Hebrew word · H7711

שִׁדָּפוֹן

shidafon

blight

From the root sh-d-p, 'to scorch, blast'. It means scorching or withering of grain, above all by the hot, dry east wind (the sirocco, called hamsin today) that blows in off the desert in spring and autumn.

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

What it means

blight (of crops)

Also means: she.de.phah (שְׁדֵפָה "blight" H7711A)

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 Haggai 2:17

Range of meaning

From the root sh-d-p, 'to scorch, blast'. It means scorching or withering of grain, above all by the hot, dry east wind (the sirocco, called hamsin today) that blows in off the desert in spring and autumn. Genesis 41:6, 23 describe ears of grain 'thin and scorched by the east wind' with the same root.

Against the English

KJV/YLT 'blasting' is archaic but accurate: a crop 'blasted' by wind. 'Blight' (BSB, WEB) is fine but vague. Modern readers may hear it as a plant disease rather than wind-scorch.

Used elsewhere in the period

Always paired with yeraqon: Deut 28:22 (covenant curses), 1 Kgs 8:37 and 2 Chr 6:28 (Solomon's temple prayer), Amos 4:9, Hag 2:17. The Septuagint renders it with words for barrenness or wind damage. The east wind ruining crops is a familiar picture across the ancient Near East.

From the study of 1 Kings 8:37

Range of meaning

Scorching or blasting of grain, from shadaf 'to scorch'. It is linked with the east wind (the sirocco/khamsin), which can shrivel ripening ears within days.

Against the English

KJV: 'blasting', an older English word for crops shrivelled by wind or heat, and close to the Hebrew. BSB, WEB: 'blight', which is accurate but less specific about the cause.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 41:6, 23, 27 (ears 'scorched by the east wind', same root); paired with yeraqon in Deut 28:22, Amos 4:9 and Hag 2:17 (Hebrew numbering 2:17), and in the parallel 2 Chr 6:28.

From the study of 2 Chronicles 6:28

Range of meaning

A fixed pair that always appears together in the Hebrew Bible. Shiddafon means 'scorching', grain shriveled by the hot east wind. Yeraqon means 'yellowing/greening': rust, mildew, or blanching of the crop. Elsewhere yeraqon can describe the pale color of a frightened face.

Against the English

KJV 'blasting and mildew'. Modern versions mostly have 'blight and mildew'. 'Blight' is vaguer than the Hebrew picture of burning wind; 'mildew' is a reasonable guess for yeraqon but narrower than 'sickly yellowing'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 28:22 (covenant curses); Amos 4:9 ('I struck you with scorching and yellowing'); Haggai 2:17 (to the post-exilic community, the Chronicler's own era); 1 Kings 8:37 (the parallel). The Greek translation of Deuteronomy 28:22 renders the pair roughly as 'wind-blight' and 'paleness'.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 28:22 וּבַשִּׁדָּפ֖וֹן and with <the> blight

    The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 8:37 שִׁדָּפ֨וֹן blight

    When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

    Here: Grain scorched and shrivelled, mainly by the hot, dry east wind from the desert. It comes from the verb for the 'scorched' ears of grain in Pharaoh's dream (Gen 41:6).

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 19:26 וּשְׁדֵפָ֖ה and scorching

    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.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 6:28 שִׁדָּפ֨וֹן blight

    When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

    Here: From a root meaning 'to scorch'. Grain shriveled by the hot, dry east wind (as with the thin ears 'scorched by the east wind' in Genesis 41).

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 4:9 בַּשִּׁדָּפ֣וֹן with <the> blight

    “I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

    Here: Crops shrivelled by the hot, dry east wind (the sirocco). Its root means 'to scorch', as with the grain 'scorched by the east wind' in Pharaoh's dream (Gen 41:6).

Haggai · 1

  1. Haggai 2:17 בַּשִּׁדָּפ֤וֹן with <the> blight

    I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you did not turn to Me, declares the LORD.

    Here: 'With the scorching': grain shrivelled by the hot, dry east wind before it could fill out. This word opens a fixed list of covenant curses.

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