Topical Encyclopedia
Straw, a byproduct of grain harvesting, holds various symbolic and practical significances in the Bible. It is primarily mentioned in the context of agriculture and construction, reflecting its importance in the daily life and economy of ancient Near Eastern societies.
Agricultural Use:In biblical times, straw was commonly used as fodder for livestock.
Genesis 24:25 mentions straw in the context of hospitality, where Rebekah offers straw and feed for the camels of Abraham's servant: "We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night." This indicates the abundance and utility of straw in pastoral settings.
Construction Material:Straw also played a crucial role in construction, particularly in the making of bricks. In
Exodus 5:7, during the Israelites' bondage in Egypt, Pharaoh commanded, "You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw." This directive increased the Israelites' labor, highlighting the essential role of straw in brick-making. The mixture of straw with clay helped bind the bricks, providing strength and durability.
Symbolic Meaning:Straw is often used metaphorically in the Bible to represent frailty and impermanence. In
Job 13:25, Job laments, "Will You frighten a windblown leaf? Will You chase after dry chaff?" Here, straw symbolizes something easily scattered and insignificant, reflecting human vulnerability and the transient nature of life.
Similarly, in
Isaiah 40:24, the prophet speaks of the temporary power of earthly rulers: "Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely do they take root in the ground, when He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble." The imagery of straw being swept away underscores the fleeting nature of human endeavors when compared to God's eternal sovereignty.
Judgment Imagery:Straw is also used in the context of divine judgment. In
Isaiah 5:24, the prophet warns of the consequences of rejecting God's law: "Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay, and their blossoms will blow away like dust." The consumption of straw by fire serves as a vivid illustration of the swift and complete nature of God's judgment against sin.
Conclusion:Throughout the Bible, straw serves as a practical resource and a powerful symbol. Its use in agriculture and construction reflects the daily life of ancient peoples, while its metaphorical applications convey deeper spiritual truths about human frailty, the temporality of earthly power, and the certainty of divine judgment.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
StrawBoth wheat and barley straw were used by the ancient Hebrews chiefly as fodder for the horses cattle and camels. (Genesis 24:25;1 Kings 4:28;Isaiah 11:7;66:25) There is no intimation that straw was used for litter. It was employed by the Egyptians for making bricks, (Exodus 5:7,16) being chopped up and mixed with the clay to make them more compact and to prevent their cracking. [SeeBRICK] The ancient Egyptians reaped their corn close to the ear, and afterward cut the straw close to the ground and laid it by. This was the straw that Pharaoh refused to give to the Israelites who were therefore compelled to gather "stubble" instead --a matter of considerable difficulty, seeing that the straw itself had been cut off near to the ground.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Used in brick-making (
Exodus 5:7-18). Used figuratively in
Job 41:27;
Isaiah 11:7;
25:10;
65:25.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
v. t.) To spread or scatter. See Strow.
2. (n.) A stalk or stem of certain species of grain, pulse, etc., especially of wheat, rye, oats, barley, more rarely of buckwheat, beans, and peas.
3. (n.) The gathered and thrashed stalks of certain species of grain, etc.; as, a bundle, or a load, of rye straw.
4. (n.) Anything proverbially worthless; the least possible thing; a mere trifle.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
STRAW; STUBBLEstro, stub'-'-l: The cognates of Hebrew tebhen, "straw" and qash, "stubble," have been retained in the modern Arabic terms tibn and qashsh. Tibn applies to the straw which has been cut up into short pieces and more or less split by the threshing operations. It is commonly used throughout the East as a coarse fodder or roughage for domestic herbivorous animals (compareGenesis 24:25, 32Judges 19:191 Kings 4:28;Isaiah 11:7;Isaiah 65:25). Hay and similar cured crops are practically unknown. Barley, peas and other grain, when fed to animals, are mixed with the tibn. The animals will frequently reject the tibn unless there is grain in it. They often nose about the tibn until the grain settles to the bottom so that they can eat the latter without the straw. Straw left in the manger is thrown out in the stall to form part of the bedding (compareIsaiah 25:10).
Tibn is mixed with clay for plastering walls or for making sun-dried bricks. It is also mixed with lime and sand for plastering. The children of Israel had their task of brickmaking made more arduous by being required to gather stubble and prepare it by chopping it up instead of being given the already prepared straw of the threshing-floors (Exodus 5:7).
Qashsh (literally, "dried up") refers to the stalks left standing in the wheat fields or to any dried-up stalks or stems such as are gathered for burning. Camels and other flocks sometimes supplement their regular meals by grazing on the stubble, otherwise it has no use. In the Bible stubble is used to typify worthless inflammable material (Exodus 15:7Job 13:25;Job 41:28, 29Psalm 83:13Isaiah 5:24, etc.;1 Corinthians 3:12, kalame).
mathben, is translated "straw" inIsaiah 25:10.
James A. Patch
Greek
2595. karphos -- a small dry stalk... 2595 -- properly, a small particle (a splinter of
straw or wood); "a dry stalk;
a chip of wood" (Souter); something dry and light; a " or , of the same
...2562. kalame -- stubble
... stubble. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: kalame Phonetic Spelling:
(kal-am'-ay) Short Definition: stubble Definition: stubble,straw, the stalk....
Strong's Hebrew
4963. mathben -- astraw heap... 4962, 4963. mathben. 4964 . a
straw heap. Transliteration: mathben Phonetic
Spelling: (math-bane') Short Definition:
straw. Word
...8401. teben --straw
... 8400, 8401. teben. 8402 .straw. Transliteration: teben Phonetic Spelling:
(teh'-ben) Short Definition:straw. Word Origin of uncertain...
7179. qash -- stubble, chaff
... Word Origin from an unused word Definition stubble, chaff NASB Word Usage chaff
(5),straw (1), stubble (10). stubble. From qashash;straw (as dry) -- stubble....
8402. Tibni -- a rival of Omri
... Definition: Tibni. Word Origin from the same as teben Definition a rival of Omri
NASB Word Usage Tibni (3). chaff,straw, stubble. From teben...
7806. shazar -- to be twisted
... root Definition to be twisted NASB Word Usage twisted (21). twine. A primitive root;
to twist (a thread ofstraw) -- twine. 7805, 7806. shazar. 7807 ....
7197. qashash -- to gather stubble
... A primitive root; to become sapless through drought; used only as denominative from
qash; to forage forstraw, stubble or wood; figuratively, to assemble...
Library
Pharaoh the Stubborn Ruler
... The same day Pharaoh gave this command to the taskmasters who were over the people:
"You shall no longer give the peoplestraw for making bricks as before....
"Admirably," Exclaimed Postumianus, "Does Your Speech Bind those...
... For, in truth, when I glance at thatstraw, which is being prepared for our beds,
there comes into my mind a recollection respecting thestraw on which Martin...
Letter i. To Eusebius.
... decayed and very thin. [51] They also erected for him a couch consisting
of a large amount ofstraw. Then, when Martin betook himself...
Further Proofs of the Same Proposition, Drawn from the Promises...
... The ox and the bear shall feed together, and their young ones shall agree
together; and the lion shall eatstraw as well as the ox....
Treats of the Same Subject as the Last ChapterAnd Describes the...
... Therefore this person resolved to resist no more than does astraw when attracted
by amber (a thing you may have seen); she yielded herself into the hands of...
The Rod that Troubled Egypt.
... They made bricks of clay mixed withstraw, that hardened in the sun, and were as
lasting as stone, but he forced them to find thestraw wherever they could...
Ephraim
... The Gemarists read it after the same manner, Ephraim, this story being added; "Jannes
and Mambres said to Moses, Do you bringstraw into Ephraim?" Which the...
Another Part of My Smoke' which You Frequently Laugh at is My...
... have been conceived within your mouth, and like Barchochebas, the leader of the
revolt of the Jews, who used to hold in his mouth a lightedstraw and blow it...
Choosing the Tens
... occupants. Several wisps ofstraw were scattered about and a heap of it, over
which a cotton cloak had been thrown, lay in one corner....
The Temples and the Gods of Chaldaea
... soil of the marshes or of the plains, separated from the pebbles and foreign substances
which it contained, mixed with grass or choppedstraw, moistened with...
Thesaurus
Straw (21 Occurrences)... 3. (n.) The gathered and thrashed stalks of certain species of grain, etc.; as,
a bundle, or a load, of rye
straw.
... Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
STRAW; STUBBLE.
...Chaff (24 Occurrences)
... False doctrines are also called chaff (Jeremiah 23:28), or more correctly rendered
"choppedstraw." The destruction of the wicked, and their powerlessness, are...
Stubble (18 Occurrences)
...STRAW; STUBBLE. stro, stub'-'-l: The cognates of Hebrew tebhen, "straw" and qash,
"stubble," have been retained in the modern Arabic terms tibn and qashsh....
Brick (10 Occurrences)
... of how the Children of Israel, while in bondage in Egypt, had their task of
brick-making made more irksome by being required to collect their ownstraw is one...
Provender (10 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) Dry food for domestic animals, as hay,straw,
corn, oats, or a mixture of ground grain; feed. 2. (n.) Food or provisions....
Fodder (9 Occurrences)
... 3. (vt) To feed, as cattle, with dry food or cut grass, etc.; to furnish with hay,
straw, oats, etc. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. FODDER. fod'-er....
Thresh (7 Occurrences)
... 1. (vt) To beat out grain from, asstraw or husks; to beat thestraw or husk of
(grain) with a flail; to beat off, as the kernels of grain; as, to thrash wheat...
Bricks (10 Occurrences)
... Exodus 5:7 Ye do not add to givestraw to the people for the making of the bricks,
as heretofore -- they go and have gatheredstraw for themselves; (YLT RSV NIV...
Quota (5 Occurrences)
... NIV). Exodus 5:13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work
quota daily, as when there wasstraw!" (WEB NAS). Exodus...
Litter (1 Occurrence)
... it. 2. (n.)Straw, hay, etc., scattered on a floor, as bedding for animals
to rest on; also, a covering ofstraw for plants. 3. (n...
Resources
Are the pyramids mentioned in the Bible? Did the enslaved Israelites build the pyramids? | GotQuestions.orgWhy was Pharaoh so resistant to Moses' pleas to “let my people go”? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is a threshing floor? | GotQuestions.orgStraw: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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