Original Word: מַסְתֵּר
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: macter
Pronunciation: ah-DOHN
Phonetic Spelling: (mas-tare')
KJV: hid
NASB: hide
Word Origin: [from H5641 (סָתַר - hide)]

1. (properly) a hider, i.e. (abstractly) a hiding, i.e. aversion

hid

From cathar; properly, a hider, i.e. (abstractly) a hiding, i.e. Aversion -- hid.

see HEBREW cathar

Word Origin
from sathar
Definition
hiding, act of hiding
NASB Translation
hide (1).

מַסְתֵּר noun [masculine] hiding, act of hiding; — construct וּכְמַסְתֵּר מָּנִים מִמֶּנּוּ Isaiah 53:3 and like a hiding of face from him i.e. like one before whom the face is hidden (e.g. a leper, compare Che^Hpt).

Concept of Concealment and Hiding

Mastēr expresses the act of turning away or concealing the face, an instinctive gesture of avoidance rooted in shame, fear, or contempt.

Isaiah 53:3 and the Forsaken Servant

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)

The lone occurrence crystallizes Israel’s—and by extension humanity’s—reaction to the Suffering Servant: the willful refusal to behold His marred visage lest conviction be awakened. Mastēr depicts not His concealment but ours.

Biblical Trajectory of Hiding

• Genesis 3:8 – Adam and Eve hide from God, inaugurating the flight of sinners from holiness.
• Psalm 18:11; 97:2 – Theophany imagery cloaks the divine presence, stressing distance apart from covenant grace.
• John 3:19-20 – “People loved darkness rather than light… everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come into the light.” The Isaiah pattern persists.
• 2 Corinthians 3:15 – A veil remains over unbelieving hearts, mirroring the hidden face motif.

Messianic Fulfillment and Gospel Witness

In the Gospels the crowd “hid” by rejection (Luke 23:18; John 19:15). Peter recalls the prophecy: “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). Mastēr thus anchors the theology of Christus Reprobus: the Savior willingly becomes the object of our aversion that He might bear our iniquity.

Redemptive Reversal: Christ Our Hiding Place

The Servant spurned becomes the refuge sought:

• Psalm 32:7 – “You are my hiding place.”
• Isaiah 32:2 – “A man will be as a hiding place from the wind.”
• Colossians 3:3 – Believers’ lives are “hidden with Christ in God.”

The same vocabulary that exposes our guilty hiding now proclaims gracious shelter for repentant sinners.

Pastoral and Missional Applications

1. Preaching: Expect initial resistance to a crucified Messiah; Isaiah 53:3 legitimizes the offense while promising fruit.
2. Counseling: Address shame by pointing to the One who absorbed scorn; mastēr invites the broken to exchange concealment for covenant cover (Hebrews 4:13-16).
3. Worship: Liturgy can corporately confess the impulse to avert the eyes and can celebrate the refuge found in His wounds.

Historical Interpretation

Patristic apologists (Justin, Irenaeus) wielded Isaiah 53 against the charge that a crucified Messiah was inconceivable. Reformers appealed to the verse to expose legalistic self-righteousness. Contemporary evangelism continues to find that recognition of sin precedes any willingness to gaze upon the crucified Christ.

Eschatological Contrast

Those who hid their faces once will behold Him in repentant faith (Zechariah 12:10), while the impenitent will cry to mountains, “Hide us” (Revelation 6:16). Mastēr thus prophetically spans first and second advents, tracing the shifting locus of shame.

Key Cross-References

Genesis 3:8; Psalm 32:7; Isaiah 32:2; Isaiah 53:3; John 1:10-11; 2 Corinthians 3:15; Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 6:16.

וּכְמַסְתֵּ֤ר וכמסתר ū·ḵə·mas·têr uchemasTer ūḵəmastêrInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts