גַּת (gat)
gat
wine press
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 4 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Word Overview
The noun gat refers to a wine press or vat, a specific vessel used in ancient agricultural processing. The sources define it simply as the structure where grapes were crushed and their juice collected. This word appears only four times in the Hebrew Bible, making it a rare but concrete term for daily life.
Its occurrences highlight its practical function rather than symbolic meaning. It is mentioned in Judges 6:11, where Gideon threshes wheat to hide it from the Midianites, and in Nehemiah 13:15, describing people treading wine presses in the city on the Sabbath. Lamentations 1:15 also uses the term to depict God’s judgment as treading the city like grapes in a press.
Unlike broader terms for pressing equipment, gat points specifically to the receptacle or pit itself. The brevity of its scriptural use means it serves as a precise historical detail rather than a theological metaphor. Translators consistently render it as "wine press" or "vat," preserving the image of agricultural labor and, in Lamentations, divine judgment.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word gat points to a simple, heavy stone vat used for crushing grapes. In ancient Israel, this was not just a tool but a central part of the harvest season. It represents the hard work required to turn raw fruit into something valuable and enduring. When we read about these presses in Scripture, we see a picture of honest labor and the quiet dignity of daily life.
Yet the image also carries weight beyond agriculture. In Lamentations, the prophet uses the wine press to describe the pain of judgment, showing how God can use even the most familiar objects to speak about deep spiritual realities. This duality reminds us that our own seasons of pressure—whether for growth or for correction—are known to God. He sees the work we do and the burdens we carry.
Understanding this concrete term helps ground our faith in history. It connects us to the physical world where God placed humanity to work. Whether we are experiencing the joy of harvest or the weight of a difficult season, we can trust that God is present in both the crushing and the pressing.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 4 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- winepresses1×
- in/ a winepress1×
- in the/ winepress1×
- a winepress1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- גַּ֚ת1×
- גִּתּ֣וֹת\׀1×
- בַּ/גַּ֔ת1×
- בְּ/גַֽת\׃1×
Key Verses
-
Lamentations 1:15
“The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men within me. He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah as in a wine press.
This verse uses the image of treading grapes to vividly depict the intensity of divine judgment upon Jerusalem.
-
Judges 6:11
Yahweh’s angel came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.
Gideon’s location at the wine press highlights how oppression forced ordinary people into hiding while trying to provide for their families.
-
Nehemiah 13:15
In those days I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath in Judah, bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I testified against them in the day in which they sold food.
The mention of treading in the presses serves as evidence that commercial activity was violating the Sabbath rest.