Dictionary Home / F

Field

biblical_object theological_term standard

A field is a tract of land used for farming, grazing, or other ordinary purposes; in some passages it also functions as a symbol or parabolic setting.

At a Glance

Biblical field = open land, usually for farming or grazing, sometimes used figuratively in teaching.

Key Points

Description

A field in biblical usage is ordinarily a piece of land used for crops, grazing, burial, or other practical purposes of human life and livelihood. The term appears across both Testaments in historical, legal, poetic, and teaching contexts, often highlighting themes such as provision, labor, inheritance, judgment, and ordinary rural life. In certain passages, especially in parables, a field may take on a figurative sense—for example, representing a broader sphere in which God's purposes are worked out—but Scripture does not present 'field' as a single technical theological term with one uniform symbolic meaning. Interpretation should therefore be guided by the immediate literary context and by the ordinary sense of the passage.

Biblical Context

Fields appear throughout Scripture as part of everyday life in the ancient world: land to be cultivated, harvested, inherited, bought, sold, or protected. They are associated with gleaning, burial plots, shepherding, and disputes over property, as well as with the imagery of sowing and harvest. In the Gospels, fields also serve as settings for parables, where the ordinary agricultural scene is used to teach spiritual truth.

Historical Context

In the agrarian societies of Israel and the wider ancient Near East, fields were central to subsistence, wealth, and social stability. Ownership, boundaries, gleaning rights, and harvest practices were all important. A field could represent family provision, covenant blessing, or loss through war, famine, or judgment.

Jewish and Ancient Context

In ancient Jewish life, fields were tied to inheritance, covenant faithfulness, gleaning laws, and the care of the poor. The Torah's commands about leaving the edges of the field for the needy show that fields were not merely economic units but places where justice and mercy were to be practiced.

Primary Key Texts

Secondary Key Texts

Original Language Note

Hebrew שָׂדֶה (sadeh) and Greek ἀγρός (agros) commonly refer to open land, countryside, or farmland. Context determines whether the reference is literal land or a figurative use.

Theological Significance

Fields in Scripture often highlight God's provision, human labor, stewardship, justice, and judgment. In parables, a field can become a teaching image for the spread of God's word, the mixed condition of the present age, or the value of the kingdom of heaven.

Philosophical Explanation

The term is a good example of how Scripture uses ordinary created realities to communicate truth. A field is first a real place in human life, but it can also function symbolically when a biblical writer or speaker deliberately uses that setting to convey meaning beyond the land itself.

Interpretive Cautions

Do not treat every mention of a field as symbolic. Most occurrences are literal. Where a field is used in a parable or poetic image, the intended meaning must be drawn from the immediate context rather than from a fixed allegorical system.

Major Views

Most interpreters read field language as ordinary agricultural or property language unless the passage clearly signals a figurative use. In parables and selected poetic or metaphorical texts, the field may represent a broader sphere of activity, but the symbolism should not be extended beyond what the text supports.

Doctrinal Boundaries

'Field' is not itself a doctrinal category. It may support themes such as stewardship, generosity, labor, and kingdom teaching, but it should not be used to build doctrine apart from the surrounding passage.

Practical Significance

Field passages remind readers that God is concerned with ordinary work, property, provision, justice, and care for the poor. They also reinforce the importance of reading biblical imagery in context and applying it carefully.

Related Entries

See Also

Data

Machine-readable JSON for Field

↑ Top