5465. sad
Lexical Summary
sad: Support, Foundation, Base

Original Word: סַד
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: cad
Pronunciation: sahd
Phonetic Spelling: (sad)
KJV: stocks
NASB: stocks
Word Origin: [from an unused root meaning to estop]

1. the stocks

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
stocks

From an unused root meaning to estop; the stocks -- stocks.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
probably of foreign origin
Definition
stocks (for securing feet of prisoners)
NASB Translation
stocks (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
סַד noun [masculine] stocks, for confining feet of culprits (probably loan-word from Aramaic סַדָּא, סַדָּנָא ; Late Hebrew סַד, plural סַדִּין); = Latin nervus, Greek ποδοκάκη; — absolute רַגְלַיִם׳שִׂים בַּמּ Job 13:27 (ᵐ5 κώλύμα), Job 33:11 (ᵑ6 ξύλό); (compare synonym מַהְמֶּכֶת, and Greek equivalent there cited).

Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Basic Sense

סַד pictures the wooden stocks in which the ankles—and sometimes wrists and neck—were clamped as a form of restraint, humiliation, and prolonged discomfort. Although the term occurs only twice, it evokes a vivid image of confinement and helplessness before superior authority.

Occurrences in Scripture

1. Job 13:27 – Job protests that the Lord “put[s] my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths,” expressing the anguish of feeling imprisoned by God’s scrutiny.
2. Job 33:11 – Elihu echoes Job’s words to show he has heard Job’s complaint: “He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches over all my paths.” In Elihu’s hands the same picture becomes an argument that God’s dealings, though severe, are purposeful and righteous.

Historical Background—Ancient Near Eastern Punitive Devices

Stocks were common in Mesopotamia and Egypt and later in Greco-Roman culture. A heavy board was hollowed with one or more pairs of holes; the victim’s limbs were inserted and the board fastened so escape was impossible. Public display intensified the shame, while the forced position produced cramps and swelling. In Israel, different words describe related implements (for example, Jeremiah 20:2), indicating that such punishment was known and understood in biblical times.

Theological and Pastoral Implications

• God’s Sovereignty in Suffering. Job’s imagery of being locked in stocks underscores the reality that nothing reaches the believer apart from divine permission (Job 1–2). Even when God feels like a jailer, His purposes are not arbitrary.
• Human Limitation. The stocks symbolize how finite creatures are bound by circumstances they cannot change. Scripture repeatedly moves from captivity imagery to deliverance, teaching dependence on the LORD who alone “releases the prisoners” (Psalm 146:7).
• Righteous Discipline. Elihu’s use of Job’s metaphor reframes the hardship as corrective rather than merely punitive (Job 33:19–30). Discipline, though painful, aims at restoration.

Christological and Gospel Connections

The Old Testament picture of immobilized feet anticipates the bondage of sin. Jesus Christ announced His mission “to proclaim liberty to the captives” (Isaiah 61:1; fulfilled in Luke 4:18). When the risen Christ freed Paul and Silas from literal stocks (Acts 16:24–26), the event dramatized the greater liberation He grants to all who believe (John 8:36). Thus the סַד ultimately magnifies the contrast between the tyranny of sin and the freedom secured by the Redeemer.

Application for Ministry Today

• Comfort the Afflicted. Like Job, many feel trapped by illness, persecution, or mental anguish. Point them to the God who hears honest lament and who alone can loosen every bond.
• Encourage Perseverance. Remind believers that temporary restraints serve eternal purposes (2 Corinthians 4:17).
• Model Compassionate Justice. While earthly authorities may lawfully restrain evil, Scripture calls magistrates—and by extension the church—to pursue justice tempered with mercy, reflecting the character of the One who delivers captives.

Forms and Transliterations
בַּסַּ֣ד בַּסַּ֨ד ׀ בסד bas·saḏ basSad bassaḏ
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Job 13:27
HEB: וְתָ֘שֵׂ֤ם בַּסַּ֨ד ׀ רַגְלַ֗י וְתִשְׁמ֥וֹר
NAS: my feet in the stocks And watch
KJV: my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly
INT: put the stocks my feet and watch

Job 33:11
HEB: יָשֵׂ֣ם בַּסַּ֣ד רַגְלָ֑י יִ֝שְׁמֹ֗ר
NAS: my feet in the stocks; He watches
KJV: my feet in the stocks, he marketh
INT: puts the stocks my feet watches

2 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 5465
2 Occurrences


bas·saḏ — 2 Occ.

5464
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