1430. gadiysh

Lexical Summary

gadiysh: Heap, stack, pile

Original Word: גָּדִישׁ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: gadiysh
Pronunciation: gah-DEESH
Phonetic Spelling: (gaw-deesh')
KJV: shock (stack) (of corn), tomb
Word Origin: [from an unused root (meaning to heap up)]

1. a stack of sheaves
2. by analogy, a tomb

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

shock stack of corn, tomb

From an unused root (meaning to heap up); a stack of sheaves; by analogy, a tomb -- shock (stack) (of corn), tomb.

Brown-Driver-Briggs

I. גָּדִישׁ noun masculine^{Job 5:26} heap, stack (Late Hebrew id., Aramaic id.) — גָּדִישׁ Exodus 22:5 3t.; — stack of sheaves Exodus 22:5; Judges 15:5 ("" קָמָה in both) Job 5:26.

II. גּדשׁ (= *; exact meaning unknown).

II. גָּדִישׁ noun [masculine] tomb (Arabic id.) Job 21:32; Dr^{§ 178, ed. 3, p. 229} suggests reading גֶּדֶשׁ.

Topical Lexicon

Meaning and Imagery

גָּדִישׁ depicts a heap or stack of cut grain left in the field to dry; by extension it can describe any mound, including a funerary barrow. The word therefore carries both the bustle of harvest life and the stillness of burial, linking daily labor with ultimate destiny.

Occurrences in Scripture

• Exodus 22:6 safeguards the gadish: “If a fire breaks out and spreads into thorn bushes so that it consumes stacked grain or standing grain or the entire field, the one who started the fire must surely make restitution.”
• Judges 15:5 describes Samson’s incendiary judgment: “Then he lit the torches, released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up the shocks and standing grain, along with the vineyards and olive groves.”
• Job 5:26 promises a peaceful close of life: “You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.”
• Job 21:32 soberly notes the wicked’s burial: “Yet he is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.”

Agricultural Context

Harvesting in ancient Israel involved cutting grain, binding it into sheaves, and stacking those sheaves into gadish for drying before threshing. These heaps stood exposed in open fields, making them vulnerable to theft, fire, or enemy sabotage, and so became natural symbols of both abundance and fragility. The law’s protection of stacked grain reflects how the covenant community guarded the fruit of honest labor.

Legal and Ethical Significance (Exodus 22:6)

By requiring full restitution for damage to a gadish, the Mosaic law reinforces personal accountability, neighborly love, and the sanctity of another’s livelihood. The principle extends beyond agriculture: whenever our actions—intentional or careless—harm another’s provision, God’s justice demands we make things whole.

Instrument of Judgment (Judges 15:5)

Samson’s burning of Philistine shocks shows gadish as strategic infrastructure. Destroying it crippled an oppressor’s economy without direct bloodshed, illustrating how God may employ unconventional means to humble hostile powers and deliver His people.

Metaphor for Life’s Completion (Job 5:26)

A well-gathered gadish pictures ripeness and right timing. The verse casts death not as a calamity but as harvest: life bundled, matured, and received into God’s granary. This image fosters hope that the faithful will finish their course with spiritual fullness and dignity.

Symbol of Earthly Finality (Job 21:32)

Conversely, Job 21:32 refers to the burial mound of the prosperous wicked. Their impressive gadish-like tombs cannot shield them from divine reckoning. The word therefore warns against equating material success with lasting security.

Theological Threads

1. Stewardship: Grain is God’s provision; safeguarding the gadish honors the Giver.
2. Justice: Restitution laws apply God’s holiness to social relationships.
3. Deliverance: God may overturn oppression by touching economic nerve centers—He knows where the shocks are stacked.
4. Mortality: Whether righteous (Job 5) or wicked (Job 21), every life ends in a “heap.” The question is not if we will be gathered, but how we have grown.

Ministry Applications

• Teach stewardship by connecting workplace diligence with the care of ancient grain heaps.
• Use the gadish as a sermon illustration of spiritual harvest: believers should mature until God gathers them “in season.”
• Counsel mourners with Job 5:26, pointing to the promise of a full-vigor departure.
• Challenge complacency with Job 21:32, reminding hearers that impressive monuments cannot replace repentance.

Gadish, humble mound of cut grain, reminds the Church that every field—material or spiritual—belongs to the Lord of the harvest, who watches both our labors and our legacy.

Forms and Transliterations

גָּדִ֔ישׁ גָּדִ֣ישׁ גָּדִ֥ישׁ גדיש מִגָּדִ֥ישׁ מגדיש gā·ḏîš gāḏîš gaDish mig·gā·ḏîš miggāḏîš miggaDish

Englishman's Concordance

Exodus 22:6
HEB: קֹצִים֙ וְנֶאֱכַ֣ל גָּדִ֔ישׁ א֥וֹ הַקָּמָ֖ה
NAS: to thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or
KJV: in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn,
INT: to thorn is consumed stacked or the standing

Judges 15:5
HEB: פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים וַיַּבְעֵ֛ר מִגָּדִ֥ישׁ וְעַד־ קָמָ֖ה
NAS: up both the shocks and the standing grain,
KJV: and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn,
INT: of the Philistines burning the shocks along grain

Job 5:26
HEB: קָ֑בֶר כַּעֲל֖וֹת גָּדִ֣ישׁ בְּעִתּֽוֹ׃
NAS: Like the stacking of grain in its season.
KJV: in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in
INT: the grave the stacking of grain season

Job 21:32
HEB: יוּבָ֑ל וְֽעַל־ גָּדִ֥ישׁ יִשְׁקֽוֹד׃
NAS: [Men] will keep watch over [his] tomb.
KJV: and shall remain in the tomb.
INT: is carried over tomb will keep

4 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1430
4 Occurrences

gā·ḏîš — 3 Occ.
mig·gā·ḏîš — 1 Occ.