Hebrew word · H3954
לֶ֫קֶשׁ
lekesh
spring crop
The late growth or aftergrowth: vegetation (pasture, fodder, possibly late-sown crops) that sprouts after the late spring rains of March–April. It is related to malqosh, the "latter rain" (Deut 11:14; Jer 3:3; Joel 2:23).
Appears 2 times in 1 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
after-growth, aftermath, spring-crop, late crop after-growth
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
- Range of meaning
The late growth or aftergrowth: vegetation (pasture, fodder, possibly late-sown crops) that sprouts after the late spring rains of March–April. It is related to malqosh, the "latter rain" (Deut 11:14; Jer 3:3; Joel 2:23).
- Against the English
KJV/WEB/YLT "latter growth," BSB "late spring crop," NIV/NLT "late crops" or "final crop," NASB "spring crop." All of these are close. "Spring crop" can make readers think of the main harvest, when this is the last growth before the dry season.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Bible uses the word only here. Outside the Bible it appears in the Gezer Calendar (10th century BC, a short Hebrew list of the farming year): "two months of late sowing (lqš)." That confirms it was an ordinary farming term for a late-season stage.
Where it appears
Amos · 2
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Amos 7:1 הַלָּ֑קֶשׁ לֶ֔קֶשׁ the spring-crop, a spring-crop
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.
Here: The late growth that comes up after the spring ("latter") rains. It is the last green growth before the rainless summer. This verse is the only place the word appears in the Bible, and it is used twice here.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.