What does חֹרֶב (ḥōreb) mean in the Bible?
חֹרֶב (ḥōreb): Desolation marked by absolute dryness; often describes land stripped bare or divine judgment rendered visible through environmental devastation.
Hebrew · H2721
חֹרֶב
Drought or desolation
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חֹרֶב H2721
Pronunciation ḥōreb
What does חֹרֶב (ḥōreb) mean in the Bible?
חֹרֶב (ḥōreb): Desolation marked by absolute dryness; often describes land stripped bare or divine judgment rendered visible through environmental devastation.
Full entry for חֹרֶב (H2721) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2721?
The BSB source-word alignment has 16 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include A drought (2), dry (2), from the heat (2), [and] exposed to heat (1), a ruin (1).
Where does חֹרֶב (ḥōreb) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 31:40. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (5), Jeremiah (3), Judges (3), Ezekiel (1).
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 A drought 2× Jeremiah 50:38, Haggai 1:11
dry 2× Judges 6:39, Judges 6:40
from the heat 2× Isaiah 4:6, Isaiah 25:4
[and] exposed to heat 1× Jeremiah 36:30
a ruin 1× Jeremiah 49:13
but desolation 1× Zephaniah 2:14
cools the heat 1× Isaiah 25:5
is dry 1× Judges 6:37
like heat 1× Isaiah 25:5
the heat 1× Genesis 31:40
the ruined 1× Isaiah 61:4
wasteland 1× Ezekiel 29:10
with fever 1× Job 30:30
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 31:40 חֹ֖רֶב to the heat Noun - masculine singular Judges 6:37 חֹ֔רֶב to is dry Noun - masculine singular Judges 6:39 חֹ֤רֶב to dry Noun - masculine singular Judges 6:40 חֹ֤רֶב to dry Noun - masculine singular Job 30:30 חֹֽרֶב׃ to with fever Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 4:6 מֵחֹ֑רֶב to from the heat Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 25:4 מֵחֹ֔רֶב to from the heat Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 25:5 כְּחֹ֣רֶב to like heat Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 25:5 חֹ֚רֶב to cools the heat Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 61:4 חֹ֔רֶב to the ruined Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 31:40
Aligned rows 16
Books represented 8
Genesis 1 Judges 3 Job 1 Isaiah 5 Jeremiah 3 Ezekiel 1 Zephaniah 1 Haggai 1
Source forms
חֹ֔רֶב 2x ḥō·reḇ Judges 6:37, Isaiah 61:4
חֹ֤רֶב 2x ḥō·reḇ Judges 6:39, Judges 6:40
חֹ֣רֶב 2x ḥō·reḇ Ezekiel 29:10, Zephaniah 2:14
חֹ֖רֶב 1x ḥō·reḇ Genesis 31:40
חֹ֚רֶב 1x ḥō·reḇ Isaiah 25:5
חֹ֥רֶב 1x ḥō·reḇ Jeremiah 50:38
חֹ֜רֶב 1x ḥō·reḇ Haggai 1:11
חֹֽרֶב׃ 1x ḥō·reḇ Job 30:30
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 11x Genesis 31:40, Judges 6:37, Judges 6:39, Judges 6:40
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular 2x Isaiah 4:6, Isaiah 25:4
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular 1x Isaiah 25:5
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular 1x Jeremiah 49:13
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular 1x Jeremiah 36:30
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Desolation marked by absolute dryness; often describes land stripped bare or divine judgment rendered visible through environmental devastation.
Source Gloss
drought or desolation
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Desolation marked by absolute dryness; often describes land stripped bare or divine judgment rendered visible through environmental devastation.
drought or desolation BDB: dryness Usage: desolation, drought, dry, heat, × utterly, waste.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
חֹרֶב is built from this root:
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