Hebrew word · H7457

רָעֵב

ra'ev

hungry

Ordinary hunger, and especially the hunger of famine, siege and war (2 Kgs 7:12; Isa 9:20; Jer 42:14). Hunger is one of the standard covenant curses in Deut 28:48.

Appears 20 times in 20 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) hungry

1a) hungry

1b) hungry man (subst)

1c) of failing strength (fig)

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 Isaiah 8:21

Range of meaning

Ordinary hunger, and especially the hunger of famine, siege and war (2 Kgs 7:12; Isa 9:20; Jer 42:14). Hunger is one of the standard covenant curses in Deut 28:48.

Against the English

Translations agree ('hungry,' 'famished'). The point lies in the repetition, which English sometimes smooths away by varying the words.

Used elsewhere in the period

Amos 8:11–12 pairs a coming 'famine… of hearing the words of the LORD' with people who 'wander' looking for it and cannot find it. That is a close thematic parallel from Isaiah's own century, but no direct literary link can be proven.

From the study of Job 22:7

Range of meaning

Ra'ev: hungry, famished, sometimes in famine. Lechem: bread, and by extension food or sustenance in general, the staple that keeps a person alive.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV 'bread … hungry' keep the concrete pair. BSB/NIV-type 'food' is a fair rendering of what lechem means but loses the stock pairing 'bread and water' that a Hebrew hearer would recognise.

Used elsewhere in the period

'Bread to the hungry' is a fixed formula for basic righteousness: Isa 58:7 ('share your bread with the hungry'), Ezek 18:7, 16 ('gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked'), Prov 25:21 ('if your enemy is hungry, give him bread; if thirsty, give him water'). Similar lists occur outside Israel. Egyptian tomb inscriptions and Book of the Dead declarations commonly boast 'I gave bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked.'

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 2:5 וּרְעֵבִ֖ים and hungry [people]

    The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.

    Here: 'And hungry ones': the direct opposite of the first word. It describes people who live with real want, not passing appetite.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 17:29 רָעֵ֛ב [is] hungry

    honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 7:12 רְעֵבִ֣ים [are] hungry

    So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and enter the city.’”

Job · 4

  1. Job 5:5 רָ֘עֵ֤ב [the] hungry

    The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

  2. Job 18:12 רָעֵ֥ב hungry

    His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.

  3. Job 22:7 וּ֝מֵרָעֵ֗ב and from [the] hungry

    You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,

    Here: 'And from the hungry one.' The 'from' goes with 'withhold': food was taken back or kept away from a starving person. Ra'ev is the ordinary word for someone who is famished.

  4. Job 24:10 וּ֝רְעֵבִ֗ים and hungry

    Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

Psalms · 4

  1. Psalm 107:5 רְעֵבִ֥ים hungry

    They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.

  2. Psalm 107:9 רְ֝עֵבָה hungry

    For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

    Here: Plain, physical hunger: the 'hungry' (re'evim) of verse 5, whose life was fainting in the desert. It is feminine to agree with nefesh.

  3. Psalm 107:36 רְעֵבִ֑ים hungry [people]

    He causes the hungry to settle there, that they may establish a city in which to dwell.

  4. Psalm 146:7 לָרְעֵבִ֑ים to the hungry [people]

    He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,

    Here: 'To the hungry ones': people without enough to eat, often because of famine, poverty or the exploitation just mentioned.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 25:21 רָעֵ֣ב [is] hungry

    If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

    Here: An adjective, not a verb: 'hungry' describes his condition. In Hebrew it comes before the subject, so the hearer meets the man's need first and only then learns who he is.

  2. Proverbs 27:7 רְ֝עֵבָ֗ה hungry

    The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.

    Here: Actually hungry, in need of food, a real condition in a world of bad harvests and famine. It is the exact opposite of sevei'ah in line one.

Isaiah · 5

  1. Isaiah 8:21 וְרָעֵ֑ב and hungry

    They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

    Here: An adjective, 'hungry.' Paired with 'hard-pressed,' it paints the starving refugee or survivor of invasion and siege.

  2. Isaiah 29:8 הָרָעֵ֜ב the hungry [person]

    as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.

  3. Isaiah 32:6 רָעֵ֔ב [the] hungry

    For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

    Here: A real hungry person. The verse is about actual food.

  4. Isaiah 58:7 לָֽרָעֵב֙ for the hungry [person]

    Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

    Here: 'For the hungry one.' The word is set right beside the people who are fasting by choice. They go hungry for a day as a ritual, while others nearby go hungry because they have no food.

  5. Isaiah 58:10 לָֽרָעֵב֙ to the hungry [person]

    and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

    Here: 'To the hungry one.' A real, physically hungry person. It picks up verse 7, 'share your bread with the hungry' (same word).

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 18:7 לְרָעֵ֣ב to [the] hungry

    He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: "To the hungry one": anyone who lacks food, with no requirement that they be kin or deserving.

  2. Ezekiel 18:16 לְרָעֵ֣ב to [the] hungry

    He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: 'To a hungry person.' This is someone actually going without food, the typical needy person of Israel's ethics (Isa 58:7, 10; Job 22:7).

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