Meadow

(1.) Heb. ha’ahu (Gen. 41:2, 18), probably an Egyptain word transferred to the Hebrew; some kind of reed or water-plant. In the Revised Version it is rendered “reed-grass”, i.e., the sedge or rank grass by the river side.

(2.) Heb. ma’areh (Judg. 20:33), pl., “meadows of Gibeah” (R.V., after the LXX., “Maareh-geba”). Some have adopted the rendering “after Gibeah had been left open.” The Vulgate translates the word “from the west.”

1. In (Genesis 41:2,18) meadow appears to be an Egyptian term meaning some kind of flag or waterplant, as its use in (Job 8:11) (Authorized Version "flag") seems to show.

2. In (Judges 20:33) the sense of the Hebrew word translated meadow is doubly uncertain. The most plausible interpretation is that of the Peshito-Syriac, which by a slight difference in the vowel-points makes the word mearah , "the cave."

med'-o:

(1) `aroth, "the meadows (the King James Version "paper reeds") by the Nile" (Isa 19:7); ma`areh-gabha`, the King James Version "meadows of Gibeah," the Revised Version (British and American) "Maareh-geba," the Revised Version margin "the meadow of Geba, or Gibeah" (Jud 20:33); from `arah, "to be naked"; compare Arabic ariya, "to be naked," `ara'a', "a bare tract of land." `Aroth and ma`areh signify tracts bare of trees.

(2) 'achu, in Pharaoh's dream of the kine, the King James Version "meadow," the Revised Version (British and American) "reed grass" (Ge 41:2,18). 'Achu is found also in Job 8:11, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "flag," the Revised Version margin "reed-grass." According to Gesenius, achu is an Egyptian word denoting the vegetation of marshy ground.

(3) 'abhel keramim, "Abel-cheramim," the Revised Version margin "The meadow of vineyards," the King James Version "the plain (the King James Version margin, "Abel") of the vineyards" (Jud 11:33); "Abel-beth-maacah" (1Ki 15:20; 2Ki 15:29; compare 2Sa 20:14,15,18); "Abel-shittim" (Nu 33:49; compare Nu 25:1; Jos 2:1; 3:1; Jud 7:22; Joe 3:18; Mic 6:5); "Abel-meholah" (Jud 7:22; 1Ki 4:12; 19:16); "Abel-maim" (2Ch 16:4); "Abel-mizraim" (Ge 50:11); "stone," the King James Version "Abel," the Revised Version margin "Abel," that is "a meadow" (1Sa 6:18); compare Arabic 'abal, "green grass," and 'abalat, "unhealthy marshy ground," from wabal, "to rain."

Alfred Ely Day