Harrow

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Harrow . In   2 Samuel 12:31 a passage which had become corrupt before the date of   1 Chronicles 20:3 as rendered in EV [Note: English Version.] , David is represented as torturing the Ammonites ‘under harrows of iron.’ The true text and rendering, however, have reference to various forms of forced labour (see RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ), and the ‘harrows’ become ‘picks of iron’ or some similar instrument.

The Heb. verb tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘harrow’ in  Job 39:10 is elsewhere correctly rendered ‘break the clods’ (  Hosea 10:11; also   Isaiah 28:24 , but Amer. RV [Note: Revised Version.] has here ‘harrow’). In Hastings’ DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] ii. 306 several reasons were given for rejecting the universal modern rendering of the original by ‘harrow.’ This conclusion has since been confirmed by the discovery of the original Hebrew of Sir 38:26 where ‘who setteth his mind to “harrow” in the furrows’ would be an absurd rendering. There is no evidence that the Hebrews at any time made use of an implement corresponding to our harrow. Stiff soil was broken up by the plough or the mattock. Cf. Agriculture, § 1 .

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) An obstacle formed by turning an ordinary harrow upside down, the frame being buried.

(2): ( n.) An implement of agriculture, usually formed of pieces of timber or metal crossing each other, and set with iron or wooden teeth. It is drawn over plowed land to level it and break the clods, to stir the soil and make it fine, or to cover seed when sown.

(3): ( n.) To draw a harrow over, as for the purpose of breaking clods and leveling the surface, or for covering seed; as, to harrow land.

(4): ( interj.) Help! Halloo! An exclamation of distress; a call for succor;-the ancient Norman hue and cry.

(5): ( n.) To break or tear, as with a harrow; to wound; to lacerate; to torment or distress; to vex.

(6): ( v. t.) To pillage; to harry; to oppress.

King James Dictionary

HAR'ROW, n. An instrument of agriculture, formed of pieces of timber sometimes crossing each other, and set with iron teeth. It is drawn over plowed land to level it and break the clods, and to cover seed when sown.

HAR'ROW, To draw a harrow over, for the purpose of breaking clods and leveling the surface, or for covering seed sown as, to harrow land or ground.

1. To break or tear with a harrow.

Will he harrow the valleys after thee?  Job 39

2. To tear to lacerate to torment.

I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word

Would harrow up thy soul--

3. To pillage to strip to lay waste by violence. Not used. 4. To disturb to agitate.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Job 39:10 Isaiah 28:24 Hosea 10:11 Job 39:10 Hosea 10:11

Modern translations replace the harrow of the KJV with iron picks (Niv, Nrsv); iron hoes (TEV), or sharp iron instruments (NAS) at  2 Samuel 12:31;  1 Chronicles 20:3 . See Agriculture; Tools .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Harrow. The word so rendered,  2 Samuel 12:31;  1 Chronicles 20:3, is probably a threshing-machine. The verb rendered "to harrow,"  Job 39:10;  Isaiah 28:24;  Hosea 10:11, expresses apparently the breaking of the clods, and is so far analogous to our harrowing - but whether done by any such machine as we call a "harrow" is very doubtful.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Harrow. It is very questionable whether the Hebrews used a harrow in our sense of the term. In  Job 39:10;  Isaiah 28:24;  Hosea 10:12, breaking the clods is alluded to; but this was before sowing the seed, just to level the ground. The word translated "harrow" in  2 Samuel 12:31;  1 Chronicles 20:3, means a sharp threshing-sledge.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Samuel 12:31 1 Chronicles 20:3

Heb. verb Sadad , To harrow a field, break its clods (  Job 39:10;  Isaiah 28:4;  Hosea 10 ::  11 ). Its form is unknown. It may have resembled the instrument still in use in Egypt.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Charits  2 Samuel 12:31. Possibly a "threshing instrument." In modern Palestine no such instrument as our harrow exists, and it is unlikely it did in ancient times.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

har´ō ( שׂדד , sādhadh ): Sādhadh occurs in 3 passages (  Job 39:10;  Isaiah 28:24;  Hosea 10:11 ). In the first 2 it is translated "harrow," in the last "break the clods." That this was a separate operation from plowing, and that it was performed with an instrument drawn by animals, seems certain. As to whether it corresponded to our modern harrowing is a question. The reasons for this uncertainty are: (1) The ancient Egyptians have left no records of its use; (2) at the present time, in those parts of Palestine and Syria where foreign methods have not been introduced, harrowing is not commonly known, although the writer has been told that in some districts the ground is leveled after plowing with the threshing-sledge or a log drawn by oxen. Cross-plowing is resorted to for breaking up the lumpy soil, especially where the ground has been baked during the long rainless summer. Lumps not reduced in this way are further broken up with a hoe or pick. Seed is always sown before plowing, so that harrowing to cover the seed is unnecessary. See Agriculture . Figuratively used of affliction, discipline, etc. (  Isaiah 28:24 ).

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A town of Middlesex, built on an eminence 200 ft. high, 12 m. from St. Paul's, London; its church, St. Mary's, founded by Lanfranc, is a Gothic structure of great architectural interest. Harrow School, a celebrated public school, was founded in 1571 for the free education of 30 poor boys of the parish, but subsequently opened its doors to "foreigners," and now numbers upwards of 500 pupils.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Harrow'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/h/harrow.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.