Lexical Summary mader: Pasture, meadow Original Word: מַעְדִּר Strong's Exhaustive Concordance mattock From adar; a (weeding) hoe -- mattock. see HEBREW adar NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom adar Definition a hoe NASB Translation hoe (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs מַעְדֵּר noun [masculine] hoe Isaiah 7:25, see foregoing. מָרֵא noun masculine lord (ᵑ7 מָר, with מָרֵי; Syriac Topical Lexicon Agricultural Setting in Ancient Israel The hoe or weed-hook designated by מַעְדִּר belonged to the basic toolkit of every Israelite farmer. Light enough to be swung repeatedly yet sharp enough to break hardened soil, it was indispensable for clearing weeds, aerating earth around vines and olive trees, and carving irrigation furrows on terraced hillsides. The appearance of this implement in prophetic speech assumes the hearer’s familiarity with the rhythms of sowing, pruning, and harvesting that sustained village life from Dan to Beersheba. Single Scriptural Occurrence: Isaiah 7:25 In Isaiah’s oracle to the house of David, the hoe becomes a silent witness to judgment: “As for all the hills once cultivated with the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of briers and thorns; they will become places for cattle to graze and sheep to trample.” (Isaiah 7:25) The verse concludes a series of warnings (Isaiah 7:17-25) announcing that foreign invasion will reverse the hard-won gains of husbandry. Ground that once yielded produce through diligent labor will revert to wilderness. The prophetic logic is stark: covenant infidelity breeds national desolation (compare Leviticus 26:31-35). Prophetic Imagery of Briers and Thorns The coupling of the hoe with “briers and thorns” evokes Eden’s curse where the ground brings forth “thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3:17-18). Isaiah later applies the same imagery to Judah’s moral decay (Isaiah 5:6; 32:13). Where righteousness should flourish, negligence invites chaos. The abandoned hoe lying idle pictures a people who have ceased to “break up your fallow ground” (Hosea 10:12) and to seek the LORD. Theological Themes 1. Divine Retribution and Mercy: The withholding of cultivated land signals divine displeasure; yet the temporary nature of the devastation leaves room for future restoration (Isaiah 37:30-32; 62:4). New Testament Resonances Though the term itself does not recur, its motif survives. Jesus’ parable of the soils (Matthew 13:3-23) presumes cultivation; Paul speaks of “planting” and “watering” in the field of God (1 Corinthians 3:6-9). The diligence once symbolized by the hoe now describes gospel labor that prepares hearts for the seed of the word. Pastoral and Ministry Applications • Spiritual Cultivation: Leaders are called to keep their congregations free of “root of bitterness” (Hebrews 12:15), wielding the equivalent of a spiritual hoe through teaching and discipline. Christological and Eschatological Outlook The first advent of Christ did not immediately reverse all agricultural curses, yet His resurrection inaugurates the restoration of creation. Isaiah’s later vision of a renewed earth—“Your land will no longer be called Desolate” (Isaiah 62:4)—anticipates the day when “the ground shall yield its increase” without threat of thorn (Psalm 67:6; Revelation 22:3). Until that consummation, the presence or absence of the hoe continues to signal whether hearts and lands are being tended under the reign of the true Davidic King. Forms and Transliterations בַּמַּעְדֵּר֙ במעדר bam·ma‘·dêr bamma‘dêr bammaDerLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Isaiah 7:25 HEB: הֶהָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר בַּמַּעְדֵּר֙ יֵעָ֣דֵר֔וּן לֹֽא־ NAS: used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go KJV: that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither INT: the hills which the hoe to be cultivated you will not 1 Occurrence |