Hebrew word · H7709

שְׁדֵמָה

shadmot

field

A rare word for cultivated fields, probably hillside terraces of vines (Deut 32:32 'the šedemot of Gomorrah' next to 'the vine of Sodom'; Isa 16:8 'the šedemot of Heshbon' with the vine of Sibmah; Hab 3:17 'the šedemot yield no food'; 2 Kgs 23:4 'the šadmot of Kidron'). Its origin is uncertain.

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

What it means

field

Also means: she.re.mah (שְׁרֵמָה "field" H8309)

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 Jeremiah 31:40

Range of meaning

A rare word for cultivated fields, probably hillside terraces of vines (Deut 32:32 'the šedemot of Gomorrah' next to 'the vine of Sodom'; Isa 16:8 'the šedemot of Heshbon' with the vine of Sibmah; Hab 3:17 'the šedemot yield no food'; 2 Kgs 23:4 'the šadmot of Kidron'). Its origin is uncertain.

Against the English

'Fields' (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT) is acceptable but general. NIV's 'terraces' fits the hillside setting and the vineyard pairings better.

Used elsewhere in the period

The nearest parallel is 2 Kgs 23:4. Josiah burned the cult objects of Baal and Asherah 'outside Jerusalem in the šadmot of Kidron' and carried their ashes to Bethel. So these Kidron slopes were where idolatrous objects were burned and dumped.

From the study of 2 Kings 23:4

Range of meaning

A rare word for cultivated land: fields, probably terraces, often associated with vines (Deut 32:32 'the shadmot of Gomorrah' next to 'the vine of Sodom'; Isa 16:8 'the shadmot of Heshbon' with 'the vine of Sibmah'; Hab 3:17). The meaning is not fully certain.

Against the English

Most versions say 'fields of (the) Kidron'. That is reasonable, but it can suggest open meadows rather than terraced slopes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 31:40 speaks of 'all the shadmot as far as the brook Kidron', the same area, in a list that includes the valley of corpses and ashes. Lawrence Stager argued from archaeology that these were the irrigated agricultural terraces on the Kidron slopes, watered from the Gihon spring. Ugaritic has a related word (šdmt) used in vineyard contexts.

From the study of Deuteronomy 32:32

Range of meaning

Cultivated plots, terraced fields, especially vineyard or orchard terraces. It appears only in poetry and a few place descriptions: 2 Kgs 23:4 ("terraces of the Kidron"), Isa 16:8 (the "fields of Heshbon" withering beside Sibmah's vine), Hab 3:17 (fields yielding no food), Jer 31:40.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT and BSB say "fields," which to modern ears means open land or grain fields. Some modern versions say "vineyards," which is closer. LXX renders it klēmatis (vine-shoot) and the Vulgate suburbana (land around a city).

How it drifted

"Field" is not wrong, but it is too general. The Hebrew word is about planted, worked land. That keeps the vineyard picture going through the whole line.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ugaritic šdmt occurs in vine contexts (KTU 1.23). HALOT gives "terraces" or "terraced fields." Isa 16:8 pairs it with the vine, as here.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:32 וּמִשַּׁדְמֹ֖ת and from [the] terraced fields of

    But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.

    Here: "And from the terraces of." The word means worked, planted plots, often hillside vineyard terraces. It does not mean open countryside. Gomorrah's "vineyards" are the nursery this vine came from.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 23:4 בְּשַׁדְמ֣וֹת in [the] fields of

    Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

    Here: A rare word for cultivated land, probably the terraced fields (and perhaps vineyards) on the slopes of the Kidron Valley.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 16:8 שַׁדְמוֹת֩ [the] fields of

    For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.

  2. Isaiah 37:27 וּשְׁדֵמָ֖ה and a field

    Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 31:40 הַשְּׁדֵמוֹת֩ the terraced fields

    The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

    Here: 'The terraced fields.' These are cultivated plots, often vineyards, on the hillsides. In 2 Kings 23:4 King Josiah burned idolatrous objects 'in the shedemot of Kidron', so these slopes were remembered as a place where unclean things were burned and dumped. The written consonants read hasseremot (see textual notes).

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 3:17 וּשְׁדֵמ֖וֹת and fields

    Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,

    Here: 'And the fields.' This is a rare, poetic word, probably for terraced cultivated slopes (grain or vineyards), not the ordinary word for field (sadeh).

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