how to say “mysterious” in Hebrew
having trouble seeing the print?
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.
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:
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
.

