חֶרְמֵשׁ (cher.mesh)
cher.mesh
sickle
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The Hebrew noun cheresh refers to a sickle, the curved blade used for harvesting grain in the ancient Near East. With only one occurrence in the Hebrew Bible, this tool appears in Deuteronomy 23:25, where the law permits a traveler to pluck and eat ripe grapes from a neighbor’s vineyard or cut heads of grain with a sickle while passing through a field.
This specific usage highlights a tension between property rights and human need. The text allows for immediate sustenance but implicitly restricts mass harvesting by forbidding the use of a sickle to gather large quantities, which would constitute theft. The image conveys a balance: providing for hunger without exploiting the labor or resources of another.
As a rare term, cheresh anchors this legal principle in concrete agricultural reality. It reminds readers that biblical law often addresses daily life with practical wisdom, ensuring that survival needs are met while maintaining social order and respect for ownership.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word cheresh describes a simple but essential tool: the curved blade used for harvesting grain in ancient times. It appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, anchoring a specific legal principle in Deuteronomy 23:25. This law allowed travelers to pluck grapes or cut grain with a sickle while passing through a neighbor’s field. It was not a license to harvest entire fields, but a permission to satisfy immediate hunger.
This image reminds us that biblical law balances property rights with human need. God cares about both the laborer’s right to their crop and the traveler’s right to eat. The sickle represents a practical wisdom that respects ownership while ensuring survival. It shows that faith is lived out in daily, concrete actions rather than abstract theories.
For your life today, this word invites you to consider how you handle resources and relationships. Are you generous with what you have? Do you respect the boundaries of others while still showing kindness? The sickle teaches us that provision and propriety can coexist. May you find wisdom in balancing care for others with respect for their work.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- a sickle1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- חֶרְמֵשׁ֙1×
Key Verses
-
Deuteronomy 16:9
You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.
This verse links the counting of weeks to the physical act of using a sickle on standing grain, grounding the festival timeline in agricultural reality.