יָגֵב
a plowed field
Definition
The Hebrew noun יָגֵב (yâgêb) refers specifically to a plowed or tilled field, land that has been prepared for cultivation. It denotes agricultural land that is actively worked, distinct from wilderness or pasture. This term appears only once in the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 39:10, where it describes the land given to the poor who remained in Judah after the Babylonian conquest. The word emphasizes land that is productive and under human management, ready for sowing.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only in Jeremiah 39:10. In this context, the Babylonian commander Nebuzaradan leaves some of the poor of the land 'vine-dressers and plowmen' (כֹּרְמִים וּלְיֹגְבִים) and gives them vineyards and fields (יְגֵבִים). The usage highlights a specific type of agricultural property—cultivated fields—as part of the sustenance provided to those left behind. Its singular occurrence ties it directly to this historical moment of judgment and provision.
Etymology
יָגֵב (yâgêb) is a noun derived from the root verb יָגַב (yâgav, H3009), which means 'to till' or 'to plow.' The noun form directly indicates the product or place of that action—a plowed field. It is related to agricultural terminology and shares a conceptual field with words for farming and cultivation.
Semantic Range
While a specific agricultural term, its use in Jeremiah 39:10 carries theological weight. It appears in a passage detailing God's judgment on Jerusalem and the surprising provision for the remnant. The 'plowed fields' given to the poor signify God's sustaining grace even in the aftermath of severe covenant punishment, ensuring a means of survival and hinting at the possibility of future restoration from the land itself.
In ancient Israelite culture, a יָגֵב represented secured, productive capital. Unlike fallow land or pasture, a plowed field was an asset requiring labor and foresight, ready for planting staple crops like grain. Its allocation to the poorest people after the exile was a practical act that provided them with immediate, viable means of subsistence, integrating them into the agricultural economy of the conquered land.
שָׂדֶה (śādeh, H7704) — a general term for 'field' or 'countryside,' which can include cultivated land, pasture, or open territory. יָגֵב is a more specific subset, indicating a field that is tilled.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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