1206. bots
Lexical Summary
bots: Fine linen

Original Word: בֹץ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: bots
Pronunciation: bohts
Phonetic Spelling: (botse)
KJV: mire
NASB: mire
Word Origin: [probably the same as H948 (בּוּץ - fine linen)]

1. mud (as whitish clay)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
mire

Probably the same as buwts; mud (as whitish clay) -- mire.

see HEBREW buwts

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
mire
NASB Translation
mire (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
בֹּץ noun [masculine] mire Jeremiah 38:22.

Topical Lexicon
בֹץ (mud, mire)

Canonical Setting

The term surfaces once in the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 38:22. There the prophet warns King Zedekiah that the palace women will taunt him: “Your feet have sunk in the mire, and they have turned their backs on you” (Berean Standard Bible).

Literary Context in Jeremiah

Jeremiah 38 records Judah’s last, desperate months under Babylonian siege. The king has repeatedly sought private counsel from Jeremiah yet refuses to obey the word of the Lord. The image of feet immobilized in mud captures Zedekiah’s condition: outwardly still on the throne, inwardly trapped and powerless. The very friends in whom he trusted would prove treacherous, and the Babylonian officials would lead away his household. The prophecy also mirrors Jeremiah’s earlier ordeal in the same chapter, when he was lowered into a cistern “where there was no water, but only mud” (Jeremiah 38:6). The king who allowed the prophet to sink in mire will himself be described as mired, underscoring divine justice.

Symbolic Significance of Mire

1. Helplessness and Judgment
• “Your feet have sunk in the mire” portrays paralysis—an inability to escape approaching judgment.
• Similar imagery elsewhere reinforces this theme: “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the miry clay” (Psalm 40:2); “Deliver me out of the mire, and do not let me sink” (Psalm 69:14). In both psalms the Lord alone rescues from spiritual and physical bogs.

2. Moral Defilement
• Mud adheres and soils, graphically portraying the clinging nature of sin. Peter draws on the same metaphor in Greek: “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud” (2 Peter 2:22). Turning back to sin after receiving light is like plunging again into defiling mire.

3. False Confidence Exposed
• In Jeremiah 38:22 the king’s “men of peace” betray him. The mire signals the collapse of human alliances that seemed firm. Scripture consistently contrasts shaky earthly supports with the solid Rock of divine faithfulness (Psalm 18:2; Matthew 7:24-27).

Historical and Cultural Background

Ancient Jerusalem relied on cisterns carved in limestone to capture winter rains. When empty, these pits held a thick layer of ooze—ideal for imprisoning dissidents without weapons or chains. Muddy streets and fields were also common in the rainy season, and travelers feared becoming stuck. The prophetic use of such everyday experience made the warning unmistakable: Zedekiah would be as helpless as a man whose sandals cannot be pulled free.

Related Hebrew Imagery

While בֹץ appears only once, several cognate pictures amplify the theme:
• טִיט (ṭit, clay/mire) in Psalm 40:2 and Jeremiah 38:6.
• יָוֵן (yaven, muck) in Psalm 40:2 (parallel line).
• חֹמֶר (ḥomer, clay) in Job 4:19; Isaiah 41:25.

Each term enriches the biblical motif of sinking human strength and the need for divine deliverance.

Ministry Implications

1. Proclamation of the Word

Jeremiah’s courage reminds preachers that truth spoken in love may be resisted, yet God vindicates His messengers.
2. Shepherding Leaders

Zedekiah demonstrates how compromise traps leaders. Counsel that flatters rather than confronts leaves the hearer mired. Churches must surround leaders with voices committed to Scripture over popularity.
3. Pastoral Care

Many believers feel “stuck in the mud” of habitual sin or discouragement. Jeremiah’s prophecy, together with Psalm 40, points them to the Lord who “sets feet upon a rock” and gives a “new song.”

Practical Exhortation

Believers are called to examine where trust has shifted from the Lord to unreliable allies, pleasures, or plans. Confession and renewed dependence clear the mire from spiritual footsteps (Proverbs 3:5-6; Hebrews 12:1-2).

Summary

Though בֹץ occurs only once, its single use wields enormous theological weight. The mire beneath Zedekiah’s feet reveals the futility of resisting God’s word and the certainty of His judgment, while simultaneously pointing to the gracious deliverance offered to all who cry, “He brought me up…out of the miry clay” (Psalm 40:2).

Forms and Transliterations
בַבֹּ֛ץ בבץ ḇab·bōṣ ḇabbōṣ vabBotz
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Jeremiah 38:22
HEB: שְׁלֹמֶ֔ךָ הָטְבְּע֥וּ בַבֹּ֛ץ רַגְלֶ֖ךָ נָסֹ֥גוּ
NAS: were sunk in the mire, They turned
KJV: are sunk in the mire, [and] they are turned away
INT: your close were sunk the mire your feet turned

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 1206
1 Occurrence


ḇab·bōṣ — 1 Occ.

1205
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