What does דָּגָן (dāgān) mean in the Bible?
Grain is food before it becomes an image of abundance. This Hebrew noun names the grain on which households depend, often alongside wine and oil.
Hebrew · H1715
דָּגָן
Properly, increase , i.e. grain
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דָּגָןH1715
Pronunciationdāgān
What does דָּגָן (dāgān) mean in the Bible?
Grain is food before it becomes an image of abundance. This Hebrew noun names the grain on which households depend, often alongside wine and oil.
Reader summary
Full entry for דָּגָן (H1715) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1715?
The BSB source-word alignment has 40 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include grain (11), of grain (7), the grain (5), of your grain (3), your grain (3).
Where does דָּגָן (dāgān) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 27:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (7), Nehemiah (7), Hosea (6), Joel (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Grain is food before it becomes an image of abundance. This Hebrew noun names the grain on which households depend, often alongside wine and oil. In Nehemiah 5:2, families ask for it so that they and their children can eat and live. Psalm 65:9 praises God for preparing grain through His care for the watered earth. Both passages keep provision close to ordinary bodily need.
Other settings expose what people do with the gift. Hosea 2:8 indicts Israel for failing to acknowledge the God who supplied grain and other goods while directing their wealth toward Baal. Psalm 4:7 compares the speaker's God-given joy with the joy of plentiful grain and wine. That comparison does not make food unnecessary or poverty desirable. Grain may be received gratefully, misattributed, withheld, or urgently needed. Its presence alone does not establish a person's faithfulness, and its absence does not establish personal guilt. The surrounding passage tells us how provision, worship, and responsibility meet.
source_lexiconPassage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
These passages move from grain as necessary food to praise for God's provision, an indictment of misdirected gratitude, and joy that exceeds agricultural plenty without dismissing hunger.
- Neh.5.2
Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
The families' demand for grain concerns eating and staying alive. The following complaints about mortgaged property and debt make this an appeal arising from material hardship, not a metaphor for insufficient spiritual enthusiasm.
- Ps.65.9
You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.
God's provision of grain appears within praise for watering and tending the earth. Furrows, showers, and growth keep thanksgiving connected to the created means through which food is supplied.
- Hos.2.8
For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.
The Lord names Himself as the giver of grain, wine, oil, and wealth that Israel has failed to acknowledge. The indictment concerns unfaithful worship and misdirected gifts within Hosea's covenant address.
- Ps.4.7
You have filled my heart with more joy than when grain and new wine abound.
The speaker receives joy greater than the joy associated with abundant grain and wine. The comparison locates joy in the Lord without condemning harvest gladness or denying the value of food.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itgrain11×Deuteronomy 28:51, Nehemiah 5:2, Nehemiah 5:3, Nehemiah 5:11
of grain7×Genesis 27:28, Deuteronomy 33:28, 2 Kings 18:32, 2 Chronicles 32:28
the grain5×Jeremiah 31:12, Ezekiel 36:29, Joel 1:10, Joel 1:17
of your grain3×Deuteronomy 12:17, Deuteronomy 14:23, Deuteronomy 18:4
your grain3×Deuteronomy 7:13, Deuteronomy 11:14, Isaiah 62:8
and grain2×Numbers 18:12, Nehemiah 5:10
of the grain2×2 Chronicles 31:5, Nehemiah 13:12
. . .1×Hosea 9:1
as grain1×Numbers 18:27
is the grain1×Lamentations 2:12
My grain1×Hosea 2:9
our grain1×Psalms 65:9
to the grain1×Hosea 2:22
with grain1×Genesis 27:37
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 27:28דָּגָ֖ןtoof grainNoun - masculine singularGenesis 27:37וְדָגָ֥ןtowith grainConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singularNumbers 18:12וְדָגָ֑ןtoand grainConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singularNumbers 18:27כַּדָּגָן֙toas grainPreposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singularDeuteronomy 7:13דְּגָ֨נְךָ֜toyour grainNoun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 11:14דְגָנֶ֔ךָtoyour grainNoun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 12:17דְּגָֽנְךָ֙toof your grainNoun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 14:23דְּגָֽנְךָ֙toof your grainNoun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 18:4דְּגָֽנְךָ֜toof your grainNoun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 28:51דָּגָן֙tograinNoun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 27:28
Aligned rows40
Books represented15
Genesis2Numbers2Deuteronomy72 Kings12 Chronicles2Nehemiah7Psalms3Isaiah2Jeremiah1Lamentations1Ezekiel1Hosea6Joel3Haggai1Zechariah1
Source forms
דָּגָן֙4xdā·ḡānDeuteronomy 28:51, Isaiah 36:17, Jeremiah 31:12, Zechariah 9:17
הַדָּגָן֙4xhad·dā·ḡānNehemiah 13:5, Ezekiel 36:29, Joel 2:19, Haggai 1:11
דָגָ֖ן3xḏā·ḡānNehemiah 5:2, Nehemiah 5:3, Hosea 14:7
דָּגָ֖ן2xdā·ḡānGenesis 27:28, 2 Chronicles 32:28
דָּגָ֣ן2xdā·ḡānDeuteronomy 33:28, Lamentations 2:12
דָּגָֽן׃2xdā·ḡānHosea 9:1, Joel 1:17
דְּגָֽנְךָ֙2xdə·ḡā·nə·ḵāDeuteronomy 12:17, Deuteronomy 14:23
הַדָּגָ֖ן2xhad·dā·ḡānHosea 2:8, Hosea 2:22
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular17xGenesis 27:28, Deuteronomy 28:51, Deuteronomy 33:28, 2 Kings 18:32
Article | Noun - masculine singular8xNehemiah 10:39, Nehemiah 13:5, Nehemiah 13:12, Ezekiel 36:29
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular5xDeuteronomy 7:13, Deuteronomy 11:14, Deuteronomy 12:17, Deuteronomy 14:23
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular3xGenesis 27:37, Numbers 18:12, Nehemiah 5:10
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural2xPsalms 4:7, Psalms 65:9
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct1xPsalms 78:24
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular1xNehemiah 5:11
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular1xHosea 2:9
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Listen to stated material needs before offering a spiritual comparison or explanation of hardship.
- Give thanks for food in ways that also make room for generosity toward people whose supplies are scarce.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that grain or wealth automatically proves God's approval of the person who possesses it.
- Do not claim that joy beyond a plentiful harvest cancels the community's responsibility to hear hungry families.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Grain as the primary staple crop; represents agricultural prosperity and divine blessing in covenantal contexts.
Source Gloss
properly, increase , i.e. grain
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Grain as the primary staple crop; represents agricultural prosperity and divine blessing in covenantal contexts.
properly, increase, i.e. grain BDB: corn Usage: corn (floor), wheat.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
דָּגָן is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Nehemiah 5:2 brings the discussion of provision down to a household's next meal. The speakers name their sons and daughters, and the next verse describes property being mortgaged to obtain grain. A teacher should allow that need to remain concrete before offering language about spiritual abundance.
Psalm 65 supplies a fitting companion voice: the grain is prepared through God's care for the earth, with water, furrows, and growth named in the song. Receiving food gratefully and hearing a hungry family belong together as a pastoral response to these passages. Psalm 4 adds that the Lord can give joy beyond the gladness of a rich harvest; it does not authorize a well-fed listener to dismiss someone else's need. Teach dependence with gratitude, and let gratitude remain attentive to the bodies and households that need to be fed.
Anchor passage
Neh.5.2
Doctrinal connections
- Nehemiah 5:2-4 names hunger, mortgaged property, and debt as matters that must be heard within the community.
- Psalm 65:9-11 joins God's generous care with the earth's water, furrows, showers, and growing crops.
- Hosea 2:8-9 identifies the Lord as the giver of grain and exposes Israel's failure to acknowledge Him.
- Psalm 4:6-8 places joy and rest in the Lord while using abundant grain as a recognizable comparison.
- Deuteronomy 26:12 directs produce toward the Levite, foreigner, fatherless, and widow so that they may eat and be filled.
- Matthew 6:9-13 includes daily bread within prayer to the Father, keeping bodily dependence within faithful prayer.
The noun identifies grain rather than a complete theory of prosperity. The same ordinary food can appear in a family's complaint, a harvest song, a covenant accusation, or a comparison about joy. Those functions come from the sentence and setting.
From Old to New Testament
Jesus' prayer for daily bread in Matthew 6:11 provides a thematic connection to the households seeking grain in Nehemiah. Second Corinthians 9:10-12 likewise speaks of seed, bread, generosity, and thanksgiving. These are related concerns about provision and care, not claims that the Hebrew and Greek terms are interchangeable.
Passage contextCanonical parallelPastoral application