Hebrew word · H8401

תֶּ֫בֶן

teven

straw

Straw: the stalks broken and chopped on the threshing floor once the grain was separated. It was used as fodder for donkeys, camels, horses and cattle, and as a binder in mud bricks. Cheap and plentiful, it was the opposite of a rich food.

Appears 17 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) straw, stubble

1a) as building material

1b) as fodder for livestock

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 11:7

Range of meaning

Straw: the stalks broken and chopped on the threshing floor once the grain was separated. It was used as fodder for donkeys, camels, horses and cattle, and as a binder in mud bricks. Cheap and plentiful, it was the opposite of a rich food.

Against the English

Modern readers think of straw as bedding or waste. In Isaiah's world teven was standard animal feed, so the phrase means "the lion eats fodder at the trough."

How it drifted

Modern farming separates straw (bedding) from hay or feed. In the ancient Levant chopped threshing straw was a main feed for working animals.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rebekah's household has "straw and fodder" for the camels (Gen 24:25, 32). The Levite carries "straw and fodder" for his donkeys (Judg 19:19). Solomon's officials supply "barley and straw" for the horses (1 Kgs 4:28 [5:8 Heb]). Straw for bricks appears in Exod 5:7–18. Iron is "like straw" to Leviathan, a byword for something worthless (Job 41:27). The line repeats word for word in Isa 65:25.

From the study of Jeremiah 23:28

Range of meaning

Straw: the stalks left on the threshing floor once the grain is beaten out. It was chopped up and fed to animals (Gen 24:25, 32; Isa 11:7, "the lion shall eat straw like the ox"; Isa 65:25), and mixed into mud bricks (Exod 5:7–18). Hebrew has a separate word for chaff, the light husks the wind blows away (mots, Ps 1:4).

Against the English

KJV's "chaff" follows the Latin Vulgate's palea. To a modern reader it suggests weightless waste that blows away. Teven is the heavier, useful stalk. It was good for donkeys and bricks, but not bread.

How it drifted

The KJV inherited "chaff" from the Latin tradition (paleis). The English word has since narrowed to mean worthless husks.

Used elsewhere in the period

Teven sits beside fodder (mispo) in Gen 24:25 and Judg 19:19, and beside bricks in Exod 5. HALOT and BDB both give "straw" (chopped straw as fodder).

From the study of Exodus 5:12

Range of meaning

Chopped straw, the broken stalks left over from threshing grain. It was used as animal fodder (Gen 24:25; Isa 11:7) and as temper, a binding material mixed into mud for bricks.

Against the English

English 'straw' makes many modern readers picture long stalks or baled hay. Teben was short, chopped threshing waste, ready to knead into clay.

How it drifted

In modern English 'straw' usually means bales or whole stalks. Ancient threshing broke stalks into short pieces, and that chopped material is what teben means.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 24:25, 32 (straw and fodder for camels); Judg 19:19; 1 Kgs 5:8 (4:28 in English) (barley and straw for horses); Isa 11:7; 65:25 ('the lion shall eat straw like the ox'); Job 41:27 (41:19 in Hebrew). Egyptian mud bricks often contain chopped straw or chaff. Egyptian texts of the New Kingdom period, such as the Papyrus Anastasi model letters, mention straw and brick quotas.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 24:25 תֶּ֥בֶן straw

    Then she added, “We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night.”

  2. Genesis 24:32 תֶּ֤בֶן straw

    So the man came to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and feed were brought to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of his companions.

    Here: The chopped straw left over from threshing grain, used as animal feed (cf. Isa 11:7, 'the lion will eat straw like the ox'). Here it is food, not bedding.

Exodus · 8

  1. Exodus 5:7 תֶּ֧בֶן תֶּֽבֶן׃ straw

    “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw.

  2. Exodus 5:10 תֶּֽבֶן׃ straw

    So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am no longer giving you straw.

  3. Exodus 5:11 תֶּ֔בֶן straw

    Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’”

  4. Exodus 5:12 לַתֶּֽבֶן׃ for the straw

    So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

    Here: 'For the straw,' meaning to serve as the straw. Teben is the chopped straw left over from threshing, which was mixed into brick clay. The stubble had to be gathered and then turned into a substitute for what the government used to hand out.

  5. Exodus 5:13 הַתֶּֽבֶן׃ the straw

    The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.”

  6. Exodus 5:16 תֶּ֗בֶן straw

    No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

  7. Exodus 5:18 וְתֶ֖בֶן and straw

    Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.”

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 19:19 תֶּ֤בֶן straw

    even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.”

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 4:28 וְהַתֶּ֔בֶן and the straw

    Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.

Job · 2

  1. Job 21:18 כְּתֶ֥בֶן like straw

    Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

    Here: "Like straw." This is the broken, chopped straw left on the threshing floor after the grain is beaten out, the kind used as animal fodder and for brick-making. It is light and worthless, and any gust scatters it.

  2. Job 41:27 לְתֶ֣בֶן to straw

    He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 11:7 תֶּֽבֶן׃ straw

    The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

    Here: The chopped straw left after threshing, the cheapest and plainest animal feed. The king of beasts eats barn fodder from the trough.

  2. Isaiah 65:25 תֶּ֔בֶן straw

    The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.

    Here: Chaff and chopped straw left from threshing, used as fodder (Gen 24:32). It is plain farmyard feed: the king of beasts eats like a work animal.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 23:28 לַתֶּ֥בֶן [belongs] to the straw

    Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.

    Here: Straw: the stalks left after threshing. Farmers chopped it for animal fodder and builders mixed it into mud bricks. It had uses, but people could not live on it.

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