Bible Dictionary
Furrow
A furrow is an opening or ridge in ground made by a plough. Biblical writers use furrows in descriptions of cultivated fields and sometimes as figures of suffering or oppression.
Definition
A furrow is an opening, ridge, or line in soil made by a plough. Biblical fields were left in furrows after seed was sown and the softened earth was turned over.
Biblical Usage
Furrows occur in descriptions of cultivated fields and are also used figuratively for oppression or the marked consequences of wrongdoing.
Historical Background
The ancient Syrian farmer ploughed after showers softened the ground and generally left the soil in furrows rather than harrowing it into the finely pulverized surface familiar in modern farming.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
An opening in the ground made by the plough (Ps. 65:10; Hos. 10:4, 10).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>fur'-o (telem):</p><p>The word is translated "furrows" in Job 39:10; 31:38; Ps 65:10; Ho 10:4; 12:11 (Ps 65:10 the King James Version, "ridges"). In these passages the fields are pictured as they were in the springtime or late autumn. When the showers had softened the earth, the seed was sown and the soil turned over with the plow and left in furrows, not harrowed and pulverized as in our modern farming. The Syrian farmer today follows the custom of his ancient predecessors.</p><p>Another word, ma`anah, occurs in two passages, first in the figurative sense in Ps 129:3, and second in an obscure passage in 1Sa 14:14. Three other words, gedhudhah, `arughah, `ayin, translated "furrows" in the King James Version, are probably more properly rendered in the American Standard Revised Version "ridges" (Ps 65:10), "beds" (Eze 17:7,10), and "transgressions" (Ho 10:10).</p><p>See AGRICULTURE; PLOW.</p><p>James A. Patch</p>