Winter, חרף

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English:

Winter

Hebrew:

חרף (ḥoref)

Biblical data

Introduction

חרף (oref) is the Hebrew term for “winter” — the cold and rainy season (Gen 8:22; Jer 36:22; Amos 3:15; Zech 14:8; Ps 74:17; Prov 20:4). On one occasion (Job 29:4), it also serves figuratively to denote “youth”. The Hebrew Bible divides the year into two seasons: קיץ וחרף (“summer” and “winter” in modern Hebrew) (Gen 8:22; Zech 14:8; Ps 74:17) (see the entry “Season”). According to the Harper Collins Bible Dictionary, the Levant experiences two seasons — dry (April–September) and wet (October–March). This division was also common in Mesopotamia (Powell 2011, 930). The denominative verb חרף in Isa 18:6 signifies “to stay during the winter,” paralleling the denominative verb קיץ (“to stay during the summer”). Denoting the residence of birds of prey in the summer and “beasts of the earth” in winter, the expression represents the whole year.

Distribution within the Bible

חרף occurs seven times in the Hebrew Bible, six referring to the cold and rainy season: once in the Pentateuch (Gen 8:22 [Deluge narrative]), four times in the prophetic literature — three times in noun form (Jer 36:22; Amos 3:15; Zach 14:8) and once as a verb (Isa 18:6), once in a liturgical text (Ps 74:17), and once in a proverb (Prov 20:4). On one occasion, it serves as a metaphor for youth (Job 29:4).

Parts, Elements, Features that Are Specified in the Bible

חרף as the antithesis of קיץ. Gen 8:22 records God’s oath not to flood the earth again but to sustain its order — summer and winter, plowing and harvesting seasons, times of cold and warmth. The polarity is also reflected in Isa 18:6, Amos 3:15, and Zech 14:8.

חרף as a cold season. Jer 36:22 describes King Jehoiakim as sitting in his winter house in Jerusalem “with a fire burning in the brazier before him” in the “ninth month” — approximately December-January, the middle of the winter.

חרף as the rainy season. This is implicit in two passages: a) 1 Sam 12:17 is based on the recognition that winter is the rainy season, and rain during wheat harvest time is exceptional; b) the living waters that will flow from Jerusalem in Zech 14:8 are supernatural in flowing in both summer and winter. This is clearly not customary Jerusalemite weather, no rain falling during the summer (see “Summer”).

חרף as the time to plow the land. According to Prov 20:4, the lazy person who misses the proper plowing season, will not have crops in the harvest time.

Function in Context

Winter appears once in a realistic context (Jer 36:22).

Both the winter — being the wet season in Israel and the Levant, which enables agricultural growth, and the summer — its heat and dryness causing vegetation to “die”, serve as metaphors for human life. Job thus refers to his youth as ימי חרפי “the days of my winter” (Job 29:2).

Pairs and Constructions

קיץ וחורף “summer and winter” (Gen 8:22; Zech 14:8; Ps 74:17).

בית הקיץ ובית החורף “the house of summer and the house of winter” (Amos 3:15). Together these two phrases indicate a total calamity — the destruction of both houses (cf. בית החרף alone in Jer 36:22).

קיץ וחרף (verbs) in Isa 18:6 — to stay in the summer/winter.

חרף and קציר (Prov 20:4).

Bibliography

Powell, Mark Allen, ed. 2011. The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary. New York: Harper Collins.

Contributor: Dr. Reuven Givati, PhD in Atmospheric Science (University of California at Davis) and MA in Biblical Studies (Tel Aviv University)

History of Identification

Identification History Table

Hebrew Greek Aramaic Syriac Latin Arabic English
Reference MT LXX Revisions Targumim Peshitta Vulgate Jewish Christian KJV NRSV NJPS
Gen 8:22 חֹרֶף ἔαρ

= spring

O: סִתוָא

PJ: סיתוא

N: {תס}<סת>ב

Nm: סתווה

S: —

= winter

ܘܣܬܘܐ

= winter

hiemps

= winter

شِتَاء winter winter winter
Jer 36:22 בית החֹרֶף χειμερινῷ

= of winter

סִתוָא ܒܝܬ ܣܬܘܐ݂

 

hiemali

= of winter

بيت آلشِّتَاء winter winter winter
Amos 3:15 בית החֹרֶף περίπτερον

= surrounded by columns

סִתוָא / סתרא ܒܝܬ ܣܬܘܐ݂

 

hiemalem بيت آلشِّتَاء winter winter winter
Zech 14:8 חֹרֶף ἔαρι סִתוָא ܘܣܬܘܐ hieme وفي آلخريف winter winter winter
Ps 74:17 חֹרֶף ἔαρ סיתוא ܘܣܬܘܐ hiemem آلشِّتَاء winter winter winter
Job 29:4 בימי חָרְפִּי ἐπιβρίθων ὁδοῖς

= pressing on my ways (contextual guess?)

חריפותי

= sharpness

(translator read as II חרף)

ܒܝܘ̈ܡܝ ܚܣܕܝ݁.

= shame

(translator read as II חרף)

adulescentiae

= youth

في أيام خريفي youth prime prime
Prov 20:4 חֹרֶף ὀνειδιζόμενος

= reproached

(translator read as חרף II)

מתחסר / מתחסד

= is in want / behaves dishonorably

(translator read as II חרף)

ܡܬ݁ܚܣܕ

= behaves dishonorably

(translator read as II חרף)

frigus

= cold

آلشِّتَاء the cold season winter
Isa 18:6 עליו תֶּחֱרָף ἥξει

= will have come

(contextual guess?)

יַעבְדוּן סִתוָא

= the winter will pass

ܥܠܘܗܝ ܬ݂ܪܓܙ

= will be angry with it

hiemabunt

= will winter

وتشتّي عليها

= will spend winter upon it

shall winter will winter shall winter

Discussion

The term חֹרֶף appears to have puzzled the Septuagintal translators. On three occasions (Gen 8:22; Zech 14:8; Ps 74:17), it is rendered as ἔαρ (spring). In Jer 36:22, it is translated χειμερινός (of winter). In Amos 3:15, where it occurs in construct with בית (house), περίπτερος (surrounded by columns) is used. In this and other instances (Job 29:4; Isa 18:6), the translators may simply have guessed. Other ancient translations — the Targumim (סתו), Peshitta (stw), and Vulgate (hiems and derivatives), and the Arabic (شِتَاء or خريف ‘autumn’) — consistently render the term as the season “winter” (or “autumn”).

Contributor: Dr. Raanan Eichler, Department of Bible Studies, Bar Ilan University

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