Grass

See under TREES.

דשא , Gen 1:11, the well known vegetable upon which flocks and herds feed, and which decks our fields, and refreshes our sight with its grateful verdure. Its feeble frame and transitory duration are mentioned in Scripture as emblematic of the frail condition and fleeting existence of man. The inspired poets draw this picture with such inimitable beauty as the laboured elegies on mortality of ancient and modern times have never surpassed. See Psa 90:6, and particularly Isa 40:6-8: “The voice said, Cry! And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it, Verily this people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” As, in their decay, the herbs of the fields strikingly illustrate the shortness of human life, so, in the order of their growth, from seeds dead and buried, they give a natural testimony to the doctrine of a resurrection. The Prophet Isaiah, and the Apostle Peter, both speak of bodies rising from the dead, as of so many seeds springing from the ground to renovated existence and beauty, although they do not, as some have absurdly supposed, consider the resurrection as in any sense analogous to the process of vegetation, Isa 26:19; 1Pe 1:24-25.

It is a just remark of Grotius, that the Hebrews ranked the whole vegetable system under two classes, עצ , and עשב . The first is rendered ξυλον, or δενδρον, tree: to express the second, the LXX have adopted χορτος, as their common way to translate one Hebrew word by one Greek word, though not quite proper, rather than by a circumlocution. It is accordingly used in their version of Gen 1:11, where the distinction first occurs, and in most other places. Nor is it with greater propriety rendered grass in English than χορτος in Greek. The same division occurs in Mat 6:30, and Rev 8:7, where our translators have in like manner had recourse to the term grass. Dr. Campbell prefers and uses the word herbage, as coming nearer the meaning of the sacred writer. Under the name herb is comprehended every sort of plant which has not, like trees and shrubs, a perennial stalk. That many, if not all, sorts of shrubs were included by the Hebrews under the denomination, tree, is evident from Jotham’s apologue of the trees choosing a king, Jdg 9:7, where the bramble is mentioned as one. See HAY.

The original word which is thus translated in 1Ki 18:5, 2Ki 19:26, Job 40:15, Psa 37:2, etc.; is rendered herb in Job 8:12; hay, in Pro 27:25, and Isa 15:6; and court, in Isa 34:13 but in Num 11:5, it is translated leeks. Hebrew scholars state that the word signifies ’greens’ or ’grass’ in general; and it is no doubt clear, from the context of most of the above passages, that this must be its meaning. There is therefore no reason why it should not be so translated in all the passages where it occurs, except in the last. It is evidently incorrect to translate it hay, as in the above passages of Proverbs and Isaiah, because the people of Eastern countries, as it has been observed, do not make hay.

In Num 11:5, the word is rendered leeks, and the name is supposed to have been applied to them from the resemblance of their leaves to grass, and from their being conspicuous for their green color. It is probable, however, as suggested by Hengstenberg, that the vegetable really meant is a kind of grass called the fenugreek, an annual plant known in Egypt under the name of Helbeh. It very much resembles clover, except that it has more pointed leaves and whitish blossoms, and is eaten by the common people in Egypt with special relish. ’Although,’ says Sonnini, ’horses, oxen, and the buffaloes eat this helbeh with equal relish, it appears not to be destined equally for the sustenance of animals.’ The Egyptians themselves eat the fenugreek so much, that it can properly be called the food of men. In the month of November they cry ’Green helbeh for sale’ in the streets of the towns. It is tied up in large bunches which the inhabitants eagerly purchase at a low price, and which they eat with incredible greediness, without any species of seasoning. They pretend that this singular diet is an excellent stomachic or specific against worms and dysentery; in fine, a preservative against a great number of maladies. After so many excellent properties, real or supposed, it is not astonishing that the Egyptians hold this ’grass’ in so great estimation, that, according to one of their proverbs, ’Fortunate are the feet which tread the earth on which grows the helbeh.’

Sometimes means any green herbage, Isa 15:6, and sometimes the usual food of cattle, Psa 104:14 . The quick growth of grass, its tenderness, and its rapid combustion when dry, have furnished the sacred writers with some of their most appropriate illustrations, Psa 90:5,6 92:7 103:15,16 Isa 40:6-8 51:12 Jas 1:10 1Pe 1:24 . All sorts of grass and small shrubs are still used in Syria for fuel, on account of the scarcity of wood, Mat 6:28-30 . Travelers in that country often see grass growing on the housetops, the roofs being flat and coated with earth trodden hard. Such grass quickly withers when the rainy season is over, Psa 129:6,7 Isa 37:27 .\par

Its rapid fading in the heat of Palestine is a frequent image of man’s frailty (Psa 103:14-15; Psa 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-7). In Jer 50:11 for "the heifer at grass" (i.e., fat and frisky), since the gender of "at grass" dasha, confounded with desha "grass") does not agree with eglah "a heifer," translated "a heifer threshing (treading out) grain." The strongest were used for threshing, and as the law did not allow their mouth to be muzzled in threshing (Deu 25:4) they waxed wanton with superabundant food, an image of Judea’s insolent destroyers.

It is a coincidence undesigned, and therefore a mark of genuineness, that by three evangelists the "grass" is noticed in the miraculous feeding of the 5,000; John (Joh 6:10) saying, "there was much grass in the place" (a notable circumstance in Palestine, where grass is neither perennial nor universal; the latter rain and sunshine stimulate its rapid growth, but the scorching summer soon withers it and leaves the hills bare); Mark (Mar 6:39), with his usual graphic vividness, mentioning "the green grass"; Matthew (Mat 14:19) simply stating Christ’s command to "sit down on the grass." But in the feeding of the 4,000 the multitude in both Gospels (Mat 15:35; Mar 8:6) are commanded to "sit down on the ground."

This delicate distinction disproves the notion that the two miracles are really different versions of the same miracle, as also that of the 12 (small) baskets (kofinoi) in the miracle of the 5,000, and the seven (larger) baskets (spurides) in that of the 4,000. Compare Mat 16:9-10 with Mat 14:20; Luk 9:17; kofinoi) being uniformly applied to the former miracle, spurides) to the latter (Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences). In Mat 6:30 "the lily" is classed with "the grass of the field." "Grass" must here be used for all that grows in the field, wild flowers as well as grasses, herbage.

is the somewhat indistinct rendering in the Engl. Vers. of several Heb. terms:

1. It is the ordinary rendering of the Hebrew word חָצַיר, Chatsir’, which signifies properly an inclosed spot, from the root חָצִר, to inclose; but this root also has the second meaning to Nourish, and hence the noun frequently signifies "fodder," food of cattle. It designates ripe grass fit for mowing and for feed, and in this sense it occurs in 1Ki 18:5; Job 40:5; Psa 104:14; Isa 15:6, etc. As the herbage rapidly fades under the parching heat of the sun of Palestine, it has afforded to the sacred writers an image of the fleeting nature of human fortunes (Job 8:12; Psa 37:2), and also of the brevity of human life (Isa 40:6-7; Psa 90:5). The Sept. renders חָצַירby βοτάνη and πόα, but most frequently by χόρτος a word which in Greek has passed through the very same modifications of meaning as its Hebrew representative χόρτος =gramen, "fodder," is properly a. court or inclosed space for cattle to feed in (Homer, Il. 11:774), and then any feeding-place, whether inclosed or not (Eurip. Iph. T. 134, χόρτοι εὔδενὃροι). Gesenius questions whether חָצַירχόρτος, and the Sanse. harit=green, may not be traceable to the same root. SEE LEEK.

In the N.T., wherever the word grass occurs, it is the representative of the Greek χόρτος. The dry stalks of grass, etc. were often used as fuel for the oven (Mat 6:30; Mat 13:30; Luk 12:28). SEE FUEL.

2. The next most usual, and indeed, more appropriate word, is דֶּשֶׁא, green grass, from the root to דָּשָׁאgerminate. This is the word rendered grass in Gen 1:11-12, where it is distinguished from שֶׂבe’seb, the latter signifying herbs suitable for human food, while the former is herbage for cattle. Genenius says it is used chiefly concerning grass, which has no seed (at least none obvious to general observers), and the smaller weeds which spring up spontaneaously from the soil. It properly signifies the first. shoots from the earth tender grass, young herbage, as clothing the meadows, and as affording the choice food of beasts (Genesis 1, Isa 66:14; Deu 32:2; 2Sa 23:4; Job 6:5; Psa 37:2, etc.). The sickly and forced blades of grass which spring up on the flat plastered roofs of houses in the East are used as an emblem of speedy destruction, becauses they are small and weak, and, being in an elevated part, with little earth, exposed to the scorching rays of the sun they soon wither away (2Ki 19:26; Psa 129:6; Isa 37:27). (See Hackett’s Illustra. of Scrip. page 125.) The Sept. renders it by χλόη, as well as by χόρτος, βοτάνη and πόα. In Dan 4:15; Dan 4:20, the corresposding Chaldee, דָּתָאdethe, is used. SEE HERB.

In Jer 1:11, the A.V. renders כְּ גְלָה דָשָׁאas the heifer at grass, and the Sept. ὡς βοϊvδια ἐν βοτάνῃ. It should be "as the heifer treading out corn" (comp. Hos 10:11). דָּשָׁא, dascha’, the word here employed, comes from דּוּשׁ, to triturate, and has been confounded with the preceding term. SEE FODDER.

3. שֶׂב, is used in Deut., is the Psalms, and in the Prophets, and as distinguished from the foregoing., דֶּשֶׁאsignifies herbs for human food (Gen 1:30; Psa 104:14), but also fodder for cattle (Deu 11:15; Jer 11:6). It is the grass of the field (Gen 2:5; Exo 9:22) and of the mountain (Isa 42:15; Pro 27:25). SEE HAY.

4. In Num 22:4, where mention is made of the ox licking up the grass of the field, the Heb. word is יֶרֶק, ye’rek, which elsewhere is rendered green when followed by דֶּשֶׁאor שֶׂב, as in Gen 1:30, and Psa 37:2. It answers to the German das Griune, and comes from the root יָרִק, to flourish like grass. — Smith, s.v. SEE GREEN.

לֶקֶשׁ, le’kesh (from לָקִשׁ, to be late ripe), in the "after-math" or "rowen" that springs up on meadows after being once rown ("latter growth," Amo 7:1). SEE MEADOW.

"Mown grass" is גֵּז, gez, a mowing or mown meadow (Psa 72:6; Amo 7:1). SEE MOWER.

Dry grass or self-made hay is called חָשִׁשׁ, chashash’, "chaff" (Isa 5:24; Isa 33:11). SEE STUBBLE.

As in Mat 6:30, where a lily is called "the grass of the field," it is evident that, like the Latin gramen and the English "grass," the Hebrew equivalent had a very extensive range, and was not restricted to the "grasses" (Gramineae) of the botanist. These are themselves a very ample order, ranging from diminutive plants like our own mouse-ear barley to the bamboo which shoots up to a height of fifty or sixty feet in an Indian jungle, and including productions as various as the Arundo donax of Southern Europe, which furnishes the fisherman with his rod and the weaver with his "reed," the cereals which supply to all mankind the staff of life, and the sugar-cane which, on the table of the humblest artisan in Europe or America, places luxuries unknown to a Roman emperor. SEE REED.

But when we speak of grass we are usually thinking of the narrow blades, so thickset and tender, which form the sward on a meadow, or the matchless turf on an English lawn. Or, if we are thinking of a separate plant, it is a hollow glossy stem rising up from the midst of these spiry blades, and throwing out similar leaves from its joints, till it ends in blossoming spikelets, loose or more compact, which, when the flowering time is over, show the taper corn-like seeds enclosed in the chaffy glumes, and which we destine as food for the cattle, even as we reserve the fruit of the cereal grasses as food for ourselves. The fescues, darnels, and poas, which clothe the meadows and build up the hay-ricks at home, are pigmies, however, when compared with the grass "which grows for the cattle" of other lands; with the "tussac," for instance, whose enormous tufts form an inexhaustible supply to the herds both amphibious and terrestrial of the Falkland Isles, and the beautiful pampas-grass, under which the huntsman can ride and see high overhead its "plume of silvery feathers."

The imperfect enumeration which we possess of grasses native to Palestine is of less importance, as the scriptural allusions may very well be understood without being able to identify the species. The psalmist wishes (Psa 129:6) that the haters of Zion may be "as the grass upon the house-tops which withereth afore it groweth up," or, as it should be rendered, "before it is plucked up" (see Hengstenberg, Walford, etc.); .and Isaiah (Isa 37:27) speaks of vanquished populations "as the grass of the field, as the grass on the house-tops, blasted before it be grown up." On the flat roofs at the present day any one may see grass which has sprung up in the rainy season, withered away by the first weeks of sunshine. "When I first came to reside in Jerusalem," says Dr. Thomson, "my house was connected with an ancient church, the roof of which was covered with a thick coat of grass. This being in the way of a man employed to repair my house, he actually set fire to it and burned it off; and I have seen others do the same thing without the slightest hesitation. Nor is there any danger; for it would require a large expense for fuel sufficient to burn the present city of Jerusalem" (Land and Book, 2:574). Indeed nearer home we may often see grass and even oats springing up on the roof of a thatched cottage, and a goat peradventure nibbling the herbage before it is withered. The dew "distilling" on the grass, and the rain descending on the mown grass, or rather on the grass which has been close-browsed by the cattle, furnish the sacred poetry with a frequent and exquisite image (Deu 32:2; Psa 72:6; Pro 19:12; Mic 5:7); and still more frequently does that emblem occur in which our fleeting generations are compared to the grass "which in the morning groweth up, and which in the evening is cut down and withereth" (Psa 90:6; Psa 37:2; Psa 92:7; Psa 102:11; Psa 103:15; Isa 40:6; Jas 1:10; 1Pe 1:24).

Grass. There are several Hebrew words which are translated "grass" in our version; but the translation is not uniform. Once, Num 11:5, the word ordinarily translated "grass" is rendered "leeks." That which grows upon the flattened terraces of eastern house-tops is very soon withered by the scorching rays of the sun. 2Ki 19:26; Psa 90:5-6; Psa 129:6; Isa 40:6-8; 1Pe 1:24.

This word is often used in scripture for any kind of small herb or fodder. It is frequently referred to metaphorically to represent human frailty. "Surely the people is grass: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth." Isa 40:7-8. It is growing one day, and the next it is cast into the oven as fuel. Mat 6:30.

GRASS.—In the OT there are several Heb. words which are translated ‘grass,’ but they are all very general terms; in the NT the only word so translated is χόρτος. Strictly speaking, no plant should be called a grass unless it belongs to the botanical order Gramineae, but this is a comparatively modern distinction. The Biblical writers do not, of course, employ the term with scientific precision. The modern Arab includes, under the common designation hashîsh (grass), field-flowers such as anemones, poppies, and tulips. If, as is probable, it was in this wider sense that Christ and His contemporaries used the word, it lends new point and charm to His appeal, ‘If God so clothe the grass of the field’ (Mat 6:30), and invests with fresh beauty the familiar words, ‘All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass’ (1Pe 1:24 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ; cf. Jas 1:10-11).

The true grasses of Palestine are very numerous; Dr. Post gives the figures for Palestine and Syria as 90 genera and 243 species (Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible ii. 258). Pasture grasses vary greatly in quality and profusion according to climate, soil, and elevation. Turf is rare. Grass is much used as fuel (Mat 6:30), especially in districts where wood is scarce (see Oven).

Hugh Duncan.

GRASS.—(1) chatsîr—equivalent of Arab. [Note: Arabic.] khudra, which includes green vegetables; many references, e.g. 1Ki 18:6, 2Ki 19:26; tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘hay’ in Pro 27:25, Isa 15:6, and in Num 11:5 ‘leeks’; refers to herbage in general. (2) deshe’ (Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] dethe), Jer 14:5, Pro 27:25, Job 38:27, Isa 66:14 (‘pasture land’), Dan 4:15; Dan 4:23 (‘tender grass’). (3) yereq, tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘grass,’ Num 22:4; see Herb. (4) çseb, Deu 11:15; Deu 32:2 etc., but tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘herb’ in other places; see Herb. (5) chortos, Mat 6:30, Mar 6:39 etc. Pasturage, as it occurs in Western lands, is unknown in Palestine. Such green herbage appears only for a few weeks, and when the rains cease soon perishes. Hence grass is in the OT a frequent symbol of the shortness of human life (Psa 90:5-7; Psa 103:15, Isa 40:6; cf. 1Pe 1:24). Even more brief is the existence of ‘the grass upon the [mud-made] housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up’ (Psa 129:6).

E. W. G. Masterman.

gras:

(1) חציר, ḥācı̄r, from a root meaning “greenness”; compare Arabic Khudra, which includes grasses and green vegetables (1Ki 18:5; 2Ki 19:26; Job 40:15; Psa 104:14, etc.). Isa 15:6 is translated in the King James Version “have,” the Revised Version (British and American) “grass”; Pro 27:25, English Versions of the Bible “hay,” margin “Hebrew grass”; Num 11:5 English Versions of the Bible translates “leeks.” It is a term for herbage in general.

(2) דּשׁא, deshe’, from root meaning “to sprout abundantly.” Generally translated “tender grass” (Gen 1:11 f; 2Sa 23:4; Job 6:5; Isa 15:6; Isa 66:14; Jer 14:5, etc.); translated “grass” (Job 6:5; Jer 14:5); translated “herb” (2Ki 19:26; Psa 27:2; Isa 37:27; Isa 66:14). In Jer 50:11 we have “heifer at grass” (deshe’) in the King James Version and the Revised Version, margin, but in the Revised Version (British and American) “heifer that treadeth out the grain.” (דּתא, dethe’), the Aramaic form, occurs in Dan 4:15, Dan 4:23, and is translated “tender grass.”

(3) חשׁשׁ, ḥăshash, probably “dry” or “cut grass”; compare Arabic ḥashesh, “dry fodder” or “cut grass” (Isa 5:24, the King James Version “chaff,” the Revised Version (British and American) “dry grass”; Isa 33:11, English Versions of the Bible “chaff”).

(4) לקשׁ, leḳesh, from root meaning “to come late,” hence used in Amo 7:1 for the “latter growth” of grass after mowing.

(5) ירק, yereḳ, literally, “green thing” (Num 22:4, elsewhere translated “herb”).

(6) עשׂב, ‛ēsebh (Deu 11:15, etc.), generally translated “herb” (for (5) and (6) see HERB).

(7) χόρτος, chórtos (Mat 6:30; Mat 14:19; Mar 6:39; Luk 12:28; Joh 6:10; Jas 1:10, Jas 1:11; 1Pe 1:24; Rev 8:7; Rev 9:4); translated “blade” (Mat 13:26 Mar 4:28); translated “hay” (1Co 3:12).

There are 243 species of true grasses (Natural Order, Gramineae) in Palestine, but Hebrew, like modern Arabic, does not discriminate between these and other herbs which together make up herbage. Actual turf is practically unknown in Palestine, and grass seed is not artificially sown; young green barley is used in the neighborhood of towns as fresh fodder for horses and cattle. It is not the native custom to cut herbage for hay, though the writer has seen many carloads of sweet-smelling hay being carried from the land by Circassian settlers, east of the Jordan.

The “grass upon the house tops” (Psa 129:6; Isa 37:27), the growth which springs from the seeds mingled with the mud of which the roof is made, springs up quickly with the rains, but as quickly dries up before it reaches half its normal height - or not infrequently is set on fire.

Dew, rain or showers upon the grass are mentioned (Deu 32:6; Pro 19:12; Mic 5:7; Psa 72:6, “rain upon the mown grass,” i.e. the grass eaten short by cattle).

Psa 37:2 (a) This is a type of the weakness, instability and transient character of the ungodly, who soon die and are forgotten. (See also Psa 90:5; Psa 92:7; Psa 103:15; Psa 129:6).

Psa 72:16 (a) By this figure the Lord is telling us of the great growth of the nation of Israel numerically. When the blessing of GOD rests upon that nation, then they will flourish again as they once did.

Isa 40:6 (a) In this passage the Lord is reminding us that the honors which men bestow, and the position of prominence to which men attain, soon disappear. These are not permanent. The rich man loses his riches; the influential man loses his power; the prominent man becomes obscure, but GOD’s gifts are permanent. (See Isa 51:12).

Isa 44:4 (a) This strange type indicates that GOD’s people will grow beautifully among the many people of the world where they are scattered. It indicates that they will be a spiritual people who will be of noble character and godly attributes. This certainly is the future of Israel when they turn again to the Lord.

Jas 1:11 (a) The rich man in this passage is compared to the grass of the field. His riches disappear, and he himself fades into obscurity. He must lie in the grave side by side with the poor, for there is no difference in death.

1Pe 1:24 (a) The permanent character of the Scriptures is contrasted with the very short life of grass.