Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical literature, the term "clods" refers to lumps or masses of earth or soil. This term is often used metaphorically to describe the physical and spiritual state of humanity in relation to God's creation and judgment. The imagery of clods is primarily found in the Old Testament, where it serves to illustrate themes of humility, mortality, and divine sovereignty.
Job 7:5 · In the Book of Job, the protagonist laments his suffering and describes his physical condition using vivid imagery: "My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is cracked and festering" . Here, clods of dust symbolize the frailty and decay of the human body, emphasizing the transient nature of life and the inevitability of death. Job's use of this imagery underscores his profound sense of despair and his recognition of human limitations in the face of divine will.
Job 38:38 · Later in the Book of Job, God responds to Job's complaints by highlighting His own power and wisdom in creation: "when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?" . This rhetorical question serves to remind Job of God's control over the natural world, including the formation of clods. The imagery of clods sticking together illustrates the order and purpose inherent in God's creation, contrasting with the chaos and disorder perceived by Job in his suffering.
Isaiah 28:24-25 · The prophet Isaiah uses agricultural imagery to convey spiritual truths: "Does the plowman plow for planting every day? Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in rows, barley in plots, and spelt as their border?" . While the term "clods" is not explicitly mentioned, the process of preparing the soil for planting involves breaking up clods to create a fertile environment for growth. This passage metaphorically represents God's preparation of His people for spiritual fruitfulness, emphasizing the necessity of divine intervention and cultivation.
Hosea 10:11 · In Hosea, the prophet uses the imagery of plowing to describe Israel's spiritual condition: "Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, but I will place a yoke on her fair neck. I will harness Ephraim; Judah will plow, and Jacob will break up the hard ground" . The breaking up of hard ground, or clods, signifies the need for repentance and renewal among God's people. It highlights the transformative power of God's discipline, which seeks to break up the hardened hearts of His people and prepare them for righteousness.
Throughout Scripture, clods serve as a powerful symbol of the human condition and God's sovereign role in shaping and transforming His creation. The imagery of clods underscores themes of humility, repentance, and divine authority, reminding believers of their dependence on God for both physical sustenance and spiritual renewal.
Strong's Hebrew
7702. sadad -- to harrow... root Definition to harrow NASB Word Usage harrow (3). break
clods, harrow. A primitive
root; to abrade, ie Harrow a field -- break
clods, harrow. 7701, 7702.
...4053. megraphah -- a shovel
... 4052, 4053. megraphah. 4054 . a shovel. Transliteration: megraphah Phonetic
Spelling: (mig-raw-faw') Short Definition:clods. Word...
7263. regeb -- a clod (of earth)
... 7262, 7263. regeb. 7264 . a clod (of earth). Transliteration: regeb
Phonetic Spelling: (reh'-gheb) Short Definition:clods. Word...
Library
How Vespasian Upon Hearing of Some Commotions in Gall, Made Haste...
... However, it casts up blackclods of bitumen in many parts of it; these swim at the
top of the water, and resemble both in shape and bigness headless bulls; and...
A visit to the Harvest Field
... Had he left his fields fallow, never stirred theclods, and never cast in among
them the golden seed, he would be an idiot were he expecting the soil to...
Christ's Flesh Perfectly Natural, Like Our Own None of the...
... Consider the respective qualities,"of the muscles asclods; of the bones
as stones; the mammillary glands as a kind of pebbles....
Christian Graces.
... There is a man sows his field with wheat, but as he sows, some is covered with great
clods: now, that grows as well as the rest, though it runs not upright as...
Sowing in the Wind, Reaping under Clouds
... They may lose everything just at the moment when they are about to gather it
in. The seed may perish under theclods when it is first sown....
The Tares.
... seed is committed to the ground. It was "good seed" that the careful
husbandman cast among theclods. If the last season's crop...
The Mustard-Seed.
... its progress from small beginnings to great issues is like the growth of a gigantic
herb from the imperceptible germ that was dropped among theclods in spring...
The Locust-Swarms
... was utterly destroyed: and all other crops, it seems likewise; the corn was wasted,
the olives destroyed; the seed was rotten under theclods, the granaries...
Timeliness in Doing Good.
... As the coldclods fall upon his plain coffin, you say, "Well, he was a good man,
after all." Why did you not tell him that when he was living?...
Isaiah's Discourse
... hear my speech. Doth the plowman plow continually to sow? doth he continually
open and break theclods of his ground? When he hath...
Thesaurus
Clods (7 Occurrences)...Clods (7 Occurrences). Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and
clods of
dust.
... Job 21:33 The
clods of the valley shall be sweet to him.
...Clod (1 Occurrence)
... 6. (vi) To collect intoclods, or into a thick mass; to coagulate; to clot;
as, clodded gore. See Clot. 7. (vt) To pelt withclods....
Runs (28 Occurrences)
... (WEB DBY NAS RSV). Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms andclods of dust.... Job
38:38 when the dust runs into a mass, and theclods of earth stick together?...
Agriculture
... plough (Deuteronomy 22:10). Men sometimes followed the plough with a hoe
to break theclods (Isaiah 28:24). The oxen were urged...
Plow (11 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 28:24 Does he who plows to sow plow continually? Does he keep turning the
soil and breaking theclods?... Judah will plow. Jacob will break hisclods....
Harrow (3 Occurrences)
... 20:3). Hebrews verb sadad, to harrow a field, break itsclods (Job 39:10;
Isaiah 28:4; Hosea 10:11). Its form is unknown. It may...
Loathsome (20 Occurrences)
... (WEB ASV DBY NAS RSV). Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms andclods of
dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome. (KJV YLT)....
Lothsome (4 Occurrences)
... of Egypt? (WBS). Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms andclods of dust;
my skin is broken and become lothsome. (WBS). Psalms 38...
Granaries (7 Occurrences)
... (See JPS RSV NIV). Joel 1:17 The seeds rot under theirclods. The granaries are
laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered....
Gently (19 Occurrences)
... (DBY JPS NAS RSV NIV). Job 21:33 Theclods of the valley shall be sweet to him.
All men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him. (See NAS)....
Resources
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