דֶּ֫בֶר

Exodus 5:3 בַּדֶּ֖בֶר with <the> pestilence

“The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

Exodus 9:3 דֶּ֖בֶר a pestilence

then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.

Exodus 9:15 בַּדָּ֑בֶר with <the> pestilence

For by this time I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the earth.

Leviticus 26:25 דֶ֙בֶר֙ a pestilence

And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Here: A deadly epidemic. It is the disease of the crowded, besieged city, and elsewhere in poetry it is pictured almost as a figure walking ahead of God (Hab 3:5).

Numbers 14:12 בַדֶּ֖בֶר with <the> pestilence

I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”

Deuteronomy 28:21 הַדָּ֑בֶר <the> pestilence

The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.

2 Samuel 24:13 דֶּ֙בֶר֙ pestilence

So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

2 Samuel 24:15 דֶּ֙בֶר֙ pestilence

So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

1 Kings 8:37 דֶּ֣בֶר pestilence

When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

Here: A deadly epidemic that sweeps through people or livestock. It is one of the fixed covenant punishments (Deut 28:21) and is sometimes pictured as a destroyer walking ahead of God (Hab 3:5).

1 Chronicles 21:12 וְדֶ֙בֶר֙ and pestilence

between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

Here: A deadly epidemic. The 'and' here explains rather than adds: 'the sword of YHWH, that is, pestilence'. God's 'sword' takes the form of disease.

1 Chronicles 21:14 דֶּ֖בֶר a pestilence

So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.

2 Chronicles 6:28 דֶּ֣בֶר pestilence

When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

Here: A deadly disease spreading through people (and sometimes livestock). In the Hebrew Bible it often comes paired with famine and sword as one of the classic disasters God sends.

2 Chronicles 7:13 דֶּ֖בֶר pestilence

If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,

Here: A deadly epidemic that strikes people and animals. It is one of the standard covenant curses and is sometimes pictured as a destroying figure walking in front of God (Hab 3:5).

2 Chronicles 20:9 וְדֶ֣בֶר and pestilence

‘If disaster comes upon us—whether sword or judgment, plague or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your Name is in this temple. We will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us.’

Psalm 78:50 לַדֶּ֥בֶר to the pestilence

He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.

Psalm 91:3 מִדֶּ֥בֶר from a plague of

Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.

Here: 'From a plague of.' Deber is epidemic disease that kills people and livestock, the plague of the Egyptian plagues and of the covenant curses. There is no 'and': the second 'from' simply stacks a second danger next to the first.

Psalm 91:6 מִ֭דֶּבֶר from a plague

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon.

Here: The prefix mi- ('from') still depends on 'you will not fear' in verse 5. Deber is a deadly epidemic that hits people and herds together. In the poetry of Israel and its neighbours it could also be pictured as a figure who moves about, which is why the next verb has it 'walking.'

Jeremiah 14:12 וּבַדֶּ֔בֶר and by <the> pestilence

Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”

Here: "And by the pestilence": deadly epidemic disease, which in the ancient world spread through crowded, hungry, besieged towns. The three together make up Jeremiah's stock formula for total disaster.

Jeremiah 21:6 בְּדֶ֥בֶר by a pestilence

I will strike down the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a terrible plague.’

Jeremiah 21:7 הַדֶּ֣בֶר׀ the pestilence

‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’

Here: An epidemic. Disease always followed a siege, with crowding, bad water and starvation. It picks up the 'great pestilence' of verse 6.

Jeremiah 21:9 וּבַדָּ֑בֶר and by <the> pestilence

Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.

Here: 'And by the pestilence': epidemic disease. It followed naturally from crowding, hunger and bad water in a city under siege, and it was also seen as a blow sent by God (Lev 26:25).

Jeremiah 24:10 הַדָּ֑בֶר the pestilence

And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’”

Jeremiah 27:8 וּבַדֶּ֜בֶר and with <the> pestilence

As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.

Jeremiah 27:13 וּבַדָּ֑בֶר֙ and by <the> pestilence

Why should you and your people die by sword and famine and plague, as the LORD has decreed against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?

Jeremiah 28:8 וּלְדָֽבֶר׃ and of pestilence

The prophets of old who preceded you and me prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms.

Jeremiah 29:17 הַדָּ֑בֶר <the> pestilence

this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.

Jeremiah 29:18 וּבַדָּ֑בֶר and with <the> pestilence

I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.

Here: 'And with the plague': epidemic disease, which spread fast in a crowded city under siege. It completes the triad.

Jeremiah 32:24 וְהַדָּ֑בֶר and the pestilence

See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!

Here: Deadly epidemic disease, which spreads easily in a crowded city under siege. Its consonants (d-b-r) are the same as those of 'you spoke' a few words later.

Jeremiah 32:36 וּבַדָּֽבֶר׃ and by <the> pestilence

Now therefore, about this city of which you say, ‘It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and famine and plague,’ this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

Jeremiah 34:17 הַדֶּ֣בֶר <the> pestilence

Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Here: 'The plague': the epidemic disease that spread in a crowded, besieged city.

Jeremiah 38:2 וּבַדָּ֑בֶר and by <the> pestilence

“This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.

Here: Epidemic disease, which spread easily in an overcrowded, starving city. It completes the triad of covenant curses.

Jeremiah 42:17 וּבַדָּ֑בֶר and by <the> pestilence

So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’

Jeremiah 42:22 וּבַדֶּ֖בֶר and by <the> pestilence

Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”

Jeremiah 44:13 וּבַדָּֽבֶר׃ and by <the> pestilence

I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, by sword and famine and plague,

Ezekiel 5:12 בַּדֶּ֣בֶר by <the> pestilence

A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.

Here: Deadly disease spreading through a crowded city under siege. It is a general word for epidemic, not one named illness, and comes first for emphasis.

Ezekiel 5:17 וְדֶ֥בֶר and pestilence

I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Here: Epidemic disease of the kind that broke out in crowded, starving cities under siege. It is one of the stock trio sword, famine and pestilence found in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 6:11 וּבַדֶּ֖בֶר and by <the> pestilence

This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague.

Here: "And by the pestilence": deadly epidemic disease, which spread through crowded, starving cities under siege.

Ezekiel 6:12 בַּדֶּ֣בֶר by the pestilence

He who is far off will die by the plague, he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains will die by famine. So I will vent My fury upon them.

Ezekiel 7:15 וְהַדֶּ֥בֶר וָדֶ֖בֶר and <the> pestilence, and pestilence

The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.

Ezekiel 12:16 וּמִדָּ֑בֶר and from [the] pestilence

But I will spare a few of them from sword and famine and plague, so that in the nations to which they go, they can recount all their abominations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Here: "And from the pestilence": the epidemic disease that spread in a crowded, starving city. Together the three make up the standard list of covenant curses (Ezekiel 5:12; 6:11; 7:15; often in Jeremiah).

Ezekiel 14:19 דֶּ֥בֶר pestilence

Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast,

Here: Any fast-spreading fatal disease, not one particular illness. Placed first in the Hebrew for emphasis: 'pestilence is what I send.'

Ezekiel 14:21 וָדֶ֔בֶר and pestilence

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?

Here: Deadly epidemic disease, which spreads easily in a crowded, starving, besieged city.

Ezekiel 28:23 דֶּ֤בֶר a pestilence

I will send a plague against her and shed blood in her streets; the slain will fall within her, while the sword is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 33:27 בַּדֶּ֥בֶר by <the> pestilence

Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.

Ezekiel 38:22 בְּדֶ֣בֶר by pestilence

I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.

Here: Plague, deadly epidemic disease. The 'by' marks it as the instrument of the judgment, one of Ezekiel's stock agents of divine punishment.

Hosea 13:14 דְבָרֶיךָ֜ [are] thorns your

I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

Here: Dever is pestilence, epidemic disease, one of the classic covenant curses (with sword and famine). The plural 'your plagues' pictures Death's arsenal of diseases.

Amos 4:10 דֶּ֙בֶר֙ pestilence

“I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

Here: A deadly epidemic of an unspecified kind. It is singular: 'pestilence', not a series of 'plagues'. It was the fifth Egyptian plague (Exod 9:3), and it often appears alongside sword and famine as a standard covenant curse.

Habakkuk 3:5 דָּ֑בֶר pestilence

Plague went before Him, and fever followed in His steps.

Here: A deadly epidemic that kills in large numbers, the disaster Israel knew from the Egypt story and the covenant curses. Here it is pictured almost as a person, walking at the head of God's procession.