כַּרְמֶל (kar.mel)
kar.mel
plantation
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 15 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The noun karmel refers to a cultivated plot of land, specifically a plantation or garden-land. In the Hebrew Bible it denotes an area where fruit trees or vines are tended, distinguishing it from wild fields or uncultivated hills. The term appears in fifteen verses, with significant usage in Isaiah and Jeremiah, often evoking images of agricultural abundance.
Its meaning extends metonymically to the produce itself, referring to the fruit or garden-growth that such a plantation yields. This dual sense connects the place of cultivation directly to its harvest. For instance, in Isaiah 29:17, the word describes the transformation of Lebanon’s majestic cedars into a fertile orchard, highlighting a shift from wild grandeur to ordered productivity.
The word’s root likely relates to concepts of enclosure or careful tending, emphasizing human effort in creating order from nature. Translators typically render it as "plantation," "orchard," or "fruitful land" depending on context. Its presence in prophetic literature often serves as a metaphor for blessing and restoration, where God restores the land’s fertility after periods of judgment.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word karmel paints a picture of careful human effort meeting divine provision. It does not refer to wild, untamed hillsides, but to a cultivated plot where fruit trees or vines are tended with intention. This distinction matters because it highlights the beauty of stewardship. When we care for what God has given us, whether that is a garden, a career, or our relationships, we participate in bringing order and productivity out of chaos.
In the prophetic books, this image becomes a powerful metaphor for restoration. Isaiah speaks of a time when even the wildest places will become fertile orchards, and barren fields will flourish like forests. This suggests that God’s blessing is not limited to what we have already prepared; He can transform our most desolate circumstances into places of abundance. It is a promise that cultivation—both ours and His—leads to life.
For your daily walk, this word invites you to view your responsibilities as sacred ground. Just as the ancient farmer tended vines with patience, you are called to nurture the gifts in your life with care. The harvest may not always be immediate, but the act of faithful tending is itself a form of worship. May you find joy in the process of growth, trusting that God honors the work of your hands.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 15 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- the/ orchard2×
- and/ the/ orchard2×
- and/ new corn2×
- the/ garden-land1×
- plantation/ its1×
- orchard/ its1×
- new corn1×
- into <the>/ orchard1×
- in the/ orchard1×
- from/ [the] garden-land1×
- and/ orchard/ his1×
- and/ in the/ orchards1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- כַּרְמִלּֽ/וֹ\׃2×
- וְ/הַ/כַּרְמֶ֖ל2×
- הַ/כַּרְמֶ֔ל2×
- מִ/כַּרְמֶ֖ל1×
- לַ/כַּרְמֶ֔ל1×
- לַ/כַּרְמֶ֑ל1×
- כַּרְמֶ֔ל1×
- כַּרְמֶ֑ל1×
- וּ/בַ/כַּרְמֶ֔ל1×
- וְ/כַרְמֶ֜ל1×
- וְ/כַרְמֶ֖ל1×
- וְ/כַרְמִלּ֔/וֹ1×
Key Verses
-
Isaiah 29:17
Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest?
This verse uses the word to describe a miraculous reversal where Lebanon's majestic forests become fertile orchards, symbolizing God's power to restore what seems lost.
-
Isaiah 32:15
until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
Here the term appears in a promise that the Spirit’s outpouring will turn wilderness into fruitful fields, linking spiritual renewal with agricultural abundance.
-
Jeremiah 4:26
I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, before his fierce anger.
The prophet sees the once-fertile field turned to wilderness, illustrating how divine judgment can strip away the results of cultivation and leave desolation.
-
II Kings 19:23
By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.
The Assyrian king boasts of reaching the 'fruitful field' of Lebanon, using the term to represent the richest, most productive resources of a conquered land.