A column (as standing ); also a stand , i.e. platform
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H5982 names a standing pillar, column, or support. It can describe actual architectural members, the pillars of cloud and fire that accompanied Israel, or a figurative comparison in poetry and prophetic commissioning.
Reader summary
Full entry for עַמּוּד (H5982) · Open the biblical lexicon
H5982 names a standing pillar, column, or support. It can describe actual architectural members, the pillars of cloud and fire that accompanied Israel, or a figurative comparison in poetry and prophetic commissioning.
The BSB source-word alignment has 111 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include posts (19), pillars (14), the pillars (13), the pillar (9), of the pillars (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 13:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (39), 1 Kings (22), 2 Chronicles (8), Jeremiah (7).
H5982 names a standing pillar, column, or support. It can describe actual architectural members, the pillars of cloud and fire that accompanied Israel, or a figurative comparison in poetry and prophetic commissioning. In Exod. 13. 21, the Lord goes before Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, making His guidance and presence the point of the image.
In Jer. 1. 18, God makes Jeremiah like an iron pillar against the land, promising resilience for a costly prophetic calling rather than personal invulnerability. In Prov. 9. 1, Wisdom builds her house and hews seven pillars, presenting a prepared and ordered invitation. H5982 opens teaching on God-given support, steadfast witness, and well-founded hospitality.
It does not make every pillar a secret spiritual office, guarantee that faithful servants cannot be harmed, or turn architectural details into a numerical code. The passage determines whether the pillar is material, visionary, historical, poetic, or metaphorical.
H5982 ranges across ordinary building supports, the wilderness pillars associated with divine guidance, poetic descriptions of cosmic stability, and metaphors for steadfastness or ordered wisdom. The surrounding action identifies what the standing column supports or signifies.
And the Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.
The Lord goes before the departing Israelites in cloud by day and fire by night, guiding their travel through His own faithful presence.
Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
God compares Jeremiah to an iron pillar and fortified defenses as He commissions him to speak against powerful covenant leaders and people.
Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars.
Personified Wisdom builds a house and hews seven pillars before preparing a feast and summoning the simple to learn discernment.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Vertical structural support emphasizing permanence and visibility; key element in temple architecture and covenant space marking
Vertical structural support emphasizing permanence and visibility; key element in temple architecture and covenant space marking
a column (as standing); also a stand, i.e. platform BDB: pillar Usage: × apiece, pillar.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 112 lexical occurrence verses.
עַמּוּד is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H5982 gives biblical writers a visible form for support, presence, and steadfastness, but it does not carry one fixed symbolism. The pillar of cloud and fire in Exodus marks the Lord going before Israel, so guidance is grounded in His covenant faithfulness and not in Israel's ability to interpret any unusual phenomenon as a sign. Jeremiah becomes like an iron pillar because God appoints him to speak faithfully amid determined opposition; the comparison promises sustaining strength for obedience, not freedom from fear, rejection, or pain.
Wisdom's seven pillars belong to a carefully built house and a generous summons to leave folly. Together these passages show that what stands firm may guide, support, or embody readiness according to its context. God is the giver of stability, while His servants and structures remain dependent on Him. Faithful teaching should therefore direct attention from the impressive image to the divine word, calling, or wisdom that gives the image its purpose.
Exod.13.21
H5982 is a Hebrew noun for a standing pillar or column. Its referent may be architectural, ceremonial, phenomenal, or figurative; verbs, materials, possessors, and literary genre clarify the active sense.
The New Testament also uses pillar imagery for strength, public witness, and the ordered life of God's people. Those canonical echoes can illuminate dependence and steadfastness, but they should not erase the exodus event, Jeremiah's commission, or Wisdom's poetic house.