עָבַשׁ (a.vash)
a.vash
to shrivel
H:VQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:V
Word Overview
The Hebrew verb a.vash describes the physical process of shriveling or wasting away, specifically in the context of vegetation losing its vitality. It captures the visible decline of plant life as it dries out and collapses under stress.
This term appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in Joel 1:17. The prophet uses it to depict seeds rotting beneath clods of earth and granaries lying desolate because the grain has withered. The image is one of agricultural collapse, where the harvest fails not through sudden destruction, but through a gradual drying up.
Its singular usage highlights the specific devastation described in Joel’s vision of locusts. By focusing on the shriveling of the seed and grain, the word emphasizes the total loss of future sustenance, leaving the land barren and the people without food.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word avash paints a quiet but devastating picture of life losing its moisture and strength. In Joel 1:17, it describes grain that has shriveled and rotted beneath the soil, leaving granaries empty and barns broken. This is not a sudden explosion or fire, but a slow, visible fading where the harvest fails because the plants could not sustain themselves.
When you feel your own spiritual energy draining away, this image may resonate. It reminds us that seasons of dryness are real and painful. The loss feels total when the seeds do not sprout and the food stores vanish. Yet acknowledging this shriveling is the first step toward seeking renewal from God, who alone can restore what has withered under the heat of trial.
Even in these barren moments, you are not abandoned. The prophet Joel uses this stark imagery to call people back to reliance on their Creator. Your faith may feel dry now, but that does not mean it is dead. There is hope for restoration when we turn our hearts toward the source of all life.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- they have shriveled1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- עָבְשׁ֣וּ1×
Key Verses
-
Joel 1:17
The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
This verse uses the word to describe grain that has shriveled and rotted, highlighting the total loss of sustenance due to agricultural collapse.