What does תְּבוּאָה (tevuah) mean in the Bible?
This noun can name produce, yield, or gain: what a field or activity brings forth. Leviticus 25 uses it for the food Israel anticipates gathering from the land.
Hebrew · H8393
תְּבוּאָה
Income , i.e. produce (literally or figuratively)
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תְּבוּאָהH8393
Pronunciationtevuah
What does תְּבוּאָה (tevuah) mean in the Bible?
This noun can name produce, yield, or gain: what a field or activity brings forth. Leviticus 25 uses it for the food Israel anticipates gathering from the land.
Reader summary
Full entry for תְּבוּאָה (H8393) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H8393?
The BSB source-word alignment has 42 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include harvest (7), the produce (3), your produce (3), its produce (2), [but] the gain (1).
Where does תְּבוּאָה (tevuah) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 47:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (11), Proverbs (8), Deuteronomy (6), 2 Chronicles (2).
What This Word Actually Means
This noun can name produce, yield, or gain: what a field or activity brings forth. Leviticus 25 uses it for the food Israel anticipates gathering from the land. Proverbs also extends the language beyond a crop. Wisdom describes her harvest as better than silver in Proverbs 8:19, while Proverbs 16:8 judges great gain obtained with injustice to be worse than a little held with righteousness. The amount received is therefore not the only question the reader should ask.
Produce can be received as a gift and directed toward others. Proverbs 3:9 calls for honoring the Lord with the firstfruits of one's crops, and Deuteronomy 26:12 identifies people who are to eat from the third-year tithe. These instructions give yield a place within worship and communal responsibility. They do not make every profitable activity righteous or every act of giving a bargain that guarantees personal wealth. The source of gain, its use, and the passage's particular promise all need attention.
source_lexiconPassage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
Agricultural produce, wisdom's harvest, firstfruits, and the contrast between righteous modest means and unjust gain invite evaluation of both what is received and how it is obtained and shared.
- Prov.16.8
Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.
The proverb places righteousness above the size of one's gain. Its comparison does not praise deprivation itself; it denies that an impressive return can make injustice the better choice.
- Prov.8.19
My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.
Personified Wisdom compares her fruit and harvest with gold and silver. The surrounding references to righteousness and justice help identify the value she commends beyond precious metal alone.
- Prov.3.9
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;
The call to honor the Lord names wealth and the firstfruits of crops. Read the accompanying promise as part of this wisdom instruction, without turning a gift into a technique for forcing a financial return.
- Lev.25.20
Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’
The question about food arises within Israel's commanded rest for the land. The following answer promises a sufficient sixth-year crop; its specific covenant setting must remain attached to the assurance.
- Deut.26.12
When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.
The third-year tithe of produce is given so that the Levite, foreigner, fatherless, and widow may eat and be filled. The instruction identifies actual recipients and actual nourishment.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itharvest7×Leviticus 19:25, Leviticus 25:22, Deuteronomy 33:14, Nehemiah 9:37
the produce3×Leviticus 23:39, Deuteronomy 14:22, 2 Chronicles 31:5
your produce3×Deuteronomy 14:28, Deuteronomy 16:15, Deuteronomy 26:12
its produce2×Exodus 23:10, Ezekiel 48:18
[but] the gain1×Proverbs 10:16
[satisfied] by income1×Ecclesiastes 5:10
a crop1×Leviticus 25:21
and her gain [is better]1×Proverbs 3:14
and my harvest1×Proverbs 8:19
and the fruit1×Deuteronomy 22:9
as the produce1×Numbers 18:30
At harvest time1×Genesis 47:24
but the income1×Proverbs 15:6
for the harvest1×2 Chronicles 32:28
gain1×Proverbs 16:8
harvest comes1×Proverbs 14:4
harvests1×Leviticus 25:16
its crops1×Leviticus 25:3
its growth1×Leviticus 25:7
of harvest1×Leviticus 25:15
of His harvest1×Jeremiah 2:3
of your harvest1×Jeremiah 12:13
our produce1×Leviticus 25:20
that comes1×Isaiah 30:23
the crops1×Joshua 5:12
the crops taken1×Leviticus 25:12
the proceeds1×2 Kings 8:6
vvv1×Numbers 18:30
was the revenue of Tyre1×Isaiah 23:3
with the harvest1×Proverbs 18:20
your crops1×Proverbs 3:9
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 47:24בַּתְּבוּאֹ֔תtoAt harvest timePreposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine pluralExodus 23:10תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃toits produceNoun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singularLeviticus 19:25תְּבוּאָת֑וֹtoharvestNoun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singularLeviticus 23:39תְּבוּאַ֣תtothe produceNoun - feminine singular constructLeviticus 25:3תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃toits cropsNoun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singularLeviticus 25:7תְּבוּאָתָ֖הּtoits growthNoun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singularLeviticus 25:12תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃tothe crops takenNoun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singularLeviticus 25:15תְבוּאֹ֖תtoof harvestNoun - feminine pluralLeviticus 25:16תְּבוּאֹ֔תtoharvestsNoun - feminine pluralLeviticus 25:20תְּבוּאָתֵֽנוּ׃toour produceNoun - feminine singular construct | first person common plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 47:24
Aligned rows42
Books represented16
Genesis1Exodus1Leviticus11Numbers2Deuteronomy6Joshua12 Kings12 Chronicles2Nehemiah1Job1Psalms1Proverbs8Ecclesiastes1Isaiah2Jeremiah2Ezekiel1
Source forms
תְּבוּאַ֣ת4xtə·ḇū·’aṯLeviticus 23:39, Deuteronomy 14:22, 2 Chronicles 31:5, Isaiah 30:23
תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃4xtə·ḇū·’ā·ṯāhExodus 23:10, Leviticus 25:3, Leviticus 25:12, Proverbs 3:14
תְּ֝בוּא֗וֹת2xtə·ḇū·’ō·wṯProverbs 14:4, Proverbs 16:8
תְּבוּאַ֖ת2xtə·ḇū·’aṯProverbs 10:16, Proverbs 18:20
תְּבוּאֹ֣ת2xtə·ḇū·’ōṯDeuteronomy 33:14, 2 Kings 8:6
בַּתְּבוּאֹ֔ת1xbat·tə·ḇū·’ōṯGenesis 47:24
הַתְּבוּאָ֔ה1xhat·tə·ḇū·’āhLeviticus 25:21
הַתְּבוּאָ֣ה1xhat·tə·ḇū·’āhLeviticus 25:22
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular7xExodus 23:10, Leviticus 25:3, Leviticus 25:7, Leviticus 25:12
Noun - feminine singular construct6xLeviticus 23:39, Deuteronomy 14:22, 2 Chronicles 31:5, Proverbs 10:16
Noun - feminine plural4xLeviticus 25:15, Leviticus 25:16, Proverbs 14:4, Proverbs 16:8
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular4xDeuteronomy 14:28, Deuteronomy 16:15, Deuteronomy 26:12, Proverbs 3:9
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular3xLeviticus 19:25, Jeremiah 2:3, Ezekiel 48:18
Article | Noun - feminine singular2xLeviticus 25:21, Leviticus 25:22
Noun - feminine plural construct2xDeuteronomy 33:14, 2 Kings 8:6
Noun - feminine singular2xPsalms 107:37, Ecclesiastes 5:10
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Consider who bears the cost of a profitable choice before presenting its return as evidence of faithfulness.
- Encourage giving that serves real needs while respecting the differing resources and responsibilities of each household.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that the quantity of a person's income alone identifies either righteousness or wrongdoing.
- Do not claim that firstfruits giving is a mechanism by which a giver can control God's future provision.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Agricultural yield expanding figuratively to encompassing all forms of productive gain or return from labor and covenant faithfulness
Source Gloss
income , i.e. produce (literally or figuratively)
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Agricultural yield expanding figuratively to encompassing all forms of productive gain or return from labor and covenant faithfulness
income, i.e. produce (literally or figuratively) BDB: product Usage: fruit, gain, increase, revenue.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
produce, yield, or harvest
Showing 1 selected witness from 43 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
תְּבוּאָה is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
The term describes the result of one's efforts, emphasizing the moral direction of gain.Proverbs 10:16
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
A larger return can conceal a worse choice. Proverbs 16:8 makes that possibility explicit by setting a little with righteousness above great gain with injustice. Its force lies in the moral comparison, not in a claim that having little is automatically virtuous. The reader must ask how the gain came and what it required of other people.
The other passages give this question a wider setting. Produce can honor the Lord in Proverbs 3:9 and feed named neighbors in Deuteronomy 26:12. Wisdom's harvest surpasses silver in Proverbs 8:19 because her speech concerns a life ordered by righteousness and justice. Teach hearers to notice the quality and use of a yield as well as its quantity. Generosity and integrity should not become another sales pitch promising that every faithful choice will quickly produce a larger bank balance.
Anchor passage
Prov.16.8
Doctrinal connections
- Proverbs 16:8 evaluates gain by righteousness and justice rather than by the amount acquired alone.
- Proverbs 8:19-21 presents Wisdom's harvest alongside her paths of righteousness and justice.
- Proverbs 3:9-10 places the firstfruits of crops within honoring the Lord and receiving His provision.
- Leviticus 25:18-22 answers Israel's food concern within the commanded rest of its covenant land.
- Deuteronomy 26:12-13 directs produce toward the Levite and vulnerable neighbors so that they may eat.
- Second Corinthians 9:10-12 connects supplied seed and bread with righteousness, generous service, and thanksgiving to God.
The range includes a field's produce and gain described more broadly. The word itself does not classify a yield as righteous or unjust. Proverbs supplies that evaluation through its explicit contrasts, while personified Wisdom uses harvest language to express value.
From Old to New Testament
Second Corinthians 9:10-12 describes God supplying seed and bread while increasing a harvest of righteousness and enabling generosity. That passage offers a thematic comparison with produce honored and shared in the Hebrew passages. Its attention to service and thanksgiving should not be reduced to a promise of unrestricted private accumulation.
Passage contextPastoral applicationCanonical parallel