Day 52 of 75 · Parables and teaching
Ḥ-Ṣ-D
ḥtsada: harvest
חצדא · חצדא
ܚܨܕܐ · ܚܨܳܕ݂ܳܐ
The feel
Ḥtsada is the harvest, meaning the ripe crop, the season of reaping, and the work of cutting and gathering it. Seed can be stored, but ripe grain has to be cut when it is ready. The verb ḥṣad means to harvest or reap.
The root family
| Form | Pattern | Transliteration | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|
| Noun, "harvest" | emphatic noun | ḥṣādā | חצדא ܚܨܳܕ݂ܳܐ | harvest | harvest · the reaping · the ingathering |
| Verb, "reaping" | peal active participle, plural | ḥāṣdin | חצדין ܚܳܨܕ݁ܺܝܢ | to reap | to reap · to harvest |
| Agent noun, "harvesters" | doer pattern, plural | ḥāṣude | חצודא ܚܳܨܽܘܕ݂ܶܐ | reapers | the harvesters (Mt 13:39) |
In the Gospels the verb appears in the Peal, ḥṣad, to harvest or reap, as ḥāṣdin ("they don't harvest," Matthew 6:26; "nor reap," Luke 12:24) and in John 4:36-38.
In his voice
Matthew 9:37
Then he said to his students, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
ḥṣādā, "the harvest." It is set against pāʿle, "the workers," from P-ʿ-L, tomorrow's root. There is plenty of crop and too few people to bring it in.
John 4:35
Don't you say, 'Four more months, and then the harvest comes'? Look, I tell you: lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are white and ripe for harvest already.
laḥṣādā … ḥṣādā, "the harvest … for harvest." The root appears twice, first for the harvest people expect in four months, then for fields already white and ripe in front of them.
Mark 4:29
And as soon as the grain is ready, he sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
ḥṣādā, "the harvest." It appears here with maglā, the sickle. The ripe grain sets the time, and the farmer acts as soon as it is ready.
Practice
Look for one thing in your life that is ready now, such as a conversation you have put off or a decision you have already made, and act on it today. Then say ḥtsada, harvest, aloud.
Connections