Hebrew word · H6257

עָתֹד

hit'atedu

be ready

To be ready or prepared. In this intensive form, to make ready or get fully prepared. The root is rare in the Bible: the related adjective 'atid, 'ready' (Esther 3:14; 8:13), a reflexive form in Job 15:28 (houses 'ready' to become ruins), and probably 'stores' or 'treasures' in Isaiah 10:13.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be ready, make ready, prepare

1a) (Piel) to make ready

1b) (Hithpael) to be prepared

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 Proverbs 24:27

Range of meaning

To be ready or prepared. In this intensive form, to make ready or get fully prepared. The root is rare in the Bible: the related adjective 'atid, 'ready' (Esther 3:14; 8:13), a reflexive form in Job 15:28 (houses 'ready' to become ruins), and probably 'stores' or 'treasures' in Isaiah 10:13. This verse appears to be the only place the verb occurs in this form.

Against the English

KJV has 'make it fit for thyself', NASB 'make it ready', WEB and NIV 'get your fields ready'. The Hebrew object is 'it', meaning the work, not 'the fields'. WEB and NIV make the field the object, which is close in meaning but drops the link back to 'your work'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In later (Mishnaic) Hebrew, 'atid came to mean 'future', as in 'the world to come', from the sense 'what is ready or prepared ahead'. That later sense is not in this verse, but it shows the root's forward-looking flavour.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 15:28 הִתְעַתְּד֣וּ they are destined

    he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 24:27 וְעַתְּדָ֣הּ and make ready it

    Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house.

    Here: 'And get it ready'. The feminine 'it' points back to 'your work' (a feminine noun). A rare verb, and it repeats and sharpens the first command: have the work fully ready to go.

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