Field

Field (sadeh in Hebrew) denotes cultivated or pastoral land, typically unenclosed, as distinct from the walled city or the enclosed garden. It is one of the most common landscape terms in the Old Testament, appearing in virtually every genre. Fields were the primary site of Israelite agricultural labor — plowing, sowing, and harvest — and of pastoralism, where flocks grazed and shepherds kept watch.

The field appears throughout Scripture in memorable scenes: Cain killed Abel "in the field" (Genesis 4:8); Boaz's field at Bethlehem was where Ruth gleaned (Ruth 2); Naboth's vineyard-field was the occasion of Ahab's injustice (1 Kings 21); and the "field of blood" (Aceldama) was purchased with Judas's betrayal money (Acts 1:19). In Jesus's teaching, the field is the world in which the kingdom seed is sown (Matthew 13) and in which hidden treasure awaits discovery (Matthew 13:44). The parable of the prodigal son places his destitution in the field — feeding pigs — as the nadir of his descent.