Lexical Summary
qatsiyr: Harvest
Original Word:קָצִיר
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:qatsiyr
Pronunciation:kah-tseer
Phonetic Spelling:(kaw-tseer')
KJV: bough, branch, harvest (man)
Word Origin:[fromH7114 (קָצַר - To be short)]
1. severed, i.e. harvest (as reaped), the crop, the time, the reaper, or figuratively
2. also a limb (of a tree, or simply foliage)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
bough, branch, harvest man
Fromqatsar; severed, i.e. Harvest (as reaped), the crop, the time, the reaper, or figuratively; also a limb (of a tree, or simply foliage) -- bough, branch, harvest (man).
see HEBREWqatsar
Brown-Driver-Briggs
I.
Jeremiah 8:20 (compare Lag
BN 173); — absolute
Genesis 45:6 +, construct
Judges 15:1 +; suffix
Leviticus 19:9 +, etc.; —
harvest:harvesting,Genesis 45:6 (E; + ),Ruth 2:21.
what is reaped, harvested, crop, specifically of grain:Genesis 8:22 (+; J),Isaiah 17:11 (figurative; compare ; "" ),Isaiah 23:3 (""id.) i.e. exported grain of Egypt;Exodus 34:22 (JE), insert also2 Samuel 24:15 ( Th We Dr and others),Leviticus 19:9; bLeviticus 23:22 b; as eatenJeremiah 5:17;Job 5:5 (but read here Me Bu and others, compare BevJphil. xxvi. 304); as accusative of congnate meaning with verb with1 Samuel 8:12;Deuteronomy 24:19;Leviticus 19:9a;Leviticus 23:10 (twice in verse);Leviticus 23:22 aLeviticus 25:5 (all H),1 Samuel 6:13; of ripe grainIsaiah 1:11 ( ),Isaiah 4:13 (); figurative of punishmentHosea 6:11; of vintageIsaiah 16:9 ("" ; read probably as ""Jeremiah 48:32, BuhlLex 13).
time of harvest,Exodus 34:21 (+ ; J E),2 Samuel 21:10 (2 Samuel 23:13 read as ""1 Chronicles 11:15, soL for Lucian Th We and most),Isaiah 9:2 (simile),Isaiah 18:5 (figurative),Jeremiah 5:24, ""Jeremiah 8:20;Proverbs 6:8;Proverbs 10:5;Proverbs 26:1 (simile); opposed toProverbs 20:4;Joshua 3:21 (JE),2 Samuel 21:9 aProverbs 25:13 (simile),Jeremiah 50:16;Jeremiah 51:33 (figurative); ofwheatharvest,Genesis 30:14 (J),Judges 15:1, withoutRuth 2:23 b,1 Samuel 12:17;barley harvest,2 Samuel 21:9bRuth 1:22;Ruth 2:23a;Isaiah 18:4;Isaiah 18:4;Exodus 23:16 (E). On harvest in Palestine see VogelstLandwirthsch. 57 ff. HaymanSmith DB AGRICULTURE. —Isaiah 17:5 read , see .
II.Isaiah 27:11 usually collective, (connection with above √ dubious); — absoluteJob 14:9; suffixJob 29:19 (in figurative; "" ),Job 18:16 (figurative; ""id.);Isaiah 27:11; plural sf,Psalm 80:12.
see I. .
, see I. . see I. .
Topical Lexicon
General Overviewקָצִיר encompasses the whole idea of “harvest”—the standing ripe crop, the act of reaping, and the season itself. It frames Israel’s agricultural year and becomes a theological lens through which Scripture speaks of blessing, judgment, hope, and mission.
Frequency and Distribution
Approximately fifty-four occurrences appear across the Law, Prophets, and Writings. Torah texts establish covenantal rhythms; historical narratives depict life in the land; wisdom and prophetic books expand the term into moral and eschatological imagery.
Literal Agricultural Context
1. An appointed season of God’s providence: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease” (Genesis 8:22).
2. A labor protected by Sabbath principle: “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; even during plowing and harvest you must rest” (Exodus 34:21).
3. A sign of settled life in Canaan: “The Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors you have sown in the field” (Exodus 23:16).
Seasonal Markers and Calendar Significance
Spring barley harvest anchored Passover and the Firstfruits offering (Leviticus 23:10-14). Seven full weeks later, wheat harvest culminated in the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-21). Autumn ingathering closed the cycle with the Feast of Tabernacles (Exodus 23:16b). Thus קָצִיר punctuated salvation history: redemption (Passover), empowerment (Pentecost), and eschatological rest (Tabernacles).
Covenantal Blessing and Judgment
Blessing: “You will gather in your grain, new wine, and oil” (Deuteronomy 11:14).
Judgment: “I also withheld the rain from you… yet two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water” (Amos 4:7). The same term that promises provision warns of drought when covenant fidelity fails.
Harvest as Metaphor for Human Lives
Wisdom: “She prepares her bread in summer; she gathers her provision at harvest” (Proverbs 6:8).
Fragility: “Like a flower he comes forth and withers; he flees like a shadow and does not endure” (Job 14:2).
Joy: “He who goes out weeping, bearing seed to sow, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves” (Psalm 126:6).
Worship, Festivals, and Offerings
Firstfruits expressed gratitude and trust (Exodus 23:19). Gleanings were left for the poor and the sojourner, integrating mercy into worship (Leviticus 19:9-10). Ruth’s narrative (Ruth 1:22–2:23) demonstrates covenant kindness within the barley and wheat harvests, ultimately leading to Davidic lineage and Messianic hope.
Social Justice and Compassion
“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you” (Deuteronomy 24:19). קָצִיר therefore undergirds Israel’s social ethic: the marginalized receive dignity through access to life-sustaining produce.
Prophetic and Eschatological Dimensions
Isaiah 17:5 pictures Israel’s remnant as “gleanings after the harvest.”Jeremiah 50:16 warns Babylon, “Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who wields the sickle in the time of harvest.”Joel 3:13 escalates the metaphor: “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe… the winepress is full.” The prophets move from national agriculture to cosmic judgment, preparing the way for New Testament imagery (Matthew 13:39;Revelation 14:15).
Messianic Foreshadowing
Ruth’s harvest backdrop reaches its climax in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost occurred during wheat harvest, fulfilling the typology of firstfruits and inaugurating the worldwide ingathering of souls (Acts 2).
Practical Ministry Applications
• Faithful labor: as Boaz instructed his young men to leave handfuls for Ruth, so believers purposefully create margin for the needy.
• Evangelistic urgency: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Luke 10:2)—the agricultural term teaches watchfulness and readiness.
• Assurance amid waiting: seedtime and harvest remain under God’s unbroken covenant care, encouraging steadfastness in prayer and service.
Countless Israelites looked across golden fields and remembered the Lord of the harvest. The same vision drives the Church to thanksgiving, holiness, and mission until the final ingathering at Christ’s return.
Forms and Transliterations
בִּקְצִירִֽי׃ בַ֝קָּצִ֗יר בַּ֝קָּצִ֗יר בַּקָּצִ֑יר בַּקָּצִ֔יר בַּקָּצִ֣יר בקציר בקצירי׃ הַקָּצִ֖יר הַקָּצִיר֙ הקציר וְ֠קָצִיר וְקָצִּֽיר׃ וּבַקָּצִ֖יר וּקְצִ֣יר ובקציר וקציר לַקָּצִ֔יר לקציר קְצִ֣יר קְצִ֥יר קְצִֽירְךָ֖ קְצִֽירְךָ֙ קְצִֽירְךָ֜ קְצִֽירְךָ֨ קְצִֽיר־ קְצִיר֔וֹ קְצִיר֨וֹ ׀ קְצִירְךָ֖ קְצִירְכֶ֖ם קְצִירֵ֖ךְ קְצִירֶ֣הָ קְצִירָ֑הּ קְצִירָהּ֙ קְצִירֽוֹ׃ קְצִיר־ קָצִ֑יר קָצִ֔יר קָצִ֖יר קָצִ֗יר קָצִ֛יר קָצִ֣יר קָצִֽיר׃ קָצִיר֙ קציר קציר־ קציר׃ קצירה קצירו קצירו׃ קצירך קצירכם bakkaTzir baq·qā·ṣîr ḇaq·qā·ṣîr baqqāṣîr ḇaqqāṣîr biktziRi biq·ṣî·rî biqṣîrî hakkaTzir haq·qā·ṣîr haqqāṣîr kaTzir ketzir ketziRah ketziRech ketzireCha ketzireChem ketziReha ketziRo lakkaTzir laq·qā·ṣîr laqqāṣîr qā·ṣîr qāṣîr qə·ṣî·rāh qə·ṣî·re·hā qə·ṣî·rə·ḵā qə·ṣî·rə·ḵem qə·ṣî·rêḵ qə·ṣî·rōw qə·ṣîr qə·ṣîr- qəṣîr qəṣîr- qəṣîrāh qəṣîrehā qəṣîrêḵ qəṣîrəḵā qəṣîrəḵem qəṣîrōw ū·ḇaq·qā·ṣîr ū·qə·ṣîr ūḇaqqāṣîr ukeTzir ūqəṣîr uvakkaTzir vakkaTzir Vekatzir vekatzTzir wə·qā·ṣîr wə·qāṣ·ṣîr wəqāṣîr wəqāṣṣîr
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