Properly, a cliff (or sharp rock, as compressed ); generally, a rock or boulder ; figuratively, a refuge ; also an edge (as precipitous )
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צוּר (tsur) means rock or cliff and can extend figuratively to refuge or strength. Exodus 17:6 and Deuteronomy 8:15 describe water coming from a literal rock, Exodus 33:21-22 names the rocky place where Moses is sheltered, and Joshua 5:2 uses the noun in connection with flint knives.
Reader summary
Full entry for צוּר (H6697) · Open the biblical lexicon
צוּר (tsur) means rock or cliff and can extend figuratively to refuge or strength. Exodus 17:6 and Deuteronomy 8:15 describe water coming from a literal rock, Exodus 33:21-22 names the rocky place where Moses is sheltered, and Joshua 5:2 uses the noun in connection with flint knives.
The BSB source-word alignment has 77 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the rock (15), my rock (7), a rock (5), [is] the Rock (3), from the rock (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 17:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (25), Isaiah (12), Deuteronomy (9), Job (7).
צוּר (tsur) means rock or cliff and can extend figuratively to refuge or strength. Exodus 17:6 and Deuteronomy 8:15 describe water coming from a literal rock, Exodus 33:21-22 names the rocky place where Moses is sheltered, and Joshua 5:2 uses the noun in connection with flint knives. Other passages name lookout points, hiding places, or prominent rocks. These concrete uses ground the metaphor without turning every rock into a divine symbol.
Deuteronomy 32 repeatedly calls the Lord the Rock, praising his perfect work and faithfulness while contrasting him with rival rocks that cannot save. Psalms call God a rock, refuge, salvation, and strength, often from within danger rather than after all danger has disappeared. Psalm 61:2 asks to be led to a rock higher than the speaker, Psalm 62:7 locates salvation and honor in God, and Psalm 73:26 calls God the rock of the heart when flesh and heart fail. The image communicates dependable refuge and sustaining strength, not a guarantee that faithful people avoid grief, disability, persecution, or death.
Prophets also use rock language in judgment and hope. Isaiah 2 pictures people hiding among rocks from the terror of the Lord, Isaiah 17:10 accuses the people of forgetting the God of their salvation and Rock of refuge, and Isaiah 44:8 denies that there is another Rock. Isaiah 8:14 uses stone and rock imagery in a warning that later canonical texts receive christologically. That trajectory should be traced through the cited passage and its later use rather than making every H6697 occurrence a direct prediction.
Tsur moves from physical stone and cliffs to refuge, strength, divine title, and comparison with false sources of trust. Literal and metaphorical senses are related but not interchangeable.
Water comes from the struck rock in the wilderness, joining a physical object to God's provision in the narrated event.
The song names the Lord as the Rock whose work is perfect and whose ways are just and faithful.
Israel's Rock is contrasted with the inadequate rocks in which enemies or apostate people place confidence.
The people are accused of forgetting the God of salvation and failing to remember their Rock of refuge.
God's uniqueness is confessed through the question of whether any other rock exists.
Rock imagery is joined to fortress, deliverer, shield, and stronghold in a song of rescue.
The prayer seeks guidance to a rock higher than the overwhelmed speaker, expressing dependence during distress.
When body and heart fail, God is confessed as the rock of the heart and the enduring portion.
In retrospect the people remember God as their Rock and the Most High as their Redeemer, though the psalm also exposes unstable loyalty.
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. Rock as literal protection becomes theological refuge; God's steadfast strength and salvation in OT covenantal language.
Rock as literal protection becomes theological refuge; God's steadfast strength and salvation in OT covenantal language.
properly, a cliff (or sharp rock, as compressed); generally, a rock or boulder; figuratively, a refuge; also an edge (as precipitous) BDB: rock Usage: edge, × (mighty) God (one), rock, × sharp, stone, × strength, × strong. See also 1049.
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 5 selected witnesses from 78 lexical occurrence verses.
צוּר is built from this root:
The metaphor contrasts divine stability with fragile human plans.Isaiah 17:9-11
The Lord’s stability contrasts with collapsing pride.Isaiah 26:1-6
Represents God’s unshakable faithfulness.Isaiah 44:6-8
Symbolizes covenant stability and divine foundation.Isaiah 51:1-3
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Tsur gives worshipers sturdy language for dependence without pretending that suffering disappears. The psalmist asks for a higher rock while overwhelmed, calls God a rock when body and heart fail, and remembers rescue amid contested circumstances. Deuteronomy calls God the Rock because his work, justice, and faithfulness are dependable, then exposes rival rocks that cannot save.
This metaphor should create humility and durable hope, not emotional numbness or triumphalism. Congregations can confess God's stability while seeking shelter, medical care, legal protection, community support, and lament. Isaiah's warning also matters: religious communities may forget their Rock while trusting wealth, weapons, leaders, or institutions. The test of the metaphor is faithful reliance on God, not a performance of invulnerability.
Deut.32.4
H6697 is a concrete noun that supports literal terrain and figurative refuge or strength. Divine-title uses arise from context and apposition, not from an inherent divine meaning in every occurrence.
New Testament writers use selected wilderness and stone passages in relation to Christ and the believing community. Those connections are real where the later text makes them, but they do not turn every literal rock, cliff, or H6697 occurrence into a christological symbol.