SUBJECT · Complete Bible Study

Barren

For a woman to be barren was accounted a severe punishment among the Jews (Gen. 16:2; This unified study connects 5 installed resource categories without replacing their source records.

View overview sources
  • Historical Reference: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
  • Historical Reference: concordance
  • Historical Reference: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible lexical data / BDB-Strong mapping
  • Historical Reference: STEPBible TBESG (based primarily on Abbott-Smith)
  • Historical Reference: Installed reference work

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Study overview

Study at a glance

Subject type
Subject
Strong’s
H6135, G4723, G6122, H6723, H7909, H7921, G0692, H1565
Hebrew
עָקָר · ʻâqâr
Greek
στεῖρα · steira

Strong’s and original-language information

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

στεῖρα

G4723
Transliteration
steira
Language
Greek
Part of speech
G:N-F
Indexed occurrences
5

Glosses

barren

Lexicon definition

στεῖρος, -ον also -α, -ον, [in LXX for עָקָר ;] barren: of a woman, Luk.1:7, 36 23:29, Gal.4:27" (LXX) .† (AS)

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

ἄγονος

G6122
Transliteration
agonos
Part of speech
G:N-M
Indexed occurrences
0

Glosses

barren

Lexicon definition

1. passive unborn , (Iliad by Homer): not yet born , (Euripides) 2. active not producing, unfruitful, barren ; τόκοισιν ἀγόνοις travail without issue, bringing no children to the birth , (Sophocles Tragicus), etc. 3. with genitive not productive of, barren in a thing, (Plato Philosophus) 4. childless , (Euripides) (ML)

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

צִיָּה

H6723
Transliteration
tsîyâh
Pronunciation
tsee-yaw'
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
16

Glosses

barren, drought, dry (land, place), solitary place, wilderness.

Lexicon definition

aridity

concretely, a desert

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

שַׁכּוּל

H7909
Transliteration
shakkûwl
Pronunciation
shak-kool'
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
7

Glosses

barren, bereaved (robbed) of children (whelps).

Lexicon definition

bereaved

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

שָׁכֹל

H7921
Transliteration
shâkôl
Pronunciation
shaw-kole'
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
24

Glosses

bereave (of children), barren, cast calf (fruit, young), be (make) childless, deprive, destroy, [idiom] expect, lose children, miscarry, rob of children, spoil.

Lexicon definition

properly, to miscarry, i.e. suffer abortion

by analogy, to bereave (literally or figuratively)

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

ἀργός

G0692
Transliteration
argós
Language
Greek
Indexed occurrences
8

Glosses

barren, idle, slow

Lexicon definition

inactive, i.e. unemployed

(by implication) lazy, useless

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

עָקָר

H6135
Transliteration
ʻâqâr
Pronunciation
aw-kawr'
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
12

Glosses

([idiom] male or female) barren (woman).

Lexicon definition

sterile (as if extirpated in the generative organs)

Complete dictionary entries

Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

Barren

For a woman to be barren was accounted a severe punishment among the Jews (Gen. 16:2; 30:1-23; 1 Sam. 1:6, 27; Isa. 47:9; 49:21; Luke 1:25). Instances of barrenness are noticed (Gen. 11:30; 25:21; 29:31; Judg. 13:2, 3; Luke 1:7, 36).

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) · View data sources

Concordance

Strong's Concordance

Barren

Indexed occurrences: 33

Source: Strong's Concordance · View data sources

All Scripture references40 references

Sources

Related UNLEARN Content5 items

Dictionary

Barren

For a woman to be barren was accounted a severe punishment among the Jews (Gen. 16:2; 30:1-23; 1 Sam. 1:6, 27; Isa. 47:9; 49:21; Luke 1:25). Instances of barrenness are noticed (Gen. 11:30; 25:21; 29:31; Judg. 13:2, 3; Luke 1:7, 36).

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Dictionary

Eker

barren, feeble

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Dictionary

Leaf

Of a tree. The olive-leaf mentioned Gen. 8:11. The barren fig-tree had nothing but leaves (Matt. 21:19; Mark 11:13). The oak-leaf is mentioned Isa. 1:30; 6:13. There are numerous allusions to leaves, their flourishing, their decay, and their restoration (Lev. 26:36; Isa. 34:4; Jer. 8:13; Dan. 4:12, 14, 21; Mark 11:13; 13:28). The fresh leaf is a symbol of prosperity (Ps. 1:3; Jer. 17:8; Ezek. 47:12); the faded, of decay (Job 13:25; Isa. 1:30; 64:6; Jer. 8:13). Leaf of a door (1 Kings 6:34), the valve of a folding door. Leaf of a book (Jer. 36:23), perhaps a fold of a roll.

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Dictionary

Phrygia

dry; barren

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Dictionary

Wilderness

(1.) Heb. midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle (Ps. 65:12; Isa. 42:11; Jer. 23:10; Joel 1:19; 2:22); an uncultivated place. This word is used of the wilderness of Beersheba (Gen. 21:14), on the southern border of Palestine; the wilderness of the Red Sea (Ex. 13:18); of Shur (15:22), a portion of the Sinaitic peninsula; of Sin (17:1), Sinai (Lev. 7:38), Moab (Deut. 2:8), Judah (Judg. 1:16), Ziph, Maon, En-gedi (1 Sam. 23:14, 24; 24:1), Jeruel and Tekoa (2 Chr. 20:16, 20), Kadesh (Ps. 29:8). "The wilderness of the sea" (Isa. 21:1). Principal Douglas, referring to this expression, says: "A mysterious name, which must be meant to describe Babylon (see especially ver. 9), perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been (comp. Ezek. 20:35). Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title in Isa. 22:1. Jerusalem is the "valley of vision," rich in spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea (comp. 57:20)." A Short Analysis of the O.T. (2.) Jeshimon, a desert waste (Deut. 32:10; Ps. 68:7). (3.) Arabah, the name given to the valley from the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. In Deut. 1:1; 2:8, it is rendered "plain" (R.V., "Arabah"). (4.) Tziyyah, a "dry place" (Ps. 78:17; 105:41). (5.) Tohu, a "desolate" place, a place "waste" or "unoccupied" (Deut. 32:10; Job 12:24; comp. Gen. 1:2, "without form"). The wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for forty years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled "the wilderness of the wanderings." This entire region is in the form of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex toward the south. Its extent from north to south is about 250 miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad. Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is not a single river. The northern part of this triangular peninsula is properly the "wilderness of the wanderings" (et-Tih). The western portion of it is called the "wilderness of Shur" (Ex. 15:22), and the eastern the "wilderness of Paran." The "wilderness of Judea" (Matt. 3:1) is a wild, barren region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. It is the "Jeshimon" mentioned in 1 Sam. 23:19.

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