Lexical Summary miqshah: cucumber field Original Word: מִקְשָׁה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance garden of cucumbers Denominative from qishshu'; literally, a cucumbered field, i.e. A cucumber patch -- garden of cucumbers. see HEBREW qishshu' NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom the same as qishshuah Definition field of cucumbers NASB Translation cucumber field (2). Brown-Driver-Briggs I. מִקְשָׁה noun feminine place, field, of cucumbers, Isaiah 1:8; so Jeremiah 10:5 Gf Gie and others (compare Baruch Jeremiah 6:70). Topical Lexicon Biblical Setting מִקְשָׁה (miqshah) appears once, in Isaiah 1:8: “The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city”. The single use places the term within a prophetic oracle that rebukes Judah’s covenant unfaithfulness and predicts the nation’s vulnerability to coming judgment. Agricultural Context in Ancient Israel “Cucumber field” points to a seasonal cash-crop garden, sown on flat, moist ground outside fortified towns. During growth a temporary shack was erected for the watchman, but when harvest ended the owner abandoned the structure. What remained was an isolated, weather-worn hut surrounded by empty vines. In Isaiah’s day such imagery would evoke a landscape of loneliness and exposure—an apt picture of Jerusalem stripped of her divine protection. Symbolic Significance in Isaiah 1. Fragility. The hut had no permanence; a single storm could topple it. Likewise Zion, through her sin, had forfeited security (Isaiah 1:4–7). Connections to Other Scriptural Themes • Temporary shelters: compare Jonah’s booth east of Nineveh (Jonah 4:5) and the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23:42). All highlight human frailty and dependence on God’s covering. Historical Usage and Rabbinic Insight Second-Temple era commentators linked the image to the Babylonian invasion, when watchtowers lay vacant and fields lay waste. Later rabbinic literature saw in the cucumber hut a metaphor for the sukkah, suggesting that Israel’s continued existence depends not on walls of stone but on the sheltering presence of God. Practical Ministry Applications 1. Urgency of Repentance. Congregations warned by Isaiah’s picture can examine corporate worship, social justice, and personal holiness. Christological Considerations Jesus entered the “desolate field” of a fallen world, took on the vulnerability foreshadowed by the hut, and became the true Watchman (John 10:11-15). In Him the abandoned shelter is transformed into a secure dwelling (John 14:2-3), fulfilling Isaiah’s later prophecy that Zion will be called “the City of the LORD” (Isaiah 60:14). Holiness and Watchfulness Believers, as custodians of the gospel, inhabit a transitional age much like the unattended cucumber field—between sowing and final harvest. The imagery urges continual alertness (1 Peter 5:8), faithful stewardship (1 Corinthians 4:2), and confidence that the Master’s return will turn a fragile hut into an eternal dwelling (Revelation 21:3). Forms and Transliterations בְמִקְשָׁ֖ה במקשה ḇə·miq·šāh ḇəmiqšāh vemikShahLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Isaiah 1:8 HEB: בְכָ֑רֶם כִּמְלוּנָ֥ה בְמִקְשָׁ֖ה כְּעִ֥יר נְצוּרָֽה׃ NAS: Like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged KJV: as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged INT: A vineyard A watchman's A cucumber city A besieged 1 Occurrence |
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