Bible Dictionary
STALK
A stalk is the standing stem of a plant or grain. Scripture uses the image to contrast a worthless sowing with the absence of a fruitful harvest.
Definition
A stalk is the standing stem of a plant or grain. It may also mean a cane or piece of wood, depending on the underlying word. In agricultural imagery, a stalk represents the result of a sowing.
Biblical Usage
The expression “they sow the wind” is explained as a worthless sowing that produces no stalk and therefore no grain. The image emphasizes the failure of an empty or destructive activity to yield a harvest.
Historical Background
The word translates several terms meaning cane, wood, or that which stands. The Revised Version’s “standing grain” in some passages may obscure the figurative contrast between sowing and the absence of a stalk.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>stok: In Ge 41:5,22 is for qaneh, "cane"; in Jos 2:6 for ets, "wood." In Ho 8:7, the Revised Version margin has "stalk" for qamah, "that which stands." The Revised Version's "standing grain" is due to this meaning of qamah in Ex 22:6, etc., but this translation spoils the figure. The meaning is, "They sow the wind, a worthless sowing, for such seed produces no stalk, it yields no grain."</p>