---
title: רָעָב — famine · The Tanakh dictionary
description: רָעָב (7458), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 101 times: famine. BDB 1906: n.m. famine, hunger. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# רָעָב

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«רָעָב» in the Tanakh dictionary: **famine** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 101 times · **Key:** 7458 · **BDB:** רָעָב

### Glosses

famine (78); a.famine (9); of.famine (6)

### Meaning (OSHB)

famine [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1512/7458/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. famine, hunger [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1512/7458/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Gn 26:1 famine, hunger;—abs. ר׳ Gn 12:10 +; sf. רְעָבָם Ne 9:15; famine (in land, nation or city), Gn 12:10; 26:1; 41:30, 31 Ex 16:3 2 S 21:1; 24:13 = 2 K 4:38; 6:25 +; שְׁנֵי(הָ)ר׳ Gn 41:27, 30, 36, שְׁנַת ר׳ v 50, but also שָׁנִים ר׳ \[שָׁלוֹשׁ\] שֶׁבַע 2 S 24:13 (on gender v. AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 103) = 1 Ch 21:12; c. חזק (be) severe Gn 41:56, 57 1 K 18:2; 2 K 25:3 = Je 52:6, חזק עַל Gn 47:20; c. כָבֵד 12:10; 47:4, 13; גָּדוֹל 2 K 6:25; זַעלעֲפוֹת ר׳ La 5:10; מְזֵי ר׳ Dt 32:24 + Is 5:13 (v. \[מָזֶה\]), תַּחֲלוּאֵי ר׳ Je 14:18, חַלֲלֵי ר׳ La 5:9, אֲסֻפֵי ר׳ Ez 34:29; חִצֵּי הָר׳ 5:16; as scourge of י׳ (+ חֶרֶב, דֶּבֶ, etc.; especially Je Ez), Je 5:12; 11:22; 14:12; 21:7, 9 Ez 5:2; 6:11, 12 +, etc.; fig. of lack of י׳’s word Am 8:11. hunger, of individual Je 38:9 Dt 28:48 (+ צָסָא, etc.), 2 Ch 32:11 (+ id.).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 39 of its verses cited, 2 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (3 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «רָעָב» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1512/7458/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Genesis 43:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.43.1/)

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וְהָרָעָ֖ב כָּבֵ֥ד בָּאָֽרֶץ׃

*Word for word:* and the famine \[was\].heavy in the land

*JPS 1917:* And the famine was sore in the land.

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[Lamentations 5:10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.5.10/)

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עוֹרֵ֙נוּ֙ כְּתַנּ֣וּר נִכְמָ֔רוּ מִפְּנֵ֖י זַלְעֲפ֥וֹת רָעָֽב׃

*Word for word:* skin our like an.oven they.have.grown.hot because of \[the\].burning.heat(s) of.hunger

*JPS 1917:* Our skin is hot like an oven because of the burning heat of famine.

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