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(usually ùָׂãֶä , sadeh' [poetic ùָׂãֵּé ;saday'], ἄãñïò ; but occasionally àֶøֶåֹ , e'rets, land [Chald. áִּø , bar, open country], ÷ώñá ; äåּåֹ , chuts, out-doors; çֶìְ÷ָä , chelkah', a portion or plot, ÷ùñßïí ; ùְׁãֵîָä , shedemah', a cultivated field, according to Gesenius and Furst from the context, in the plur. Deu_32:32 ; 2Ki_23:4; Isa_16:8; Jer_31:40; Hab_3:17; also éֶâֵá , fageb', an arable field, in the plur. Jer_39:10). The Hebrew sadeh is not adequately represented by our "field:" the two words agree in describing cultivated land, but they differ in point of extent, the sadeh being specifically applied to what is unenclosed, while the opposite notion of enclosure is involved in the word field, SEE DESERT.
The essence of the Hebrew word has been variously taken to lie in each of these notions, Gesenius (Thesaurus, p. 1321) giving it the sense of freedom, Stanley (Palest. p. 484) that of smoothness, comparing arvum from arare. On the one hand sadeh is applied to any cultivated ground, whether pasture (Gen_29:2; Gen_31:4; Gen_34:7; Exo_9:3), tillage (Gen_37:7; Gen_47:24; Rth_2:2-3; Job_24:6; Jer_26:18; Mic_3:12), woodland (1Sa_14:25, A. V. "ground;"' Psa_132:6), or mountain-top (Jdg_9:32; Jdg_9:36; 2Sa_1:21): and in some instances in marked opposition to the neighboring wilderness, as in the instance of Jacob settling in the field of Shechem (Gen_33:19), the field of Moab (Gen_36:35; Num_21:20, A. V. "country;" Rth_1:1), and the vale of Siddim, i.e. of the cultivated fields, which formed the oasis of the Pentapolis (Gen_14:3; Gen_14:8), though a different sense has been given to the name (by Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 1321). On the other hand, the sadeh is frequently contrasted with what is enclosed, whether a vineyard (Exo_22:5; Lev_25:3-4;. Num_16:14; Num_20:17; compare Num_22:23; "the ass went into the field," with Num_22:24, "a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall on that side"), a garden (the very name of which, âִּï , implies enclosure), or a walled town (Deu_28:3; Deu_28:16): unwalled villages or scattered houses ranked in the eye of the law as fields (Lev_25:31), and hence the expression åἰòôïὐò ἀãñïὐò = - houses in the fields (Vulg. in villas; Mar_6:36; Mar_6:56). In many passages the term implies what is remote from a house (Gen_4:8; Gen_24:63; Deu_22:25) or settled habitation, as in the case of Esau (Gen_25:27; the Sept., however, refers it to his character, ἄãñïéêïò ): this is more fully expressed by ôְּðֵé äִùָּׂãֶä , " the opez field" (Lev_14:7; Lev_14:53; Lev_17:5; Num_19:16; 2Sa_11:11), with which is naturally coupled the notion of exposure and desertion (Jer_9:22; Eze_16:5; Eze_32:4; Eze_33:27; Eze_39:5). SEE MEADOW.
The separate plots of ground were marked off by stones, which might easily be removed (Deu_19:14; Deu_27:17; comp. Job_24:2; Pro_22:28; Pro_23:10); the absence of fences rendered the fields liable to damage from straying cattle (Exo_22:5) or fire (Exo_22:6; 2Sa_14:30); hence tile necessity of constantly watching flocks and herds, the people so employed being in the present day named Nature (Wortabet, Syria, i, 293). A certain amount of protection was gained by sowing the tallest and strongest of the grain crops on the outside: "spelt" appears to have been most commonly used for this purpose (Isa_28:25, as in the margin). From the absence of enclosures, cultivated land of any size might be termed a field, whether it were a piece of ground of limited area (Gen_23:13; Gen_23:17; Isa_5:8), a man's whole inheritance (Lev_27:16 sq.; Rth_4:5; Jer_32:9; Jer_32:25 ; Pro_27:26; Pro_31:16), the ager publicus of a town (Gen_41:48; Neh_12:29), as distinct, however, from the ground immediately adjacent to the walls of the Levitical cities, which was called îַâְøָùׁ (A. V. "'suburbs"), and was deemed an appendage of the town itself (Jos_21:11-12), or, lastly, the territory of a people (Gen_14:7; Gen_32:3; Gen_36:35; Num_21:20; Rth_1:6; Rth_4:3; 1Sa_6:1; 1Sa_27:7; 1Sa_27:11). In 1Sa_27:5, "a town in the field" (Auth. Vers. "country")=a provincial town as distinct from the royal city. A plot of ground separated from a larger one was termed çֶìְ÷ִú ùָׂãֶä (Gen_33:19; Rth_2:3; 1Ch_11:13), or simply çֶìְ÷ָä (2Sa_14:10; 2Sa_23:12; comp. 2Sa_19:29). Fields occasionally received names after remarkable events, as Helkath-Hazzurim, the field of the strong men, or possibly of swords (2Sa_2:16), or from the use to which they may have been applied (2Ki_18:17; Isa_7:3; Mat_27:7). SEE LAND.
It should be observed that the expressions "fruitful field" (Isa_10:18; Isa_29:17; Isa_32:15-16) and "plentiful field" (Isa_16:10; Jer_48:33) are not connected with sadeh, but with karmel, meaning a park or well- kept wood, as distinct from. a .wilderness or a forest. The same term occurs in 2Ki_19:23, and Isa_37:24 (A.Vers. " Carmel"); Isa_10:18 ("forest)," and Jer_4:26 ("fruitful place"). SEE CARMEL. Distinct from this is the expression in Eze_17:5, ùְׂãֵäàּæֶøִò (AV. " fruitful field"), which means a field suited for planting suckers. SEE AGRICULTURE.