1207. bitstsah
Lexical Summary
bitstsah: Gain, profit, plunder, unjust gain

Original Word: בִּצָּה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: bitstsah
Pronunciation: bits-tsah'
Phonetic Spelling: (bits-tsaw')
KJV: fen, mire(-ry place)
NASB: marsh, swamps and marshes
Word Origin: [intensive from H1206 (בּוֹץ - mire)]

1. a swamp

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
swamp, mire

Intensive from bots; a swamp -- fen, mire(-ry place).

see HEBREW bots

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from the same as bots
Definition
a swamp
NASB Translation
marsh (2), swamps and marshes (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
בִּצָּה noun feminine swamp, Job 8:11 as place where rushes grow, compare Job 40:21; בִּצּאֹתָ֯ו (Co ובצותיו) plural suffix Ezekiel 47:11 ("" וּגְבָאָיו).

Topical Lexicon
Scriptural Occurrences

Job 8:11, Job 40:21, and Ezekiel 47:11 employ בִּצָּה to describe a swampy, reedy wetland. Each passage links the marsh to a wider theological point: the futility of life apart from the sustaining presence of God (Job 8), the untamable majesty of the Creator’s handiwork (Job 40), and the final restoration of the land with sovereign distinctions between what is healed and what remains set apart (Ezekiel 47).

Physical Setting in the Ancient Near East

Marshes dotted the riverine landscapes of Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia. They provided papyrus, reeds for thatching, refuge for wildlife, and natural defensive barriers for cities. To an agrarian audience, a marsh was both a sign of water abundance and, when stagnant, a reminder of unproductive ground. The biblical writers used this familiar terrain to communicate spiritual truths with immediate resonance for their hearers.

Images of Fertility, Dependence, and Futility

Job 8:11 asks, “Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish without water?” By invoking the marsh, Bildad illustrates the impossibility of growth without the proper environment. Applied spiritually, human prosperity depends entirely on the gracious provision of God’s “living water” (compare Jeremiah 17:7–8; John 7:37–38). Without it, even the most promising beginnings wither.

Divine Sovereignty over Creation

In Job 40:21 the behemoth “lies under the lotus plants, hidden among the reeds of the marsh.” The habitat underscores the creature’s security and strength—yet that very environment is under God’s command. The marsh thus serves as a stage on which divine power and creative variety are displayed. What seems impregnable to humanity is effortlessly governed by the Lord (Psalm 104:24–26).

Judgment and Preservation in Prophetic Vision

Ezekiel’s temple-river (Ezekiel 47) turns everything fresh except “the swamps and marshes,” which “will be left for salt” (verse 11). The split outcome teaches that end-time restoration will be both comprehensive and discriminating. Some areas remain saline, ensuring a supply of medicinal and culinary salt, while also symbolizing that pockets of judgment remain amid blessing (compare Isaiah 66:24; Revelation 22:11). The marsh, then, becomes a picture of divine order—life-giving renewal alongside purposeful restraint.

Pastoral and Devotional Implications

1. Dependence: As the papyrus is bound to the marsh, believers are bound to the Spirit. Ministry that neglects constant communion with the Lord will wither like reeds without water (Zechariah 4:6; John 15:5).
2. Humility: Behemoth’s marshland reminds us that God’s world contains powers far beyond human management. Worship deepens when we acknowledge our limits and His limitless authority (Romans 11:33).
3. Discernment: Ezekiel encourages workers in the gospel to expect both healing and continued pockets of resistance until the final consummation (Matthew 13:47–50). Not every field turns fertile at once; yet the overarching flow of the river guarantees eventual fullness.

Practical Ministry Uses

• Teaching Series on Spiritual Growth: Contrast the flourishing reed with the withered reed to illustrate abiding in Christ.
• Creation Care Emphasis: Highlight marshes as ecosystems God values—worthy of stewardship, not exploitation.
• Evangelistic Appeal: Use the image of fresh, flowing water reaching stagnant pools to invite hearers into the transforming life of the Spirit (Isaiah 55:1).

Summary

בִּצָּה threads through Scripture as more than a geographic feature. It pictures dependence on divine sustenance, underscores God’s creative rule, and reveals the nuanced pattern of judgment and renewal in His redemptive plan.

Forms and Transliterations
בִצָּ֑ה בִּצֹּאתָ֧יו בצאתיו בצה וּבִצָּֽה׃ ובצה׃ ḇiṣ·ṣāh biṣ·ṣō·ṯāw ḇiṣṣāh biṣṣōṯāw bitztzoTav ū·ḇiṣ·ṣāh ūḇiṣṣāh uvitzTzah vitzTzah
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Job 8:11
HEB: גֹּ֭מֶא בְּלֹ֣א בִצָּ֑ה יִשְׂגֶּה־ אָ֥חוּ
NAS: up without a marsh? Can the rushes
KJV: grow up without mire? can
INT: the papyrus without swamp grow the flag

Job 40:21
HEB: בְּסֵ֖תֶר קָנֶ֣ה וּבִצָּֽה׃
NAS: of the reeds and the marsh.
KJV: in the covert of the reed, and fens.
INT: the covert of the reeds and the marsh

Ezekiel 47:11
HEB: [בִּצֹּאתֹו כ] (בִּצֹּאתָ֧יו ק) וּגְבָאָ֛יו
NAS: But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh;
KJV: But the miry places thereof and the marishes
INT: swamp and the marishes will not

3 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1207
3 Occurrences


biṣ·ṣō·ṯāw — 1 Occ.
ū·ḇiṣ·ṣāh — 1 Occ.
ḇiṣ·ṣāh — 1 Occ.

1206
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