A REFUGE — the place you RUN INTO, from chasah, to seek shelter (the verb in Psalm 91:4, 'under his wings you will take refuge'). Distinct from metzudah, the mountain stronghold you hold, and from seter, the covert you hide in: machseh is about the running. It is one of the Psalter's favourite words for God and it is what Psalm 91:2 and 91:9 both call him. The Spanish RV 1909 softens it to 'esperanza,' hope, which turns a fortification into a feeling. → first discussed at Psalms 91:2