Bible Dictionary: Straw

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Smith's Bible Dictionary

Straw

Both 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. [See BRICK] 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; STUBBLE

stro, 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 (compare Genesis 24:25, 32 Judges 19:19 1 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 (compare Isaiah 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 15:7 Job 13:25; Job 41:28, 29 Psalm 83:13 Isaiah 5:24, etc.; 1 Corinthians 3:12, kalame).

mathben, is translated "straw" in Isaiah 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 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2595.htm - 6k

2562. kalame -- stubble
... stubble. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: kalame Phonetic Spelling:
(kal-am'-ay) Short Definition: stubble Definition: stubble, straw, the stalk. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2562.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

4963. mathben -- a straw heap
... 4962, 4963. mathben. 4964 . a straw heap. Transliteration: mathben Phonetic
Spelling: (math-bane') Short Definition: straw. Word ...
/hebrew/4963.htm - 6k

8401. teben -- straw
... 8400, 8401. teben. 8402 . straw. Transliteration: teben Phonetic Spelling:
(teh'-ben) Short Definition: straw. Word Origin of uncertain ...
/hebrew/8401.htm - 6k

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. ...
/hebrew/7179.htm - 6k

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 ...
/hebrew/8402.htm - 6k

7806. shazar -- to be twisted
... root Definition to be twisted NASB Word Usage twisted (21). twine. A primitive root;
to twist (a thread of straw) -- twine. 7805, 7806. shazar. 7807 . ...
/hebrew/7806.htm - 5k

7197. qashash -- to gather stubble
... A primitive root; to become sapless through drought; used only as denominative from
qash; to forage for straw, stubble or wood; figuratively, to assemble ...
/hebrew/7197.htm - 5k

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 people straw for making bricks as before. ...
/.../sherman/the childrens bible/pharaoh the stubborn ruler.htm

"Admirably," Exclaimed Postumianus, "Does Your Speech Bind those ...
... For, in truth, when I glance at that straw, which is being prepared for our beds,
there comes into my mind a recollection respecting the straw on which Martin ...
/.../chapter viii admirably exclaimed postumianus.htm

Letter i. To Eusebius.
... decayed and very thin. [51] They also erected for him a couch consisting
of a large amount of straw. Then, when Martin betook himself ...
/.../severus/life and writings of sulpitius severus /letter i to eusebius.htm

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 eat straw as well as the ox. ...
/.../irenaeus/against heresies/chapter xxxiii further proofs of the.htm

Treats of the Same Subject as the Last ChapterAnd Describes the ...
... Therefore this person resolved to resist no more than does a straw when attracted
by amber (a thing you may have seen); she yielded herself into the hands of ...
/.../teresa/the interior castle or the mansions/chapter v treats of the.htm

The Rod that Troubled Egypt.
... They made bricks of clay mixed with straw, that hardened in the sun, and were as
lasting as stone, but he forced them to find the straw wherever they could ...
/.../lathbury/childs story of the bible/chapter xi the rod that.htm

Ephraim
... The Gemarists read it after the same manner, Ephraim, this story being added; "Jannes
and Mambres said to Moses, Do you bring straw into Ephraim?" Which the ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 53 ephraim.htm

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 lighted straw and blow it ...
/.../31 another part of my.htm

Choosing the Tens
... occupants. Several wisps of straw were scattered about and a heap of it, over
which a cotton cloak had been thrown, lay in one corner. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter i choosing the tens.htm

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 chopped straw, moistened with ...
/.../chapter iithe temples and the.htm

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. ...
/s/straw.htm - 15k

Chaff (24 Occurrences)
... False doctrines are also called chaff (Jeremiah 23:28), or more correctly rendered
"chopped straw." The destruction of the wicked, and their powerlessness, are ...
/c/chaff.htm - 18k

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. ...
/s/stubble.htm - 15k

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 own straw is one ...
/b/brick.htm - 15k

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. ...
/p/provender.htm - 10k

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. ...
/f/fodder.htm - 9k

Thresh (7 Occurrences)
... 1. (vt) To beat out grain from, as straw or husks; to beat the straw or husk of
(grain) with a flail; to beat off, as the kernels of grain; as, to thrash wheat ...
/t/thresh.htm - 9k

Bricks (10 Occurrences)
... Exodus 5:7 Ye do not add to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks,
as heretofore -- they go and have gathered straw for themselves; (YLT RSV NIV ...
/b/bricks.htm - 10k

Quota (5 Occurrences)
... NIV). Exodus 5:13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work
quota daily, as when there was straw!" (WEB NAS). Exodus ...
/q/quota.htm - 8k

Litter (1 Occurrence)
... it. 2. (n.) Straw, hay, etc., scattered on a floor, as bedding for animals
to rest on; also, a covering of straw for plants. 3. (n ...
/l/litter.htm - 9k

Bible Concordance

Straw (21 Occurrences)

1 Corinthians 3:12 And whether the building which any one is erecting on that foundation be of gold or silver or costly stones, of timber or hay or straw--
(WEY DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 24:25 She said moreover to him, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 24:32 The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 5:7 "You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 5:10 The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, "This is what Pharaoh says:'I will not give you straw.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 5:11 Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 5:12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 5:13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 5:16 No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us,'Make brick!' and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 5:18 Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 19:19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our donkeys; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servants: there is no want of anything."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 4:28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they to the place where the officers were, every man according to his duty.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 21:18 They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,
(YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 41:27 He counts iron as straw; and brass as rotten wood.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 41:29 Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 11:7 The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 25:10 For in this mountain the hand of Yahweh will rest. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 33:11 Your designs will be without profit, and their effect will be nothing: you will be burned up by the fire of my breath.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain," says Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 13:24 Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passes away, by the wind of the wilderness.
(See NAS)

Jeremiah 23:28 The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat? says Yahweh.
(WEB JPS ASV YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Straw

Straw used for Brick

Straw used for Fodder

Related Terms

Chaff (24 Occurrences)

Stubble (18 Occurrences)

Brick (10 Occurrences)

Provender (10 Occurrences)

Fodder (9 Occurrences)

Thresh (7 Occurrences)

Bricks (10 Occurrences)