Original Word: יֵרָקוֹן
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: yeraqown
Pronunciation: yay-rah-KONE
Phonetic Spelling: (yay-raw-kone')
KJV: greenish, yellow
NASB: mildew, pale
Word Origin: [from H3418 (יֶרֶק - green)]

1. paleness, whether of persons (from fright), or of plants (from drought)

greenish, yellow

From yereq; paleness, whether of persons (from fright), or of plants (from drought) -- greenish, yellow.

see HEBREW yereq

Word Origin
from the same as yereq
Definition
mildew, paleness, lividness
NASB Translation
mildew (5), pale (1).

יֵרָקוֺן noun masculine mildew, paleness, lividnees;

1 mildew Amos 4:9; Deuteronomy 28:22; 1 Kings 8:37; Haggai 2:27; 2Chronicles 6:28 (all "" שִׁדָּפוֺן).

2 paleness (of face) Jeremiah 30:6.

Term and Range of Meaning

Yeraqon carries the idea of “greenishness” that manifests either in vegetation disease (blight or mildew) or in human complexion (paleness). In Scripture it is predominantly an agricultural scourge that attacks cereal crops; once (Jeremiah 30:6) it depicts the ashen color of terror-stricken faces.

Occurrences in Canonical Context

• Deuteronomy 28:22 introduces yeraqon in the covenant curses: “The LORD will strike you…with blight and mildew; they will pursue you until you perish.” Here it stands as a tangible reminder that agricultural prosperity is tethered to obedience.
• 1 Kings 8:37 and its parallel in 2 Chronicles 6:28 place the term in Solomon’s temple-dedication prayer, acknowledging that even covenant-discipline disasters can become occasions for repentant prayer toward the sanctuary.
• Jeremiah 30:6 pictures every face “turned pale,” transferring the vocabulary of crop failure to the physiological collapse of warriors at the day of the Lord.
• Amos 4:9 and Haggai 2:17 record the LORD’s use of blight and mildew as corrective judgments meant to draw the nation back to Himself—“yet you did not return to Me.”

Agricultural and Historical Background

Ancient Near-Eastern farmers dreaded fungal infestations that thrived in humid night air and destroyed the grain before harvest. Mosaic legislation had no agronomic solution for such outbreaks; the remedy was covenant fidelity. Archaeological evidence from Iron-Age silos shows charred layers of ruined grain—physical echoes of the textual witness.

Theological Significance

1. Covenant Accountability: Yeraqon appears only in contexts that tie natural calamity to moral cause (Deuteronomy 28; Amos 4; Haggai 2). The land itself becomes a barometer of Israel’s spiritual health.
2. Divine Sovereignty over Creation: The same LORD who promises rain in its season (Leviticus 26:4) can also summon mildew. Weather, pathogens, and harvest cycles remain under His immediate governance.
3. Call to Repentance: In every prophetic usage, mildew serves a pastoral purpose—“yet you did not return to Me.” The condition of fields is designed to move the condition of hearts.
4. Eschatological Foreshadowing: Jeremiah’s transfer of the term to human faces broadens the theme into a universal day of distress, prefiguring ultimate judgment and final restoration (Jeremiah 30:7, 17).

Intertextual Links

• Blight and mildew often occur with locusts and hail—agents of Exodus judgment—linking later covenant warnings to the paradigmatic redemption event.
• The pale complexion of Jeremiah 30:6 resonates with the “pale horse” of Revelation 6:8, where agricultural famine and human death converge in eschatological imagery.

Ministry and Pastoral Application

• Preaching: Yeraqon furnishes a concrete illustration that sin’s consequences are seldom confined to the private sphere; they seep into economics, ecology, and public health.
• Discipleship: The recurrent refrain “yet you did not return to Me” offers a template for self-examination—adversity is an invitation to repentance before it becomes a sentence of ruin.
• Prayer: Solomon’s model (1 Kings 8:37-40) legitimizes petition during ecological or economic crises, coupling confession with confidence that God “forgives and acts.”

Christological Reflection

Jesus confronts nature’s disorders—stilling storms, multiplying bread, healing bodies—showing Himself Lord over every form of yeraqon. At Calvary He bears the curse of the ground (Genesis 3:17) so that creation itself will be “liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). The mildew of judgment is ultimately answered in the firstfruits of resurrection.

Key Verses

Deuteronomy 28:22 – “The LORD will strike you with wasting disease…with blight and mildew; they will pursue you until you perish.”

1 Kings 8:37 – “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew…whatever plague or sickness may come.”

Haggai 2:17 – “I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

Summary

Yeraqon traces a thematic arc from the Law through the Prophets: covenant violation breeds agricultural failure; agricultural failure is a divine summons to repentance; repentance invites restoration. The word’s rare appearance sharpens its impact—each mention is a trumpet blast alerting God’s people to turn from sin to the life-giving Lord who alone can command both seedtime and harvest.

וְיֵרָק֜וֹן וּבַיֵּֽרָקוֹן֙ וּבַיֵּרָק֑וֹן וּבַיֵּרָקוֹן֒ ובירקון וירקון יֵרָק֜וֹן ירקון לְיֵרָקֽוֹן׃ לירקון׃ lə·yê·rā·qō·wn leyeraKon ləyêrāqōwn ū·ḇay·yê·rā·qō·wn ūḇayyêrāqōwn uvaiyeraKon veyeraKon wə·yê·rā·qō·wn wəyêrāqōwn yê·rā·qō·wn yeraKon yêrāqōwnInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts