H2406 H2406
wheat — the staple cereal grain of ancient Israel, cultivated as a primary food crop and trade commodity
Chittah is the standard Hebrew word for wheat, appearing 30 times across both poetic and narrative texts as one of the defining crops of the Promised Land. It is listed among the seven species that mark Canaan's abundance (Deut 8:8), and the wheat harvest (qetsir chittim) serves as a seasonal marker throughout the historical books (Gen 30:14; Judg 15:1; Ruth 2:23). Moses' poetic blessing calls the finest wheat 'kidney-fat of wheat' (chelev kilyyot chittah, Deut 32:14), an image reprised in Psalm 81:17 and 147:14 to describe divine provision. Ezekiel names wheat among the ingredients of siege bread (Ezek 4:9) and among Judah's exports to Tyre (Ezek 27:17). Every target language renders it with its standard cereal term — Spanish 'trigo,' French 'ble,' German 'Weizen' — confirming a single, stable agricultural sense.
Senses
1. wheat (grain crop) — Wheat as a cultivated cereal grain and staple food, one of the seven species defining the land's fertility (Deut 8:8). Appears in harvest-calendar formulas (Gen 30:14; Exod 34:22; Ruth 2:23), as a metaphor for divine bounty — 'the fat of wheat' (Deut 32:14; Ps 81:17) — and as a trade commodity exported to Tyre (Ezek 27:17). Multilingual glosses converge uniformly: Spanish 'trigo,' French 'ble,' German 'Weizen.' 30×
AR["الحِنْطَةِ", "الـ-حِنْطَةِ", "القَمحِ", "الْحِنْطَةِ", "الْقَمْحَ", "الْقَمْحِ", "حِنطَةٍ", "حِنْطَةٍ", "قَمْحاً", "قَمْحًا", "قَمْحٌ"]·ben["গম", "গমের"]·DE["[החטים]", "[חטה]", "[חטים]", "[חטין]", "des-Weizens", "wheat"]·EN["the-wheat", "wheat"]·FR["[החטים]", "[חטה]", "[חטים]", "[חטין]", "blé", "froment", "wheat"]·heb["ה-חיטה", "חיטה", "חיטים", "חיטין"]·HI["गेहूँ", "गेहूँ-की", "गेहूँ-की-जगह", "गेहूँ-के", "गेहूं", "गेहूं-की"]·ID["gandum", "gandum-"]·IT["[חטה]", "[חטים]", "[חטין]", "frumento", "grano", "wheat"]·jav["gandum", "gandum,"]·KO["그-밀들", "밀", "밀과", "밀들", "밀을", "밀의"]·PT["do-trigo", "o-trigo", "trigo", "trigos"]·RU["пшеница", "пшенице", "пшеницу", "пшеницы", "пшеничная"]·ES["el-trigo", "trigo", "trigos"]·SW["ngano", "ngano-zilizopigwa", "wa-ngano", "ya-ngano", "za-ngano"]·TR["bugdayi", "buğday", "buğdayların", "buğdayı", "buğdayın"]·urd["گندم", "گندم-کی", "گیہوں", "گیہوں کے", "گیہوں-کا", "گیہوں-کی", "گیہوں-کے"]
Gen 30:14, Exod 9:32, Exod 29:2, Exod 34:22, Deut 8:8, Deut 32:14, Judg 6:11, Judg 15:1, Ruth 2:23, 1 Sam 6:13, 1 Sam 12:17, 2 Sam 4:6 (+18 more)
Related Senses
H3754 1. vineyard, cultivated grape plot (92×)H0730 1. cedar tree or wood (73×)H1612 1. vine, grapevine (55×)H3293a 1. forest, wood, thicket (55×)H5560 1. fine flour (53×)H5193 1. plant vegetation (48×)H2232 1. sow seed, plant crops (41×)H1715 1. grain, cereal crop (40×)H7114b 1. reap, harvest grain (36×)H2132 1. olive tree (34×)H8184 1. barley (34×)H7070 1. reed, cane (plant) (30×)H7848 1. acacia (28×)H8328 1. root of a plant (28×)H8384 1. fig tree (25×)H5488 1. reeds, rushes (in 'Sea of Reeds') (24×)G0290 1. a vineyard (23×)G2325 1. reap, harvest a crop (21×)G4687 1. sow seed, plant (21×)G0837 1. grow, increase (intransitive) (20×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† חִטָּה n.f. wheat (NH id., Aramaic חִנְטִין, חִיטְּתָא, ܚܶܛܬܳܐ; Arabic حِنْطَةٌ );—abs. ח׳ Ex 9:32 + 6 times; pl. חִטִּים Gn 30:14 + 20 times; חִטִּין Ez 4:9; cstr. חִטֵּי Ez 27:17;—wheat, sg. chiefly poet., of growing wheat Ex 9:32 (E), Dt 8:8 Jb 31:40; Jo 1:11; sown Is 28:25; food-product Dt 32:14 (חֵלֶב כִּלְיוֹת ח׳ kidney-fat of wheat, i.e. the choicest, v. חֵלֶב) חֵלֶב ח׳ ψ 81:17 (cf.…