Original Word: מַקֶּבֶת
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: maqqebeth
Pronunciation: mahk-KEH-beth
Phonetic Spelling: (mak-keh'-beth)
KJV: hammer, hole
Word Origin: [from H5344 (נָקַב - To pierce)]

1. (properly) a perforator, i.e. a hammer (as piercing)
2. (intransitively) a perforation, i.e. a quarry

hammer, hole

From naqab; properly, a perforator, i.e. A hammer (as piercing); also (intransitively) a perforation, i.e. A quarry -- hammer, hole.

see HEBREW naqab

Word Origin
from naqab
Definition
a hole, excavation
NASB Translation
quarry* (1).

II. מַקֶּ֑בֶת noun feminine hole, excavation; — only construct בּוֺר ׳מ Isaiah 51:1 (figurative),excavation of a pit, = quarry ("" צוּר).

Meaning and Imagery

The term evokes two related pictures: an implement used to drive or pierce, and the cavity produced by repeated striking. Whether rendered “hammer” (Judges 4:21) or “quarry” (Isaiah 51:1), the word carries the idea of forceful penetration that shapes or secures something for a larger purpose.

Occurrences in Scripture

• Judges 4:21 – Jael employs a hammer to drive a tent peg through Sisera’s temple, bringing decisive deliverance for Israel.
• Isaiah 51:1 – The prophet exhorts the faithful to remember “the quarry from which you were hewn,” recalling their origins in God’s covenant work with Abraham and Sarah.

Historical Background

In nomadic cultures, a wooden or metal mallet was indispensable for pitching tents in the stony soil of Canaan. Quarries, likewise, were common along ridges where quality limestone could be chiseled for construction. Both tools and sites illustrate labor and craftsmanship familiar to ancient Israel. A hammer secures temporary dwellings; a quarry yields stones for lasting structures. Together they portray the progression from wandering tents to an established nation built on God’s promises.

Thematic Significance

1. Divine deliverance. Jael’s hammer becomes the unexpected instrument by which God fulfills Deborah’s prophecy and overturns Canaanite oppression (Judges 4:9, 23–24).
2. Covenant remembrance. Isaiah’s quarry image calls Israel to trace its spiritual lineage to the “rock” of Abraham, reinforcing identity and mission during exile.
3. Formation through pressure. Both contexts reveal that God shapes His people—sometimes by striking decisive blows against evil, other times by chiseling them patiently from the raw mass of humanity.

Intertextual Links

• Psalms 118:22; Matthew 21:42 – The “stone the builders rejected” echoes the quarry motif, pointing to Messiah.
• 1 Peter 2:5 – Believers are “living stones,” continuing the quarry imagery as God constructs a spiritual house.
• Jeremiah 23:29 – “Is not My word like a hammer…?” ties the instrument of Jael to God’s prophetic activity.

Christological Foreshadowing

Jael’s act prefigures the ultimate victory accomplished through what seemed a modest instrument—nails driven by a hammer at the Cross. Isaiah’s quarry points ahead to the One “cut out without hands” (Daniel 2:34), the cornerstone who originates in eternity yet is hewn into human history for redemption.

Practical Ministry Insights

• God often employs ordinary people (Jael) and commonplace tools (a hammer) to achieve extraordinary deliverance.
• Remembering spiritual origins (Isaiah 51:1) anchors faith during seasons of exile, discouragement, or cultural pressure.
• Ministry leaders should expect God both to strike decisive blows against sin and to undertake slow, shaping work in forming disciples.

Lessons for Contemporary Believers

1. Be ready: everyday skills and resources can become instruments of kingdom victory.
2. Look back: tracing the “quarry” of grace strengthens confidence for present challenges.
3. Submit to shaping: the same hand that crushes oppression also carves out character, fitting believers as stones in His enduring house.

הַמַּקֶּ֣בֶת המקבת מַקֶּ֥בֶת מקבת ham·maq·qe·ḇeṯ hammakKevet hammaqqeḇeṯ makKevet maq·qe·ḇeṯ maqqeḇeṯInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts