← Back to Lexicon
H1785 · Hebrew · Old Testament
דָּיֵק
dayeq
Noun, masculine
siege works, a siege tower, battering device

Definition

Dayeq refers to the siege works constructed by an attacking army — walls of circumvallation, siege towers, or earthworks built around a city to starve out or assault its defenders. Used in Ezekiel's prophecy against Tyre (Ezekiel 4:2; 17:17; 21:22) and in other siege contexts. The siege of Jerusalem by Babylon, foretold by Ezekiel in vivid enacted prophecy, is the primary context.

Usage & Theological Significance

The siege works of Babylon against Jerusalem serve as a prophetic picture of divine judgment: when a nation that bears God's name abandons His covenant, He can use even pagan armies as instruments of correction. Yet the same imagery is reversed in hope — the New Jerusalem needs no siege works against it (Revelation 21:25: 'its gates will never be shut'). The city that was besieged and broken becomes the eternal city that cannot be taken. Judgment gives way to glory.

Key Verses

Ezekiel 4:2 And put siege works [dayeq] against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it.
Ezekiel 17:17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls [dayeq] built to cut off many lives.
Ezekiel 21:22 Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates.
Revelation 21:25 And its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there.
Isaiah 26:1 We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.

Related Words

External Resources

🌙
☀️