H8401 H8401
straw, chaff — threshed grain stalks used as animal fodder, building material, or a figure of worthlessness
Teben refers to the dried, chopped stalks left after grain has been threshed — the straw that served ancient Israel as animal feed and as a critical binding agent in mud-brick manufacture. The Exodus narratives (5:7-18) powerfully illustrate its importance: Pharaoh's demand that the Israelites gather their own straw while maintaining their brick quota becomes an emblem of oppressive labor. Elsewhere teben feeds camels (Gen 24:25), donkeys (Judg 19:19), and cattle (Isa 11:7). Prophetically, it becomes a metaphor for insubstantiality — Jeremiah contrasts it with grain (23:28) and Job likens the wicked to straw blown by the wind (21:18). Spanish 'paja,' French cognates, and German 'Stroh' all converge on this single agricultural sense.
Senses
1. straw, chaff — Chopped or threshed grain stalks used for three distinct purposes in the biblical world: as fodder for livestock (Gen 24:25, 32; Judg 19:19; 1 Kgs 5:8; Isa 11:7; 65:25), as a binding agent mixed with clay in brick-making (Exod 5:7-18), and as a prophetic metaphor for worthlessness or transience (Jer 23:28 contrasting straw with grain; Job 21:18 comparing the wicked to wind-blown straw; Job 41:19). Cognate with Assyrian tibnu and Aramaic tibna, confirming a pan-Semitic agricultural term. 17×
AR["التِّبْنُ", "تِبْنًا", "تِبْنٌ", "كَ-تِبْنٍ", "لِلتَّبْنِ", "لِلتِّبْنِ", "وَ-التِّبْنُ", "وَتِبْنٌ"]·ben["-খড়-হিসেবে", "-তুষের-সাথে", "ও-খড়", "খড়", "খড়ের-জন্য", "খড়ের-মতো"]·DE["Stroh", "[כתבן]", "[לתבן]", "[תבן]", "der-Stroh", "fuer-der-Stroh", "straw", "und-Stroh", "und-der-straw"]·EN["and-straw", "and-the-straw", "as-straw", "for-the-straw", "like-straw", "straw", "the-straw", "to-the-straw"]·FR["[לתבן]", "[תבן]", "comme-כתבן", "et-le-straw", "et-paille", "le-paille", "paille", "pour-le-paille", "à-לתבן"]·heb["ה-תבן", "ו-ה-תבן", "ו-תבן", "כ-תבן", "ל-תבן", "תבן"]·HI["और-भूसा", "तिनके-की-तरह", "भूसē-के-लिये", "भूसा", "भूसे-की-तरह", "भूसे-को"]·ID["Jerami", "dan-jerami", "jerami", "sebagai-jerami", "seperti-jerami", "untuk-jerami"]·IT["[לתבן]", "[תבן]", "come-like-straw", "e-il-straw", "e-paglia", "il-paglia", "paglia", "per-as-straw", "per-il-paglia", "straw"]·jav["Dami", "dados-dami", "dami", "jerami", "kados-dami", "kangge-dami", "lan-dami", "lan-suket"]·KO["그-짚이", "그리고-짚은", "그리고-짚을", "에게-짚이", "짚", "짚-같이", "짚-으로", "짚과", "짚도", "짚으로", "짚을", "짚이"]·PT["Palha", "a-palha", "como-palha", "e-a-palha", "e-palha", "palha", "para-a-palha"]·RU["Солома", "а-солома", "для-соломы", "за-солому", "и-солому", "как-солома", "солома", "соломе", "солому", "соломы"]·ES["a-la-paja", "como-paja", "la-paja", "paja", "para-la-paja", "y-la-paja", "y-paja"]·SW["badala-ya-majani", "kama-majani", "kwa-majani", "majani", "na-majani", "na-nyasi", "nyasi"]·TR["Saman", "saman", "saman-gibi", "saman-için", "saman-olarak", "samana", "samanın", "ve-saman"]·urd["اور-بھوسا", "بھوسا", "بھوسے-جیسا", "بھوسے-کو", "بھوسے-کی-طرح", "کو-بھوسے"]
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×)H2406 1. wheat (grain crop) (30×)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×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† תֶּ֫בֶן n.m. Ex 5:16 straw (√ unknown; Ges al. cp. בנה (cf. Thes 1492), but v. LagBN 138; NH = BH; Assyrian tibnu; Aramaic תִּיבְנָא, ܬܶܒܢܳܐ, whence Arabic تِبْنٌ as loan-wd. Frä124);—abs. ת׳ Gn 24:25 +, תֶּ֑בֶן Ex 5:10 +;—straw, i.e. straw threshed fine: chaff Je 23:28 (opp. בָּר), blown by wind Jb 21:18 (in sim.; ‖ מֹץ), yielding 41:19 (sim.); food for camels Gn 24:25, 32 (J), asses Ju 19:19…