Hebrew word · H260

אָחוּ

'achu

meadow

"Reed-grass, rushes, marsh vegetation": the lush green growth at the water's edge. It occurs only in Gen 41:2, 41:18 and Job 8:11, where it stands next to papyrus: "Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reed-grass flourish without water?"

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

reeds, marsh plants, rushes

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 Genesis 41:2

Range of meaning

"Reed-grass, rushes, marsh vegetation": the lush green growth at the water's edge. It occurs only in Gen 41:2, 41:18 and Job 8:11, where it stands next to papyrus: "Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reed-grass flourish without water?"

Against the English

BSB and YLT say "among the reeds", WEB and NASB "marsh grass", ESV "reed grass", KJV "a meadow". The modern renderings keep the wet riverbank setting. KJV's "meadow" suggests an open grassy field.

How it drifted

KJV followed a general sense of "pasture". To an English reader "meadow" means a dry, hedged grass field. The Hebrew means waterside reed beds.

Used elsewhere in the period

Borrowed from Egyptian ꜣḫ(w), a word for marsh plants or green growth. The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation) does not translate it at all but simply writes it out as achei (ἄχει). Egyptian Greek used the same word, and the Greek of Isa 19:7 uses it for the green growth along the Nile. Jerome's Latin paraphrases: in locis palustribus, "in marshy places".

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 41:2 בָּאָֽחוּ׃ among the reed[s]

    when seven cows, sleek and well-fed, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.

    Here: "In the reed-grass". This is another Egyptian loanword, for the lush green growth along the Nile's edges. It means waterside vegetation, not a dry field.

  2. Genesis 41:18 בָּאָֽחוּ׃ among the reed[s]

    when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.

Job · 1

  1. Job 8:11 אָ֥חוּ reed[s]

    Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water?

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