A breach, gap, or crack — especially in a wall or ship. Used of the structural damage to Solomon's temple requiring repair, and metaphorically of spiritual ruptures in the covenant community.
The bedeq — the breach — is a word of crisis and calling. Structurally, a breach in a wall is a vulnerability where enemies can enter. Ezekiel speaks of prophets who should have 'stood in the gap' (Ezekiel 22:30) but did not, leaving the city exposed. The prophet or intercessor as one who stands in the bedeq between God's judgment and the people's sin is one of Scripture's most arresting images. Moses did this on Sinai. Jesus does it supremely as our mediator (Hebrews 7:25).