Raav means famine or severe hunger — the absence of adequate food resulting from drought, war, or divine judgment. Appearing about 101 times, it is closely linked to the verb raev (to be hungry). The word encompasses both the physical condition of starvation and the social catastrophe of widespread food scarcity. Famine was the most feared of ancient disasters.
In the prophetic tradition, famine (raav) is one of God's covenant curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:48) alongside sword and pestilence (the triple threat used by Jeremiah and Ezekiel). Yet God also provides miraculously in famine: Elijah is fed by ravens, Joseph's foresight saves Egypt and Israel, Ruth finds grain in Boaz's field. Amos prophesied a famine not of bread but of the word of God (Amos 8:11) — the deepest raav. Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:35), came to end this ultimate hunger.