Original Word: חֲרָבוֹן
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: charabown
Pronunciation: kheh-rah-bone'
Phonetic Spelling: (khar-aw-bone')
KJV: drought
NASB: fever heat
Word Origin: [from H2717 (חָרַב חָרֵב - To be dry)]

1. parching heat

drought

From charab; parching heat -- drought.

see HEBREW charab

Word Origin
from chareb
Definition
drought
NASB Translation
fever heat (1).

[חֵרָבוֺן] noun masculine drought, only plural construct בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַ֫יִץ Psalm 32:4 metaphor of fever heat.

Biblical Setting

The noun חֲרָבוֹן appears once, in Psalm 32:4, within David’s testimony of the misery that accompanies concealed sin: “For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah” (Berean Standard Bible). In the agrarian world of ancient Israel, the “heat of summer” captured the draining, withering power of months without rain. The single occurrence sets the term firmly in the realm of parched desolation—a physical image chosen by the Holy Spirit to portray the spiritual drought that overtakes the unrepentant heart.

Theological Themes

1. Divine Pressure and Conviction

David attributes his desiccated vitality not merely to psychological guilt but to the heavy hand of the Lord. חֲרָבוֹן thus becomes an emblem of divine chastening. God’s covenant love refuses to allow His people to thrive while harboring sin (see also Hebrews 12:6).

2. Sin, Silence, and Drought

The psalm’s movement from drought to refreshment (Psalm 32:5 – 7) parallels the covenant pattern in Deuteronomy 28:15 – 24, where drought is listed among the consequences of disobedience. חֲרָבוֹן echoes that warning, underscoring the internal barrenness produced when confession is withheld.

3. Restoration and Refreshing

Once David confesses, the oppressive dryness is replaced by “songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7). The contrast invites comparison with passages where God promises water to the thirsty (Isaiah 44:3; John 7:37 – 38). The single word therefore participates in the larger redemptive motif: drought for rebellion, living water for repentance and faith.

Historical and Cultural Background

• Mediterranean Climate: Israel’s hot, rainless summers were a yearly trial. Crops and cisterns depended on spring rains; by mid-summer, the ground cracked and vegetation browned. The psalm’s audience would instantly feel the metaphor’s force.
• Agricultural Dependency: A parched season imperiled the nation’s economy and survival, reinforcing the seriousness of sin-induced droughts such as those during Elijah’s day (1 Kings 17 – 18).
• Liturgical Use: Psalm 32 is a Maskil, intended for instruction. Its vivid language, including חֲרָבוֹן, functioned catechetically—engraving the spiritual hazard of unconfessed sin upon communal memory.

Ministry Implications

• Preaching and Teaching: The term invites pastors to connect tangible experience (exhaustion under relentless heat) with the invisible weight of unrepentant sin, driving listeners to the gospel’s promise of refreshing.
• Counseling: Believers describing spiritual fatigue can be directed to Psalm 32. Like David, they may discover that the dryness signals God’s loving pursuit rather than His abandonment.
• Worship and Liturgy: Incorporating Psalm 32 into corporate confession helps congregations feel the seriousness of sin yet rejoice in immediate restoration.

Intertextual Echoes

While חֲרָבוֹן itself is unique to Psalm 32:4, the concept resonates with:
• Job 30:30—“My bones are scorched with heat.”
• Jeremiah 31:25—“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
• Matthew 11:28—“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

These parallels affirm the consistent biblical pattern: without repentance, human vitality withers; with confession and faith, God supplies reviving grace.

Summary

חֲרָבוֹן captures the oppressive heat of an Israeli summer to illustrate the inner desiccation produced by unconfessed sin. Its single appearance anchors a rich theological message: God’s heavy hand may parch the soul, yet that very pressure is meant to drive sinners to the fountain of mercy, where drought gives way to abundant life.

בְּחַרְבֹ֖נֵי בחרבני bə·ḥar·ḇō·nê becharVonei bəḥarḇōnêInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts