Hebrew word · H3418

יֶ֫רֶק

yerek

green

Yereq means 'green, greenness': fresh green growth, foliage (Exod 10:15, locusts leave 'no green thing'; Num 22:4, an ox licking up 'the green of the field'). 'Esev means herbs, grass and field plants in general (Gen 1:11–12; Gen 3:18; Ps 104:14).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

green, greenness, green plants, greenery

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 1:30

Range of meaning

Yereq means 'green, greenness': fresh green growth, foliage (Exod 10:15, locusts leave 'no green thing'; Num 22:4, an ox licking up 'the green of the field'). 'Esev means herbs, grass and field plants in general (Gen 1:11–12; Gen 3:18; Ps 104:14). Together, 'the green of plants' is green vegetation as pasture and forage.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT have 'every green herb'. BSB, ESV, NIV and NASB have 'every green plant'. All are accurate. 'Herb' can suggest culinary herbs to a modern reader, but it is not seriously misleading. Most readers miss the contrast with 1:29: humans get seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, animals get green leafage.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 9:3 deliberately echoes this phrase: 'Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; as the green plant (yereq 'esev) I have given you everything.' Ps 104:14 ('he makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for people to cultivate') shows the same split between animal forage and human crops.

From the study of Genesis 9:3

Range of meaning

Yereq: greenness, green growth, fresh vegetation. ʿEsev: herbage or plants in general, including seed-bearing and grain plants (Genesis 1:11–12, 29; Psalm 104:14, where ʿesev is grown "to bring forth bread from the earth"). Together they mean "green plants, vegetation."

Against the English

KJV/WEB: "the green herb." BSB/NIV/ESV: "the green plants." NASB: "the green plant."

How it drifted

In modern English "herb" usually means a cooking or medicinal plant such as basil or mint. In older English it meant any non-woody plant.

Used elsewhere in the period

The exact phrase yereq ʿesev appears in Genesis 1:30 for the food given to animals and birds. Related phrases: Exodus 10:15 (after the locusts "no green thing remained"); Numbers 22:4 ("as the ox licks up the green of the field"); Psalm 37:2 (the wicked wither "like green herbage").

From the study of Psalm 37:2

Range of meaning

Green, greenness, green plants or herbage (Gen 1:30, "every green plant for food"; Num 22:4, oxen licking up "the green of the field").

Against the English

KJV and ESV say "green herb". BSB has "tender plants" and NIV "green plants". YLT keeps the abstract noun: "the greenness of the tender grass".

How it drifted

In 1611 "herb" meant any non-woody plant. Today it suggests kitchen herbs such as basil or parsley, which isn't the picture at all.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same pairing yereq deshe' appears in 2 Kgs 19:26 and Isa 37:27, where the conquered peoples are "like plants of the field, the green of tender grass, grass on the housetops". It's a stock phrase for helpless, short-lived things.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 1:30 יֶ֥רֶק greenery of

    And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

    Here: 'The green of' plants: leafy growth as opposed to seeds and fruit. In 1:29 humans were given seed-bearing plants and fruit. Animals are given the green foliage.

  2. Genesis 9:3 כְּיֶ֣רֶק like [the] greenery of

    Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.

    Here: "Like the green of." The prefix ke- means "like / just as": animals are now handed over in the same way plants were.

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 10:15 יֶ֧רֶק greenery

    They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 22:4 יֶ֣רֶק [the] greenery of

    So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Since Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time,

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 37:2 וּכְיֶ֥רֶק and like [the] greenery of

    For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.

    Here: "And like the green of…": the fresh green colour or growth itself. It's tied grammatically to the next word: "the green of tender grass."

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 15:6 יֶ֖רֶק greenery

    The waters of Nimrim are dried up, and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone, and the greenery is no more.

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