H1877 H1877
Grass, tender herbage; also threshing (from a separate root דּוּשׁ)
The noun דֶּשֶׁא is one of the Bible's primary words for fresh, tender vegetation — the green carpet that springs from the earth at God's command in Gen 1:11-12. It denotes young grass before it matures, contrasted with חָצִיר (dried hay) in Prov 27:25. Rain refreshes it (Deut 32:2), God causes it to sprout (Job 38:27), and the Psalmist rests beside its pastures (Ps 23:2). In prophetic and wisdom imagery, it becomes a metaphor for human frailty — the wicked spring up like דֶּשֶׁא only to wither (Ps 92:7, Isa 15:6). A single occurrence (Jer 50:11) represents a separate verbal root meaning 'to thresh.'
Senses
1. grass, tender vegetation — Young grass, tender green herbage that springs from the ground — the fresh vegetation produced at creation (Gen 1:11-12) and sustained by rain and divine care. Used 14 times, it consistently denotes the earliest, most tender stage of plant growth. The earth תַּדְשֵׁא דֶּשֶׁא ('brings forth grass,' Gen 1:11) in a cognate accusative construction. Multilingual glosses converge tightly: 'hierba,' 'herbe,' 'Grünes,' 'grass.' The word appears in some of Scripture's most beloved imagery: the still-water pastures of Ps 23:2 (נְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא), the rain-metaphor of Deut 32:2, and the simile of transient human life in 2 Kgs 19:26 and Isa 37:27. 14×
AR["العُشْبِ", "النَّباتُ", "الْعُشْبُ-النَّاعِمُ", "الْعُشْبِ", "الْعُشْبِ.", "خَضْرَاءَ", "عُشْبًا", "عُشْبٌ", "عُشْبٍ", "كَالْعُشْبِ"]·ben["ঘাস", "ঘাসের", "ঘাসের-মতো", "টাটকা", "তৃণ", "তৃণের", "নতুন-ঘাস", "শাক-সব্জির"]·DE["Grünes", "[דשא]", "[כדשא]", "grass", "grünen-Gras", "herb", "vegetation"]·EN["grass", "green-grass", "herb", "like-the-grass", "new-growth", "vegetation"]·FR["grass", "herb", "herbe", "végétation", "דשא"]·heb["דשא", "כ-דשא"]·HI["घास", "घास-का", "घास-की", "घास-की-तरह", "हरियाली", "हरी"]·ID["hijau", "rumput", "rumput-hijau", "rumput-muda", "seperti-rumput-muda", "tunas", "tunas-tunas-segar"]·IT["erba", "grass", "herb", "nuovo-growth", "vegetation"]·jav["ijo", "kados-suket", "rumput", "suket", "suket-ijo", "tetuwuhan"]·KO["새-풀이", "잔디가", "푸른-것", "풀", "풀-의", "풀위에", "풀의", "풀이", "풀처럼"]·PT["como-a-relva", "de-relva.", "o-capim", "relva", "relva.", "verdes"]·RU["дёрна", "зелень", "как-hа-зелень", "трава", "травой", "траву", "травы"]·ES["como-la-hierba", "de-hierba", "hierba", "hierba-tierna", "la-hierba", "pasto", "vegetación"]·SW["kama-nyasi", "kijani", "mabichi", "majani", "majani-mabichi", "mchanga", "nyasi", "ya-kijani", "ya-majani"]·TR["bitki", "cimen", "ot", "yemliin", "yeşil", "yeşillik", "çimen", "çimen-gibi", "çimenin", "çimenlerin", "çimin"]·urd["سبزہ", "سبزی", "سبزے", "گھاس", "گھاس کا", "گھاس-کی-طرح", "ہری", "ہریالی"]
Gen 1:11, Gen 1:12, Deut 32:2, 2 Sam 23:4, 2 Kgs 19:26, Job 6:5, Job 38:27, Ps 23:2, Ps 37:2, Prov 27:25, Isa 15:6, Isa 37:27 (+2 more)
2. threshing — A Qal feminine singular participle from the separate root דּוּשׁ, meaning 'threshing' — the act of separating grain from husk. In Jer 50:11, Babylon is compared to a heifer that 'threshes' (דָּשָׁה), reveling in abundance while trampling. Spanish 'que trilla' and English 'threshing' confirm this as an entirely different semantic domain from the grass-noun — an artifact of homographic overlap in Hebrew where two roots share the same consonantal skeleton. 1×
AR["دَارِسَةٍ"]·ben["ঘাসে"]·DE["[דשה]"]·EN["threshing"]·FR["herbe"]·heb["דשה"]·HI["दांवते-हुई"]·ID["yang-mengirik"]·IT["erba"]·jav["ingkang-ngiloni"]·KO["타작하는"]·PT["que-debulha"]·RU["молотящая"]·ES["que-trilla"]·SW["iliyolishwa"]·TR["har-öğütcü"]·urd["گھاس-کھاتی"]
Related Senses
H3754 1. vineyard, cultivated grape plot (92×)H0730 1. cedar tree or wood (73×)H1612 1. vine, grapevine (55×)H3293a 1. forest, wood, thicket (55×)H5560 1. fine flour (53×)H5193 1. plant vegetation (48×)H2232 1. sow seed, plant crops (41×)H1715 1. grain, cereal crop (40×)H7114b 1. reap, harvest grain (36×)H2132 1. olive tree (34×)H8184 1. barley (34×)H2406 1. wheat (grain crop) (30×)H7070 1. reed, cane (plant) (30×)H7848 1. acacia (28×)H8328 1. root of a plant (28×)H8384 1. fig tree (25×)H5488 1. reeds, rushes (in 'Sea of Reeds') (24×)G0290 1. a vineyard (23×)G2325 1. reap, harvest a crop (21×)G4687 1. sow seed, plant (21×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† דֶּ֫שֶׁא n.m. Is 15:6 grass (NH id., Assyrian dišu, herb, Lyon Sargontexte 69; Sab. דתֿא fresh shoots DHMZMG 1875, 597 = springtime CISiv. p. 11; Aramaic דִּתְאָה, ܬܰܕܐܴܐ (cf. LagBN 130))—ד׳ abs. Gn 1:11 + 13 times—acc. cogn. תַּדְשֵׁא Gn 1:11; cf. v 12 (in both, produced by earth); springing out of earth 2 S 23:4; of a second crop of grass Pr 27:25 (opp. חָצִיר); caused to spring forth by God…