What does דֶּבֶר (deber) mean in the Bible?
דֶּבֶר (deber): Divine instrument of judgment; sweeping mortality sent by God to punish covenant violation or idolatry
Hebrew · H1698
דֶּבֶר
A pestilence
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דֶּבֶר H1698
Pronunciation deber
What does דֶּבֶר (deber) mean in the Bible?
דֶּבֶר (deber): Divine instrument of judgment; sweeping mortality sent by God to punish covenant violation or idolatry
Full entry for דֶּבֶר (H1698) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1698?
The BSB source-word alignment has 49 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and plague (18), plague (11), a plague (6), by plague (2), with a plague (2).
Where does דֶּבֶר (deber) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 5:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (17), Ezekiel (12), 2 Chronicles (3), Exodus (3).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It and plague 18× Jeremiah 14:12, Jeremiah 21:9, Jeremiah 24:10, Jeremiah 27:8
plague 11× Exodus 9:3, 2 Samuel 24:13, 1 Kings 8:37, 2 Chronicles 6:28
a plague 6× Leviticus 26:25, 2 Samuel 24:15, 1 Chronicles 21:14, 2 Chronicles 7:13
by plague 2× Ezekiel 5:12, Ezekiel 33:27
with a plague 2× Exodus 9:15, Numbers 14:12
[nor] the pestilence 1× Psalms 91:6
are your plagues 1× Hosea 13:14
by the plague 1× Ezekiel 6:12
days of plague 1× 1 Chronicles 21:12
plagues 1× Amos 4:10
the plague 1× Jeremiah 21:7
to the plague 1× Psalms 78:50
will make the plague 1× Deuteronomy 28:21
with plague 1× Ezekiel 38:22
with plagues 1× Exodus 5:3
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 5:3 בַּדֶּ֖בֶר to with plagues Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 9:3 דֶּ֖בֶר to plague Noun - masculine singular Exodus 9:15 בַּדָּ֑בֶר to with a plague Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 26:25 דֶ֙בֶר֙ to a plague Noun - masculine singular Numbers 14:12 בַדֶּ֖בֶר to with a plague Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 28:21 הַדָּ֑בֶר to will make the plague Article | Noun - masculine singular 2 Samuel 24:13 דֶּ֙בֶר֙ to plague Noun - masculine singular 2 Samuel 24:15 דֶּ֙בֶר֙ to a plague Noun - masculine singular 1 Kings 8:37 דֶּ֣בֶר to plague Noun - masculine singular 1 Chronicles 21:12 וְדֶ֙בֶר֙ to days of plague Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Exodus 5:3
Aligned rows 49
Books represented 14
Exodus 3 Leviticus 1 Numbers 1 Deuteronomy 1 2 Samuel 2 1 Kings 1 1 Chronicles 2 2 Chronicles 3 Psalms 3 Jeremiah 17 Ezekiel 12 Hosea 1 Amos 1 Habakkuk 1
Source forms
וּבַדָּ֑בֶר 4x ū·ḇad·dā·ḇer Jeremiah 21:9, Jeremiah 29:18, Jeremiah 38:2, Jeremiah 42:17
דֶּ֖בֶר 3x de·ḇer Exodus 9:3, 1 Chronicles 21:14, 2 Chronicles 7:13
דֶּ֙בֶר֙ 3x de·ḇer 2 Samuel 24:13, 2 Samuel 24:15, Amos 4:10
הַדָּ֑בֶר 3x had·dā·ḇer Deuteronomy 28:21, Jeremiah 24:10, Jeremiah 29:17
בַּדֶּ֣בֶר 2x bad·de·ḇer Ezekiel 5:12, Ezekiel 6:12
דֶּ֣בֶר 2x de·ḇer 1 Kings 8:37, 2 Chronicles 6:28
וּבַדֶּ֖בֶר 2x ū·ḇad·de·ḇer Jeremiah 42:22, Ezekiel 6:11
וּבַדָּֽבֶר׃ 2x ū·ḇad·dā·ḇer Jeremiah 32:36, Jeremiah 44:13
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 12x Exodus 9:3, Leviticus 26:25, 2 Samuel 24:13, 2 Samuel 24:15
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular 11x Jeremiah 14:12, Jeremiah 21:9, Jeremiah 27:8, Jeremiah 27:13
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular 6x Exodus 5:3, Exodus 9:15, Numbers 14:12, Ezekiel 5:12
Article | Noun - masculine singular 5x Deuteronomy 28:21, Jeremiah 21:7, Jeremiah 24:10, Jeremiah 29:17
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 5x 1 Chronicles 21:12, 2 Chronicles 20:9, Ezekiel 5:17, Ezekiel 7:15
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Jeremiah 32:24, Ezekiel 7:15
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular 2x Jeremiah 21:6, Ezekiel 38:22
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular 1x Jeremiah 28:8
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Divine instrument of judgment; sweeping mortality sent by God to punish covenant violation or idolatry
Source Gloss
a pestilence
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Divine instrument of judgment; sweeping mortality sent by God to punish covenant violation or idolatry
a pestilence BDB: pestilence Usage: murrain, pestilence, plague.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Divine judgment through pestilence as punishment for disobedience and unfaithfulness
Pestilence as consequence of refusing God's word and going to Egypt in disobedience
Pestilence as one of God's judgments accompanying sword and famine for covenant violation
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 49 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain