### Core Meaning & Semantic Range
The Hebrew word **maʻdêr**, represented by `{{H4576}}`, refers to an agricultural tool like a **(weeding) hoe** or **mattock**. It is derived from the root word `ʻădar`. This term is exceptionally rare, appearing only **1 time** in **1 unique verse** in the entire Bible, making its single context highly significant for its meaning.
### Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis
The sole appearance of `{{H4576}}` is in [[Isaiah 7:25]]. The verse describes a future state of desolation where hills that were once cultivated and "digged with the **mattock**" will no longer be tended. Instead of producing crops, they will be overrun with "briers and thorns" and become a place for grazing oxen and lesser cattle. The **mattock** here is a clear symbol of active, ordered agriculture, and its mention serves to highlight the contrast between a time of productive labor and a future of neglect and wildness.
### Related Words & Concepts
Several related words provide a broader context for agriculture and the landscape:
* `{{H5737}}` **ʻădar**: This is the primitive root from which **maʻdêr** is derived. It has a range of meanings including to "dig" or "hoe" a vineyard, but also to "keep (rank)," "fail," or "lack." It appears as "digged" in the verse about the mattock [[Isaiah 7:25]] and similarly in [[Isaiah 5:6]], where a vineyard is judged by no longer being "digged."
* `{{H2022}}` **har**: This word for **mountain** or **hill** is the object of the mattock's work in [[Isaiah 7:25]]. These "hills" are often used figuratively in scripture as symbols of permanence and strength [[Psalms 125:1]] or as places of divine encounter and proclamation, such as "the mountain of the house of the LORD" [[Micah 4:1]].
### Theological Significance
The significance of `{{H4576}}` is tied directly to its specific agricultural context.
* **Symbol of Order and Cultivation:** The **mattock** represents the diligent human effort required to maintain order and productivity in the land. Its use on the hills signifies a well-tended, fruitful environment, in line with the verb it is derived from, **ʻădar** `{{H5737}}`, which can mean to arrange or keep rank.
* **Indicator of Judgment:** In [[Isaiah 7:25]], the memory of the **mattock** is used to emphasize the severity of coming judgment. The cessation of its use signals a curse upon the land, causing it to revert from a cultivated state to a wilderness of "briers and thorns," fit only for grazing.
### Summary
In summary, **maʻdêr** `{{H4576}}` provides a concise and powerful image. Though it appears only once, this word for a **mattock** effectively captures the biblical theme of the land's response to human action and divine judgment. Its singular use in [[Isaiah 7:25]] serves as a potent illustration of how the absence of diligent cultivation leads to desolation, contrasting a state of order and productivity with one of neglect and ruin.
TRV