📖 Biblical Definition
Tsur (צוּר) is the Hebrew word for rock — specifically the great cliff-face, the strong-rock, the immovable foundation. It is distinct from even ("stone"), which can be small or carried. Tsur is used repeatedly as a divine title: "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4); "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer" (2 Samuel 22:2); "my rock, in whom I will trust" (Psalm 18:2). Paul identifies the wilderness tsur with Christ: "that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Hebrew "rock" — YHWH as immovable foundation.
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The Hebrew word for rock, especially the large cliff or stronghold-rock (distinct from even, a stone). Used extensively as a divine title: "the LORD is my rock" (Ps 18:2). The Song of Moses calls God "the Rock" repeatedly (Deut 32). Paul identifies the rock that gave water in the wilderness as Christ (1 Cor 10:4).
📖 Key Scripture
Deuteronomy 32:4 — "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
Psalm 18:2 — "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust."
1 Corinthians 10:4 — "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Reduced to a stable-image without the cliff-face / stronghold-rock force the Hebrew carries; the divine-title weight thinned.
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Modern "rock" suggests pebble or boulder. Hebrew tsur suggests cliff-face, stronghold, immovable bulk. When the Song of Moses calls God "the Rock," the picture is the great stone wall in the desert — you can climb it, hide behind it, build on it.
Recover the bulk: YHWH is not pebble-stable; He is cliff-stable. Christ is the Rock that gave water in the wilderness — the same Rock that follows the saints across all the deserts.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew tsur.
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['Hebrew', 'H6697', 'tsur', 'rock, cliff, stronghold']
['Hebrew', 'H68', 'even', 'stone']
Usage
"Tsur is cliff-face, stronghold-rock."
"Christ is the Rock that follows."
"Build on the Rock; hide in the Rock."