNoun - feminine singular constructGenesis 23:11וְהַמְּעָרָ֥הtoyou the caveConjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 23:17וְהַמְּעָרָ֣הtothe caveConjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 23:19מְעָרַ֞תtothe caveNoun - feminine singular constructGenesis 23:20וְהַמְּעָרָ֧הtocaveConjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 25:9מְעָרַ֖תtothe caveNoun - feminine singular constructGenesis 49:29הַ֨מְּעָרָ֔הtothe caveArticle | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 49:30בַּמְּעָרָ֞הtoThe cavePreposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 49:32וְהַמְּעָרָ֥הtoand the caveConjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 19:30
Aligned rows39
Books represented11
Genesis11Joshua8Judges11 Samuel72 Samuel11 Kings41 Chronicles1Psalms2Isaiah2Jeremiah1Ezekiel1
Source forms
בַּמְּעָרָ֔ה4xbam·mə·‘ā·rāhGenesis 19:30, 1 Samuel 24:10, 1 Kings 18:4, 1 Kings 18:13
הַמְּעָרָ֑ה4xham·mə·‘ā·rāhJoshua 10:18, Joshua 10:22, Joshua 10:23, 1 Kings 19:13
הַמְּעָרָ֖ה3xham·mə·‘ā·rāhJoshua 10:27, 1 Samuel 24:3, 1 Kings 19:9
מְעָרַ֖ת3xmə·‘ā·raṯGenesis 25:9, 2 Samuel 23:13, 1 Chronicles 11:15
וְהַמְּעָרָ֥ה2xwə·ham·mə·‘ā·rāhGenesis 23:11, Genesis 49:32
בַמְּעָרָ֖ה1xḇam·mə·‘ā·rāhJoshua 10:16
בַמְּעָרָ֣ה1xḇam·mə·‘ā·rāhPsalms 142:1
בַּמְּעָרָ֞ה1xbam·mə·‘ā·rāhGenesis 49:30
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - feminine singular10xGenesis 49:29, Joshua 10:18, Joshua 10:22, Joshua 10:23
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular9xGenesis 19:30, Genesis 49:30, Joshua 10:16, Joshua 10:17
Noun - feminine singular construct6xGenesis 23:9, Genesis 23:19, Genesis 25:9, 1 Samuel 22:1
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singular4xGenesis 23:11, Genesis 23:17, Genesis 23:20, Genesis 49:32
Preposition-m, Article | Noun - feminine singular2x1 Samuel 24:7, 1 Samuel 24:8
Article | Noun - feminine plural1xJudges 6:2
Article | Noun - feminine singular construct1xJeremiah 7:11
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine plural1xEzekiel 33:27
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Offer practical companionship to distressed people without assigning them Elijah's role.
- Respect mourners' losses instead of turning a burial location into a success metaphor.
Avoid claiming...
- A cave setting does not prove that God has abandoned the person inside.
- David's refuge does not promise that every isolated believer will become a public leader.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Cave as place of refuge, concealment, or isolation; darkness emphasizes separation from normal community life
Source Gloss
a cavern (as dark)
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Cave as place of refuge, concealment, or isolation; darkness emphasizes separation from normal community life
a cavern (as dark) BDB: cave Usage: cave, den, hole.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
מְעָרָה is built from this root:
עוּרH5783
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The movement around a cave can matter more than a symbolic meaning assigned to its darkness. Genesis carefully records ownership before Sarah's burial, making Abraham's grief and the acquired burial place concrete. At Adullam, David's refuge becomes accessible to family and distressed people rather than remaining a story of solitary greatness. At Horeb, Elijah hears a question and then receives a direction to leave the cave.
Those details resist a single formula for hidden seasons. A teacher can acknowledge loss, fear and exhaustion while attending to the distinct words and relationships each account supplies. Someone's present isolation should not be diagnosed through the scenery of a biblical episode. The cave identifies a location; the surrounding narrative explains the encounter and its consequences.
Anchor passage
1Sam.22.1
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis 23:17-20 gives Sarah's burial an acquired and publicly witnessed location.
- Genesis 49:29-32 recalls the ancestral burial cave in Jacob's final instructions.
- First Samuel 22:1-3 connects David's refuge with concern for his family.
- First Kings 19:7-11 places food, travel and divine speech around Elijah's cave.
- First Samuel 24 presents another cave encounter in which David restrains violence against Saul.
- John 11:38 names a cave tomb when Jesus approaches Lazarus's burial place.
The Hebrew noun names a cave rather than a condition of spiritual abandonment. Its use for burial or shelter requires the particular narrative to establish the purpose.
From Old to New Testament
John 11:38 describes Lazarus's tomb as a cave, making burial its stated function there. Jesus' words and actions establish that account's hope; sharing a cave setting does not turn every earlier refuge into a prediction of Lazarus's raising.