שְׁדֵמָה (she.de.mah)
she.de.mah
field
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 6 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Word Overview
The Hebrew noun shēdemah refers to a field, specifically one that is open or uncultivated land. It appears in six verses across the Old Testament, with significant usage in the prophetic books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, as well as in II Kings. Unlike terms for tilled soil or vineyards, this word often conveys the idea of empty space or desolation.
In its biblical context, shēdemah frequently describes land that has been abandoned or laid waste, serving as a powerful image of judgment or loss. For instance, Jeremiah uses it to depict the devastation of Judah’s countryside, where once-fertile areas become barren fields (Jeremiah 4:26; 9:10). This usage highlights the contrast between productive land and its ruined state, emphasizing the gravity of the prophetic warnings.
The word’s root may relate to concepts of emptiness or desolation, reinforcing its association with uninhabited or neglected terrain. Translators typically render it as "field" or "desolate field," depending on the context. Its presence in texts like Isaiah 34:11 underscores themes of divine retribution and the transformation of once-thriving lands into wastelands.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Hebrew word shēdemah points to a field that stands empty or uncultivated. In the Old Testament, it often describes land that has been abandoned or laid waste, serving as a powerful image of judgment or loss. When prophets like Jeremiah used this term, they depicted devastation where once-fertile areas became barren fields (Jeremiah 4:26; 9:10). This contrast between productive land and its ruined state emphasizes the gravity of prophetic warnings.
Yet this word also carries a quiet hope. In Jeremiah 31:40, God declares that even the fields near the Kidron valley will become holy to Him forever. The same earth that suffers destruction is promised restoration. For your faith, this offers comfort: no place is beyond God’s reach. Even when life feels like a desolate field, you can trust in His power to renew and make all things new.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 6 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- the/ terraced fields1×
- in/ [the] fields of1×
- and/ from/ [the] terraced fields of1×
- and/ fields1×
- and/ a field1×
- [the] fields of1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- שַׁדְמוֹת֩1×
- וּ/שְׁדֵמָ֖ה1×
- וּ/שְׁדֵמ֖וֹת1×
- וּ/מִ/שַּׁדְמֹ֖ת1×
- הַ/שְּׁדֵמוֹת֩1×
- בְּ/שַׁדְמ֣וֹת1×
Key Verses
-
Jeremiah 31:40
The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”
This verse uniquely transforms the concept of a desolate field into a promise of eternal holiness, showing God's power to restore what was lost.
-
Isaiah 37:27
Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.
Here, the word illustrates the fragility of human power by comparing inhabitants to grass in a field before it grows, highlighting dependence on God.
-
Habakkuk 3:17
For even though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls,
The term appears in a context of total agricultural failure, yet the prophet chooses to rejoice in God despite the barren fields.