H4725 — מָקוֹם (mâqôwm)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4725
Original: מָקוֹם
Transliteration: mâqôwm (māqôm); also the feminine forms מְקוֹמָה / מְקֹמָה
Pronunciation: maw-kome
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: קוּם (qûm, H6965) — "to arise, stand, stand up." Māqôm is a noun of place built on the m-prefix pattern from qûm: literally a "standing-place," "spot where something stands / takes its stand."
Occurrences: 379 unique verses (471 tokens) in OT
Books: 33 (nearly the entire OT)
First Occurrence: Gen 1:9 — "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place (māqôm)"
Hapax Legomenon: No (one of the most common locative nouns in Hebrew)

Lexicon Definition¶

From קוּם (qûm, "to stand, arise"); properly, a standing, i.e. a spot; but used widely of a locality (general or specific); also (figuratively) of a condition (of body or mind):—country, home, open, place, room, space, whither(-soever).

The semantic core is "where something stands" — the spot a thing occupies. Unlike H4349 māḵôn (from kûn, "to be firmly established"), māqôm does not inherently carry the nuance of divine foundation or stability of establishment. It is the generic, all-purpose locative: any location can be a māqôm; only a founded / fixed site is properly a māḵôn. See Related Words below for the load-bearing etymological contrast.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
place	138	36.4%
the place	68	17.9%
in the place	28	7.4%
a place	23	6.1%
his place	11	2.9%
places	9	2.4%
out of his place	8	2.1%
from his place	6	1.6%
in his place	6	1.6%
unto his place	5	1.3%
the places / their place(s)	~10	~2.6%
room / space / home / country / whithersoever	~8	~2.1%
(prepositional carriers: "in", "of", "from", etc.)	~65	~17%

"Place" (in all its articled and prepositional forms) accounts for roughly 90% of renderings. KJV makes no systematic attempt to distinguish māqôm from māḵôn — both are routinely rendered "place," flattening a real Hebrew distinction (see Easily Confused Words).

Distribution by Book (sorted by density, per 100 verses)¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Nahum	2	4.3
Zephaniah	2	3.8
Ecclesiastes	8	3.6
Deuteronomy	33	3.4
Jeremiah	43	3.2
Genesis	44	2.9
1 Samuel	23	2.8
Leviticus	23	2.7
2 Chronicles	18	2.2
Judges	13	2.1
Job	21	2.0
2 Kings	13	1.8
2 Samuel	12	1.7
1 Kings	14	1.7
Joshua	9	1.4
Numbers	17	1.3
Isaiah	16	1.2
Ezekiel	15	1.2
Exodus	10	0.8
Psalms	8	0.3
Proverbs	3	0.3

Pattern: Densest in narrative and Deuteronomic material (Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Genesis, 1 Samuel) — books concerned with toponymy and the theology of "the place which the LORD shall choose." Prophetic density spikes in Nahum and Zephaniah where judgment dislodges nations from "their place." Psalms' low density is notable: poetic register prefers māḵôn, māʻôn, nāweh for divine dwelling.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Generic spatial location (neutral locative)¶

The default, untheologized use — any spot, any place. - Gen 1:9 — "let the waters... be gathered together unto one place (māqôm)" - Neh 2:14 — "there was no place (māqôm) for the beast that was under me to pass" - Pro 15:3 — "The eyes of the LORD are in every place (məqôm)"

2. Named / commemorative place (place-naming formula)¶

Māqôm is the standard noun in the idiom "he called the name of the place X." - Gen 28:19 — "he called the name of that place (māqôm) Bethel" - Num 11:3 — "he called the name of the place (māqôm) Taberah" - Jdg 2:5 — "they called the name of that place (māqôm) Bochim" - 1 Chr 13:11 — "that place (māqôm) is called Perezuzza"

3. "The place" of sacrificial / cultic action¶

The site designated for a ritual or for cultic personnel — often the altar-precinct or a "clean place." - Lev 1:16 — "cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place (məqôm) of the ashes" - Lev 4:12 — "carry forth without the camp unto a clean place (māqôm)" - Lev 4:24 — "in the place (məqôm) where they kill the burnt offering" - Lev 6:16 — "in the holy place (māqôm qādôš)"

4. "The place which the LORD shall choose" (Deuteronomic formula)¶

Deuteronomy repeatedly uses māqôm for the future central sanctuary — but describes it as the place YHWH will choose, not as a pre-existing founded site. The emphasis is on divine election of a location, not on architectural foundation. - Deu 12:5 — "the place (māqôm) which the LORD your God shall choose" - Deu 12:11 — "there shall be a place (māqôm) which the LORD your God shall choose" - Deu 12:14, 12:18, 12:21, 12:26; 14:23–25; 15:20; 16:2, 16:6–7, 16:11, 16:15–16; 17:8, 17:10; 18:6; 26:2; 31:11 — the refrain runs through the book.

5. The sanctuary / holy place (cultic site, overlap with H4720)¶

Concrete locations of worship — both the Jerusalem temple precincts and local altars. - Exo 3:5 — "the place (māqôm) whereon thou standest is holy ground" - 1 Ki 8:29–30 — "toward the place (māqôm) of which thou hast said, My name shall be there" (Solomon's dedication) - 1 Ki 8:6 / 2 Chr 5:7 — "the priests brought in the ark... unto his place (məqômô), into the oracle" - Ezr 9:8 — "a nail in his holy place (məqôm qodšô)"

6. "His place" / "her place" — fixed station or origin (from which one departs or to which one returns)¶

A person's or thing's native location, often in the idiom "return to his place" or "out of his place." - 1 Sam 3:2 — "Eli was laid down in his place (məqômô)" - Jdg 9:55 — "they departed every man unto his place (məqômô)" - Job 7:10 — "neither shall his place (məqômô) know him any more" - Hos 5:15 — "I will go and return to my place (məqômî)" (YHWH's withdrawal) - Mic 1:3 — "the LORD cometh forth out of his place (məqômô)" - Ecc 1:5 — "the sun... hasteth to his place (məqômô) where he arose" - Isa 13:13 — "the earth shall remove out of her place (məqômâh)"

7. Judgment / displacement contexts (prophetic)¶

Being removed from one's māqôm is a standard figure for judgment — an entity uprooted from where it stood. - Nah 1:8 — "an utter end of the place (məqômâh) thereof" - Zep 1:4 — "I will cut off... from this place (māqôm)" - Jer 7:3, 7:6–7 — "cause you to dwell in this place (māqôm)" // threat of expulsion - Joe 3:7 — "I will raise them out of the place (māqôm) whither ye have sold them"

8. Figurative / idiomatic — condition, room, opportunity¶

Extended senses: mental or social "space." - Ecc 3:16 — "the place (məqôm) of judgment, that wickedness was there" - Ecc 10:4 — "leave not thy place (məqômekā)" (idiom: don't abandon your station) - Est 4:14 — "enlargement and deliverance arise... from another place (māqôm)" (= source)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אֲשֶׁר (ʼăšer) "which / where"	H834	155x (41%)	"the place which [the LORD chose / thou standest / etc.]" — the relative formula
יְהוָה (YHWH)	H3068	128x (34%)	divine name + "the place" — chosen site, holy site, YHWH's self-reference
אָמַר (ʼāmar) "say"	H559	98x (26%)	"called the name of the place" / "said... in this place"
כֹּל (kōl) "all, every"	H3605	84x (22%)	"in every place" / "all the places" — totality idiom
בּוֹא (bôʼ) "come, go"	H935	69x (18%)	motion verb — come to / go to a place
שָׁם (šām) "there"	H8033	53x (14%)	"the place... there" — locative reinforcement
שׁוּב (šûb) "return"	H7725	41x (11%)	"return to his place" — signature displacement/return idiom
שֵׁם (šēm) "name"	H8034	42x (11%)	"called the name of the place" (Gen/Num/Jdg naming formula); "the place where my name shall be" (Deut)
בַּיִת (bayit) "house"	H1004	37x (10%)	temple/house parallelism
קָרָא (qārāʼ) "call"	H7121	37x (10%)	place-naming formula
אֶרֶץ (ʼereṣ) "earth, land"	H776	39x (10%)	land/place spatial pairing
נָתַן (nātan) "give"	H5414	38x (10%)	"give you this place" — land-grant language

Signature pattern: māqôm ʼăšer ("the place which...") — 41% of all occurrences include the relative ʼăšer, making this the dominant syntactic frame. The formula "the place which YHWH shall choose" (Deut) and "the place which he called X" (Gen narrative) are the two most distinctive fixed idioms.

Word Family / Cognates (root קוּם H6965)¶

H6965 קוּם (qûm) — verb: to arise, stand, rise up, establish oneself; ~630 occurrences. The verbal root. Māqôm is the m-prefix place-noun: "standing-place."
H6967 קוֹמָה (qômâ) — noun: height, stature ("how tall one stands").
H4702 מָקוֹם-related segholates / מַקְהֵלוֹת — not cognate; distinct root.
H8618 תְּקוֹמָה (təqûmâ) — noun: power to stand; ability to withstand (from same root, different derivation pattern).
H3653 כֵּן (kēn) — a stand, pedestal (different root but near-synonym in concrete "stand" sense).

Synonyms¶

No close synonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H4725.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H4725.

Easily Confused Words — etymological contrast (load-bearing)¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מָכוֹן (māḵôn)	H4349	"place" (6v), "the place" (2v), "his place" (1v) — 17 total occurrences	Load-bearing contrast. Māḵôn is from *כּוּן (kûn, H3559) "to be firmly established / fixed / founded"* — it denotes a founded, fixed, established seat (foundation, basis, settled place, dwelling place). Māqôm is from *קוּם (qûm, H6965) "to arise / stand"* — it denotes a generic standing-place or spot. The two are near-synonyms on the surface but diverge semantically: māḵôn adds the nuance of divine or architectural foundedness (cf. Exo 15:17 "the māḵôn which thy hands have established"; Ps 104:5 "foundations of the earth"; Ps 89:14 / 97:2 "the māḵôn of thy throne"). Māqôm does not inherently carry this; it can name any spot, secular or sacred, chosen or unchosen. When both words appear in the same context (e.g., Dan 8:11 "the məḵôn of his sanctuary"; Ezr 2:68 "set it up on its məḵôn"), the writer is specifically invoking the foundedness of the site, not merely its location. KJV obscures this by rendering both "place."
בַּיִת (bayit)	H1004	"the place" (5v), "places" (3v)	bayit = physical house / building / dynasty; a concrete structure. māqôm = the site on which something stands (a bayit can occupy a māqôm).
יָד (yād)	H3027	"place" (2v), "a place" (3v), "his place" (2v)	yād properly = hand; "place" is an idiomatic extension ("at the hand of" → "at the place of").
אֲתַר (ʼăṯar, Aramaic)	H870	"the place" (1v), "his place" (2v), "to his place" (1v)	Aramaic cognate locative noun — the Aramaic counterpart of māqôm in Ezra/Daniel Aramaic sections.
עֹמֶד (ʻōmeḏ)	H5977	"his place" (1v), "their place" (5v)	ʻōmeḏ = standing-spot, station (also from "to stand"); a near-synonym, but rarer and more concrete ("spot where one actually stands").
מָעוֹן (māʻôn)	H4583	"habitation" (parallel noun)	Refuge, den, lair, dwelling — often poetic; emphasizes shelter, not location-as-such.
נָוֶה (nāweh)	H5116	"habitation" (parallel noun)	Pastoral abode, shepherd's dwelling; poetic register.
מַרְבֵּץ / רֵבֶץ	H4769 / H7258	"a place" (1v each)	Reclining-place, fold (for flocks) — specialized resting-place.
מִשְׁכָּן (miškān)	H4908	"places" (1v)	Residence, tabernacle; the constructed dwelling (vs. the site it sits on).

Easily Confused via LXX Overlap¶

In the LXX, the range māqôm / māḵôn / māʻôn / nāweh is often collapsed into a narrow Greek set (τόπος, κατοικητήριον, μονή), flattening the Hebrew distinctions. Translators must be alert to the Hebrew underlying the Greek to preserve the qûm / kûn distinction.

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002002001017	Space	`search_relationships.py` places māqôm in the broad space/location field, matching its function as the Hebrew Bible's generic word for a place or spatial slot.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
τόπος (topos)	G5117	345	5.65	"spot, location, place" — the overwhelmingly dominant equivalent. Topos is the Greek generic locative, a natural match for māqôm's generic locative force.
ἐκεῖ (ekeî)	G1563	80	3.01	"there" — collocational carryover: "the place... there" idiom.
ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai)	G1586	25	3.70	"to choose" — renders the Deuteronomic "place which the LORD shall choose" formula.
ἐπικαλέομαι (epikaleomai)	G1941	19	3.13	"to call upon / name" — the place-naming formula.
ὄνομα (onoma)	G3686	48	1.90	"name" — "the place where my name shall be."
καλέω (kaleō)	G2564	25	2.04	"to call" — the place-naming formula.
ἀπέρχομαι (aperchomai)	G565	14	2.33	"to go away" — "departed unto his place" idiom.

Key observation: The LXX mapping māqôm → τόπος is one of the cleanest, most consistent Hebrew-Greek equivalences in the OT. The NT inherits this: τόπος carries the same generic-locative sense, and Hebrew-thinking NT authors (Matthew, John, Hebrews) draw on this continuity.