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Bible Encyclopedias
Field
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (usually שָׂדֶה , sadeh' [poetic שָׂדֵּי;saday'], ἄγρος ; but occasionally אֶרֶוֹ, e'rets, land [Chald. בִּר , bar, open country], χώρα; הוּוֹ , chuts, out-doors; חֶלְקָה, chelkah', a portion or plot, χωρίον; שְׁדֵמָה , shedemah', a cultivated field, according to Gesenius and Furst from the context, in the plur. Deuteronomy 32:32; 2 Kings 23:4; Isaiah 16:8; Jeremiah 31:40; Habakkuk 3:17; also יֶגֵב , fageb', an arable field, in the plur. Jeremiah 39:10). The Hebrew sadeh is not adequately represented by our "field:" the two words agree in describing cultivated land, but they differ in point of extent, the sadeh being specifically applied to what is unenclosed, while the opposite notion of enclosure is involved in the word field, (See DESERT).
The essence of the Hebrew word has been variously taken to lie in each of these notions, Gesenius (Thesaurus, p. 1321) giving it the sense of freedom, Stanley (Palest. p. 484) that of smoothness, comparing arvum from arare. On the one hand sadeh is applied to any cultivated ground, whether pasture (Genesis 29:2; Genesis 31:4; Genesis 34:7; Exodus 9:3), tillage (Genesis 37:7; Genesis 47:24; Ruth 2:2-3; Job 24:6; Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12), woodland (1 Samuel 14:25, A. V. "ground;"' Psalms 132:6), or mountain-top (Judges 9:32; Judges 9:36; 2 Samuel 1:21): and in some instances in marked opposition to the neighboring wilderness, as in the instance of Jacob settling in the field of Shechem (Genesis 33:19), the field of Moab (Genesis 36:35; Numbers 21:20, A. V. "country;" Ruth 1:1), and the vale of Siddim, i.e. of the cultivated fields, which formed the oasis of the Pentapolis (Genesis 14:3; Genesis 14:8), though a different sense has been given to the name (by Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 1321). On the other hand, the sadeh is frequently contrasted with what is enclosed, whether a vineyard (Exodus 22:5; Leviticus 25:3-4;. Numbers 16:14; Numbers 20:17; compare Numbers 22:23; "the ass went into the field," with Numbers 22:24, "a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall on that side"), a garden (the very name of which, גִּן, implies enclosure), or a walled town (Deuteronomy 28:3; Deuteronomy 28:16): unwalled villages or scattered houses ranked in the eye of the law as fields (Leviticus 25:31), and hence the expression εἰςτοὐς ἀγροὐς = - houses in the fields (Vulg. in villas; Mark 6:36; Mark 6:56). In many passages the term implies what is remote from a house (Genesis 4:8; Genesis 24:63; Deuteronomy 22:25) or settled habitation, as in the case of Esau (Genesis 25:27; the Sept., however, refers it to his character, ἄγροικος): this is more fully expressed by פְּנֵי הִשָּׂדֶה , " the opez field" (Leviticus 14:7; Leviticus 14:53; Leviticus 17:5; Numbers 19:16; 2 Samuel 11:11), with which is naturally coupled the notion of exposure and desertion (Jeremiah 9:22; Ezekiel 16:5; Ezekiel 32:4; Ezekiel 33:27; Ezekiel 39:5). (See MEADOW).
The separate plots of ground were marked off by stones, which might easily be removed (Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17; comp. Job 24:2; Proverbs 22:28; Proverbs 23:10); the absence of fences rendered the fields liable to damage from straying cattle (Exodus 22:5) or fire (Exodus 22:6; 2 Samuel 14:30); hence tile necessity of constantly watching flocks and herds, the people so employed being in the present day named Nature (Wortabet, Syria, i, 293). A certain amount of protection was gained by sowing the tallest and strongest of the grain crops on the outside: "spelt" appears to have been most commonly used for this purpose (Isaiah 28:25, as in the margin). From the absence of enclosures, cultivated land of any size might be termed a field, whether it were a piece of ground of limited area (Genesis 23:13; Genesis 23:17; Isaiah 5:8), a man's whole inheritance (Leviticus 27:16 sq.; Ruth 4:5; Jeremiah 32:9; Jeremiah 32:25; Proverbs 27:26; Proverbs 31:16), the ager publicus of a town (Genesis 41:48; Nehemiah 12:29), as distinct, however, from the ground immediately adjacent to the walls of the Levitical cities, which was called מַגְרָשׁ (A. V. "'suburbs"), and was deemed an appendage of the town itself (Joshua 21:11-12), or, lastly, the territory of a people (Genesis 14:7; Genesis 32:3; Genesis 36:35; Numbers 21:20; Ruth 1:6; Ruth 4:3; 1 Samuel 6:1; 1 Samuel 27:7; 1 Samuel 27:11). In 1 Samuel 27:5, "a town in the field" (Auth. Vers. "country")=a provincial town as distinct from the royal city. A plot of ground separated from a larger one was termed חֶלְקִת שָׂדֶה (Genesis 33:19; Ruth 2:3; 1 Chronicles 11:13), or simply חֶלְקָה (2 Samuel 14:10; 2 Samuel 23:12; comp. 2 Samuel 19:29). Fields occasionally received names after remarkable events, as Helkath-Hazzurim, the field of the strong men, or possibly of swords (2 Samuel 2:16), or from the use to which they may have been applied (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 7:3; Matthew 27:7). (See LAND).
It should be observed that the expressions "fruitful field" (Isaiah 10:18; Isaiah 29:17; Isaiah 32:15-16) and "plentiful field" (Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 48:33) are not connected with sadeh, but with karmel, meaning a park or well- kept wood, as distinct from. a .wilderness or a forest. The same term occurs in 2 Kings 19:23, and Isaiah 37:24 (A.Vers. " Carmel"); Isaiah 10:18 ("forest)," and Jeremiah 4:26 ("fruitful place"). (See CARMEL). Distinct from this is the expression in Ezekiel 17:5, שְׂדֵהאּזֶרִע (AV. " fruitful field"), which means a field suited for planting suckers. (See AGRICULTURE).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Field'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/f/field.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
