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מִסְתּוֹרִי
Yesterday, we saw the Hebrew root ס.ת.ר (s.t.r) in action, in the word for to conceal – לְהַסְתִּיר. We saw that the Talmud connects the root ס.ת.ר with the name of the biblical heroine of the Purim story, אֶסְתֵּר – Esther.
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Another application of ס.ת.ר is in the expression for hideout or place or refuge –מִסְתּוֹר.
מסתור also conveniently serves as the basis for the Hebrew word for mysterious –מִסְתּוֹרִי in the masculine and מִסְתּוֹרִית in the feminine.
For example:
הֵם נִכְנְסוּ לְיַעַר מִסְתּוֹרִי. They entered a mysterious forest. As for a mystery, the word is מִסְתּוֹרִין, or its synonym,תַּעֲלוּמָה.
Note that the root ס.ת.ר also bears the meaning contradiction. The word itself for contradiction is סְתִירָה.
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