יֶ֫רֶק
ye.req
green
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analysis of יֶרֶק (yerek) — "Green" The Hebrew word יֶרֶק carries the basic meaning "green" and appears six times throughout the biblical text. This limited frequency suggests it was used selectively rather than as a common everyday term, indicating that the concept it denotes held particular significance in specific contexts. The word functions as an adjective describing the color green in its most direct sense. The rarity of this term in biblical Hebrew is noteworthy. With only six occurrences, יֶרֶק was not the primary way Hebrew speakers expressed greenness in all contexts. This constraint likely means the word was deployed purposefully—perhaps in specific literary genres, theological contexts, or when describing particular objects or natural phenomena. Understanding where and how these six occurrences appear would clarify whether the term held specialized meaning (such as in agricultural, botanical, or symbolic contexts) or whether Hebrew simply had alternative ways of expressing this color depending on the situation. The data provided does not reveal the distribution of these six occurrences across different biblical books, time periods, or thematic contexts. To fully assess the word's significance and usage range within ancient Hebrew literature, one would need to examine each individual occurrence and its surrounding textual context.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
6 total occurrences across the text
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
Isaiah 15:6For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing.
Genesis 1:30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.
Genesis 9:3Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you.
Exodus 10:15For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
Numbers 22:4Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.