מַשְׂכִּית
mas.kit (H4906)
figure
AI Word Study
# Maskît (מַשְׂכִּית): A Biblical Term for Figures and Forms The Hebrew word *maskît* appears six times in the biblical text and carries the basic meaning of "figure" or representational form. Based on its limited occurrence, this term refers to visual depictions or shaped objects rather than abstract concepts. The word belongs to a semantic field concerned with visible, tangible representations—things that can be seen and recognized as distinct forms. The scarcity of this word in the biblical record (only six occurrences) suggests it was either a specialized term with narrow application or one that fell out of common usage during the period when most biblical texts were composed or compiled. Without access to the specific contexts of each occurrence, we cannot determine whether *maskît* refers to artistic renderings, sculptural forms, or architectural elements, though all these possibilities fall within the general meaning of "figure." The word appears to have served a functional purpose in describing visual or three-dimensional representations that conveyed recognizable forms to an observer. For modern readers, *maskît* exemplifies how ancient Hebrew possessed distinct vocabulary for discussing visual representation and form, even when such terms were not frequently deployed across the biblical corpus.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
“ ‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God.
then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places.
Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land.’ ”