שָׂדֶה318 H7704b
Field, cultivated land; also open country or wild terrain as opposed to settled, worked agricultural plots.
The basic word for a plot of agricultural land in the Hebrew Bible, sadeh appears from the very beginning of the story — God had not yet caused rain on 'the field' (Gen 2:5). It covers everything from Boaz's barley field in Ruth to the field Jeremiah purchases as a sign of hope (Jer 32). In construct with place names it designates a broader region: 'the field of Moab,' 'the field of Zoan' (Ps 78:12). An interesting edge case appears in 2 Kings 4:39 where 'field' modifies wild plants — gourds gathered from the sadeh — hinting at uncultivated open country. Spanish campo and French champ preserve exactly this same ambiguity between 'field' and 'countryside.'
Senses
1. cultivated field, plot of land — Cultivated field, owned plot of agricultural land (316x) — the overwhelmingly dominant sense. Covers fields that are plowed, sown, harvested, bought, sold, and inherited. Includes construct forms (sedeh-Moab 'the territory of Moab,' Ruth 1:1) and all inflections with prepositions and suffixes. Genesis 23:17 records Abraham's purchase of the field of Machpelah; Leviticus 25:3 legislates sabbatical rest for 'your field.' German das Feld, French le champ, and Arabic haql all map to this primary agricultural sense. 316×
AR["الْحَقْلَ", "الْحَقْلُ", "الْحَقْلِ"]·ben["-মাঠ", "-মাঠের", "ক্ষেত", "ক্ষেতের", "ক্ষেত্র", "ক্ষেত্রের", "মাঠ"]·DE["das-Feld", "dem-Feld", "des-Feldes"]·EN["the-field"]·FR["le-champ"]·heb["ה-שדה"]·HI["उस-मैदान-का", "उस-मैदान-के", "खेत", "खेत-की", "खेत-के", "मैदान", "मैदान-का"]·ID["-ladang", "ladang", "ladang-", "padang"]·IT["il-campo"]·jav["ara-ara", "ing-ara-ara", "palemahan", "sabin", "siti", "tegal", "tegal-punika"]·KO["그-들", "그-들-의", "그-밤을", "그-밤의", "그-밭과", "그-밭은", "그-밭을", "그-밭의", "그-밭이", "들에서", "들의"]·PT["O-campo", "do-campo", "o-campo"]·RU["-поле", "-поля", "поле", "поля"]·ES["el-campo"]·SW["Shamba", "ardhi", "asher", "shamba", "shamba-", "shamba-la", "shambani", "shambani-wangu", "wakasikia", "ya-shambani"]·TR["-kırdan", "-kırın", "-tarla", "-tarladan", "-tarlanın", "-tarlasyı", "-tarlayı", "alanı", "ve-o"]·urd["-میدان", "میدان", "میدان-کی", "میدان-کے", "کھیت", "کھیت-کی", "کھیت-کے"]
2. open country, plain — Open country or a named plain (3x), used geographically to denote a broad, uncultivated expanse rather than a bounded agricultural plot. Psalm 78:12 and 78:43 reference 'the field of Zoan' — the region around the Egyptian city — while Hosea 12:12 mentions Jacob fleeing to 'the field of Aram.' Here sadeh functions almost as a toponym element. Arabic sahl ('plain, flat terrain') captures this open-country nuance more precisely than haql ('cultivated field'), confirming a genuine semantic distinction. 3×
AR["حَقلَ", "سَهْلِ-", "فِي-سَهْلِ-"]·ben["মাঠে", "মাঠে-"]·DE["Feld", "der-Feld-von", "in-der-Feld-von"]·EN["field-of", "in-the-field-of", "the-field-of"]·FR["champ", "dans-champ"]·heb["ב-שדה-", "שדה", "שדה-"]·HI["मैदान", "मैदान-में-"]·ID["di-padang-", "padang-"]·IT["campo"]·jav["dataran-", "ing-dataran-", "tegal"]·KO["~의-들-에서", "들-의", "들에"]·PT["campo-de", "no-campo"]·RU["на-поле", "поле"]·ES["al-campo-de", "campo-de-", "en-campo-de-"]·SW["katika-uwanda-wa", "nchi-ya", "uwanda-wa"]·TR["kırına", "ovası", "ovasında"]·urd["بِ-میدان", "میدان", "میدان-میں"]
3. sense 3 — Wild or uncultivated terrain (2x), both in 2 Kings 4:39 where someone goes out into 'the field' (ha-sadeh) to gather wild gourds and finds a 'wild vine' (gefen sadeh). The Spanish rendering silvestre ('wild, sylvan') and the doubled occurrence in a single verse highlight that this is not farmland but untamed ground where wild plants grow. This sense bridges the gap between cultivated field and open wilderness, designating land that is simply 'out there' beyond the settlement. 2×
AR["بَرِّيًّا", "بَرِّيَّةً"]·ben["বুনোর"]·DE["der-Feld"]·EN["the-field"]·FR["le-champ"]·heb["שדה"]·HI["जंगली", "जंगली-के"]·ID["liar"]·IT["il-campo"]·jav["ara-ara"]·KO["들-의"]·PT["campo"]·RU["полевую", "полевые"]·ES["silvestre", "silvestres"]·SW["porini", "ya-porini"]·TR["tarla"]·urd["جنگلی"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
שָׂדֶה318 n.m. Lv 27:24 id. (ordinary contr. form Ges§ 84 a f);—abs. שׂ׳ Gn 2:5(×2) +; cstr. שְׂדֵה 14:7 +; sf. שָׂדִי Je 32:7, 8, שָֽׂדְךָ Dt 11:15 +, שָׂדֶ֑ךָ 24:19 Lv 25:3, etc.; pl. שָׂדוֹת 1 S 22:7 +, cstr. שְׂדוֹת Ne 12:29; also שְׂדֵי 2 S 1:21; Is 32:12; Ru 1:1 + 8 times (some might be sg. = שְׂדֵה cf. BaZMG xiii (1888), 351 SS Buhl; note, e.g. שְׂדֵי Ru 1:6a, = שְׂדֵה v b; 4:3; but v.…