Ma'zor (Heb. Matsor', מָצוֹר), a name occurring only in the original, and which the traslators of the A. V. ("besieged places," 2Ki 19:24; Isa 37:25; "fortified cities," Mic 7:12; "defense," Isa 19:6) have confounded with a word of the same form signifying a fortress (as in Ps 31:22; Hab 2:1, etc.). Gesenius, however (Thesaur. Heb. p. 815), regards it as a title of Egypt, and apparently Lower Egypt, as, in three out of the four passages where it occurs, it is in the phrase יאֹרֵי מָצוֹר, the streams or canals of Egypt, i.e. the branches of the Nile (Isa 19:6; Isa 37:25; 2Ki 19:24); and that it comes from the Egpytian word meduro, a kingdom; perhaps the sing. of the dual form Mizriailum, מִצרִיַם q. d. double Egypt (comp. Josephus, Ant. 1:6, 2). Others (see Bochart, Phaleag, 4:24), as probably the Hebrews themselves, considered Egypt to be so called as being strongly fortified (see Died. Sic. 1:31). SEE EGYPT; SEE FORTRESS.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More