Hebrew word · H1959

הֵידָד

heidad

shout

A loud rhythmic cry. It is mainly the shout of grape-treaders at the vintage (Isa 16:9–10; Jer 48:33) and also a war cry (Jer 51:14). The word is probably imitative, like 'heave-ho'.

Appears 7 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a shout, cheer, shouting

1a) shouting

1b) shout (of the foe)

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 Jeremiah 25:30

Range of meaning

A loud rhythmic cry. It is mainly the shout of grape-treaders at the vintage (Isa 16:9–10; Jer 48:33) and also a war cry (Jer 51:14). The word is probably imitative, like 'heave-ho'.

Against the English

English 'shout' (KJV, BSB, WEB) is too general. It drops the vintage setting, and with it the irony of a harvest-festival cheer used as a battle cry.

How it drifted

No English word combines a work song, a harvest celebration and a war cry, so translators fall back on 'shout' and add 'grapes' to 'tread' to keep part of the picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 48:33 on Moab: 'No one treads with hedad; the hedad is no hedad', meaning the joyful vintage shout has become a battle shout. Jer 51:14: enemies 'will raise a hedad against you.' The Vulgate renders it celeuma, the rhythmic call of rowers or workers.

From the study of Jeremiah 48:33

Range of meaning

A loud, rhythmic group shout. It has two settings. (1) The vintage cry of men treading grapes in the press, a work-chant that kept the stamping in time and marked a happy season (Isa 16:9–10; Jer 25:30 "like those who tread"). (2) The shout of an army as it attacks (Jer 51:14, "they will raise a hêdād against you"). The word probably imitates the sound itself.

Against the English

English versions say "shouting" (KJV, WEB, YLT) or "shouts of joy" (BSB and most modern versions). "Shouting" is too general: it loses the fact that this was a known chant with a known setting. "Shouts of joy" catches the first setting but loses the second, the battle cry, and the wordplay depends on both.

How it drifted

English has no single word for a cry used both by grape-treaders and by soldiers, so translators have to pick one meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs only in Isaiah 16:9–10 and Jeremiah 25:30, 48:33 and 51:14. In Jer 25:30 God "will shout a hêdād like those who tread grapes" against all the inhabitants of the earth. The harvest picture has already become a judgment picture there. HALOT and BDB both give the two senses, vintage cry and battle cry. The Septuagint seems to copy the word as a sound, which suggests the Greek translators had no exact equivalent either.

From the study of Jeremiah 51:14

Range of meaning

A ringing shout or cheer. It was used for the work chant of grape-treaders stamping in the winepress, and from there for the battle shout of attacking soldiers.

Against the English

'Shout' (KJV, WEB) is accurate but thin. 'Shout in triumph' or 'shout of victory' (BSB, ESV, NIV) gives the mood but loses the winepress picture.

How it drifted

Not a drift. The English is simply too general to carry the vineyard picture an Israelite would have heard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 16:9–10 and Jer 48:33: the joyful heydad of Moab's vintage falls silent, and 'the shout is no shout of joy' (it has become a war cry). Jer 25:30: 'the LORD … will shout heydad like those who tread grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth', using the same verb 'anah. The Vulgate uses 'celeuma', the Latin word for a rowers' or workers' rhythm chant.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 16:9 הֵידָ֥ד shouting

    So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.

  2. Isaiah 16:10 הֵידָ֥ד shouting

    Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering.

Jeremiah · 5

  1. Jeremiah 25:30 הֵידָד֙ a shout

    So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them: ‘The LORD will roar from on high; He will raise His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar loudly over His pasture; like those who tread the grapes, He will call out with a shout against all the inhabitants of the earth.

    Here: The rhythmic cheer of men treading grapes in the winepress (Isa 16:10; Jer 48:33). It could also be a battle cry (Jer 51:14). The festive harvest shout turns into a war cry.

  2. Jeremiah 48:33 הֵידָ֔ד הֵידָ֖ד הֵידָֽד׃ shouting

    Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and from the fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; their shouts are not for joy.

    Here: The rhythmic cry the treaders shouted together as they stamped, a work-chant that sounds like its own meaning ("hey-dad!"). Here it describes how they would have trodden: "with the hêdād".

  3. Jeremiah 51:14 הֵידָֽד׃ ס a shout

    The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you up with men as with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.”

    Here: Elsewhere this is the rhythmic shout of men treading grapes in the winepress. It became a battle cry. Babylon will be trampled like a vat of grapes while the enemy chants.

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