Hebrew word · H5995

עָמִיר

'amir

sheaf

A rare word for grain that has been cut, the swaths or handfuls a reaper lays down, often bound into sheaves. It is used as a group noun.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

swath, a row of fallen grain

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 Micah 4:12

Range of meaning

A rare word for grain that has been cut, the swaths or handfuls a reaper lays down, often bound into sheaves. It is used as a group noun.

Against the English

'Sheaves' (most versions) is fine. The singular in Hebrew ('like the cut grain', compare YLT 'as a sheaf') shows the whole mass of the nations treated as one harvest.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 9:22 [Eng. 9:21]: corpses 'like the ʿāmîr after the reaper'. Amos 2:13: a cart full of ʿāmîr. Zechariah 12:6 is the closest parallel: God makes Judah's leaders 'like a flaming torch among the ʿāmîr', devouring the peoples who come against Jerusalem.

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 9:22 וּכְעָמִ֛יר and like cut grain

    Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.”

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 2:13 עָמִֽיר׃ cut grain

    Behold, I am about to crush you in your place as with a cart full of grain.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 4:12 כֶּעָמִ֥יר like <the> cut grain

    But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

    Here: 'Like the cut grain.' The word is singular but stands for a whole crop: stalks already cut down and lying ready to be carried off. The armies that see themselves as conquerors are already harvested.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 12:6 בְּעָמִ֔יר among cut grain

    On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there.

    Here: 'Among cut grain': dry harvested stalks lying in the field, which catch fire instantly. It is a picture of fast, total burning.

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