רָעָב

From the study of Amos 8:11

Range of meaning

Famine or hunger, both as a national disaster (crop failure, drought, siege) and as the hunger a person feels. It is often paired with 'sword' and 'pestilence' as one of God's covenant judgments, and with 'thirst' (tsama) for total want.

Against the English

'Famine' is an accurate rendering. The surprise is not in the word but in how Amos uses it: he redefines it partway through the sentence.

Used elsewhere in the period

Literal famines run through Israel's story: Abraham (Gen 12:10), Joseph (Gen 41), Ruth 1:1, David (2 Sam 21:1), and Elijah's drought in this same northern kingdom (1 Kgs 17–18), which ended only 'at my word'. Famine is a curse for breaking the covenant (Lev 26:26; Deut 28:48, 'in hunger and thirst'). Amos 4:6–8 lists famine ('cleanness of teeth') and drought as warnings Israel ignored.

From the study of Psalm 105:16

Range of meaning

Famine, hunger, food shortage. It is often listed with sword and plague as one of the three great disasters (Jer 14:12; Ezek 5:12).

Against the English

'Famine' is accurate. The English word fits the meaning well.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is the key word of Gen 41:27–57 and 47:4–20, where it appears again and again. In ancient Near Eastern texts famine is often blamed on angry gods. Israel's texts say the one God calls it.

From the study of Ezekiel 36:29

Range of meaning

Famine, hunger, both as a land-wide disaster and as personal starvation. In the covenant texts it is one of the standard punishments for disloyalty, often in the trio "sword, famine and pestilence" (Lev 26:26; Deut 28:48; Jer 14:12).

Against the English

All versions have "famine." English "bring/lay famine upon you" keeps the Hebrew picture of famine as a weight laid on a people.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel names famine as one of God's "four severe judgments" (14:21) and threatens to "send arrows of famine" (5:16–17). In 34:29 the restored flock "will no longer be consumed by hunger in the land or bear the reproach of the nations." In 36:30 the reason given is that Israel should no longer bear "the reproach of famine among the nations."