To pasture
רָעָהStrong’s H7462raah (ra-ah)
Appears in 148 verses of the Old Testament
In short
To pasture, feed and lead a flock. Kings and leaders were called shepherds, and God holds them to it (Ezekiel 34). David starts Psalm 23 with it: "The LORD is my shepherd."
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Meaning
- Ra'ah = "pasturing"
- To pasture, tend, graze, feed(Qal) · (Hiphil) shepherd, shepherdess
- To associate with, be a friend of (meaning probable)(Qal) to associate with · (Hithpael) to be companions
- (Piel) to be a special friend
How it's translated
- the shepherds 17
- shepherds 13
- a shepherd 12
- they will graze 8
- shepherding 5
- shepherd 5
- the shepherd 5
- herdsmen of 4
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Jeremiah 22
- Genesis 20
- Isaiah 16
- Ezekiel 16
- Zechariah 12
- Psalms 8
25 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Zechariah 10:2In contextFor the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
- Zechariah 10:3In contextMine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
- Zechariah 11:3In contextThere is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
- Zechariah 11:4In contextThus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
- Zechariah 11:5In contextWhose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
- Zechariah 11:7In contextAnd I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
All 148 verses, by book
- Genesis 20
- 4:213:713:826:2029:729:930:3130:3636:2437:237:1237:1337:1641:241:1846:3246:3447:348:1549:24
- Judges 1
- 14:20
- 1 Kings 1
- 22:17
- 2 Kings 1
- 10:12
- 2 Chronicles 1
- 18:16
- Ecclesiastes 1
- 12:11
- Jeremiah 22
- 2:82:163:156:310:2112:1017:1622:2223:123:223:425:3425:3525:3631:1033:1243:1249:1950:650:1950:4451:23
- Jonah 1
- 3:7
- Nahum 1
- 3:18
Hebrew dictionary
בֵּית־עֵ֫קֶד הָרֹעִים bet-eqed haroim · House of Shepherds
Ra'ah = "pasturing" perh. "binding-house of the shepherds"
רָעָה raah · to pasture
1) to pasture, tend, graze, feed 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to tend, pasture 1a1a) to shepherd 1a1b) of ruler, teacher (fig) 1a1c) of people as flock (fig) 1a1d) shepherd, herdsman (subst) 1a2) to feed, graze 1a2a) of cows, sheep etc (literal) 1a2b) of idolater, Israel as flock (fig) 1b) (Hiphil) shepherd, shepherdess Also means: ro.i (רֹעִי "to shepherd" H7473)
רָעָה raah · to accompany
1) to associate with, be a friend of (meaning probable) 1a) (Qal) to associate with 1b) (Hithpael) to be companions
רָעָה raah · to befriend
(Piel) to be a special friend
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “pasture” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
P'ASTURE, noun
[Latin pasco, pastum, to feed.]
- Grass for the food of cattle; the food of cattle taken by grazing.
- Ground covered with grass appropriated for the food or cattle.
- Human culture; education. [Not used.]
All definitions and other forms of “pasture”
P'ASTURE, verb transitive
To feed on grass or to supply grass for food. We apply the word to persons, as the farmer pastures fifty oxen; or to ground, as the land will pasture fifty oxen.
P'ASTURE, verb intransitive
To graze; to take food by eating grass from the ground.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.