Hebrew word · H1210

בָּצִיר

batzir

vintage

The grape harvest, the time of cutting grape clusters, from batsar, "cut off (grapes)". It was the high point of the farming year in late summer and was linked with celebration, treading the grapes and new wine.

Appears 8 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

vintage

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 24:13

Range of meaning

The grape harvest, the time of cutting grape clusters, from batsar, "cut off (grapes)". It was the high point of the farming year in late summer and was linked with celebration, treading the grapes and new wine.

Against the English

"Vintage" (KJV, WEB) is correct but now usually suggests a wine's year or an old style. "Grape harvest" (BSB) is clearer.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 26:5 (threshing lasting until the vintage as a covenant blessing); Judges 8:2; Isaiah 32:10 ("the vintage will fail"); Micah 7:1; Jeremiah 48:32. Harvest joy is a common theme: Isaiah 16:10 ("no treader treads out wine in the presses").

From the study of Leviticus 26:5

Range of meaning

Vintage, the grape harvest. It comes from batsar, to cut off grape clusters. It also appears in Judges 8:2 ('the vintage of Abiezer'), Isaiah 24:13, Isaiah 32:10, Jeremiah 48:32 and Micah 7:1.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'vintage' and BSB/NIV 'grape harvest' are both accurate. Today 'vintage' can make people think of wine labels, but in context it simply means picking grapes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 32:10 threatens that 'the vintage will fail, the harvest will not come', which is the reverse of this blessing. Grape harvest took place in late summer, roughly August to September, and led into the autumn Festival of Booths (Lev 23:39–43; Deut 16:13).

Where it appears

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 26:5 בָּצִ֔יר וּבָצִ֖יר grape harvest, and grape harvest

    Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land.

    Here: The cutting of grape clusters in late summer. It is the season the threshing reaches.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 8:2 מִבְצִ֥יר more than [the] grape harvest of

    But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 24:13 בָצִֽיר׃ [the] grape harvest

    So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

    Here: The grape harvest, the subject of the verb "has finished". It brings back the wine images from verses 7–11, where the new wine mourns and joy has gone from the land.

  2. Isaiah 32:10 בָצִ֔יר [the] grape harvest

    In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 48:32 בְּצִירֵ֖ךְ grape harvest your

    I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, more than I weep for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they reach even to Jazer. The destroyer has descended on your summer fruit and grape harvest.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 7:1 בָּצִ֑יר [the] grape harvest

    Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.

    Here: The grape harvest. With the previous word: what is left over once the vintage is finished.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 11:2 הַבָּצִֽיר׃ of the vintage

    Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.