Hebrew word · H1226

בַּצֹּרֶת

batzoret

drought

"Drought, dearth," the lack of rain and the scarcity that follows. It is related to batsar, "to cut off, restrain."

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

dearth, drought, destitution

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Jeremiah 17:8

Range of meaning

"Drought, dearth," the lack of rain and the scarcity that follows. It is related to batsar, "to cut off, restrain."

Against the English

Translations agree ("drought," YLT "dearth"). The phrase "year of drought" points to a failed agricultural year, not a hot week.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 14:1 (plural, heading the oracle "concerning the droughts"); Ps 9:9 and 10:1 ("times of trouble," a related form).

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 14:1 הַבַּצָּרֽוֹת׃ the droughts

    This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

  2. Jeremiah 17:8 בַּצֹּ֙רֶת֙ drought

    He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

    Here: Drought and the scarcity that followed it. The same word heads the drought oracle in Jeremiah 14:1, so Jeremiah's hearers knew this disaster first-hand.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.