H2785 H2785
from grape-seeds/kernels (part of the Nazirite prohibition)
This term appears in Numbers 6:4, specifying that a Nazirite must eat nothing from the grapevine, 'from seeds to skin' (מֵחַרְצַנִּים וְעַד-זָג). The phrase uses the smallest internal part (seeds) and outer covering (skin) to bracket total abstention from grape products. Jewish tradition and translations understand 'chartzanim' as grape kernels or seeds, emphasizing their bitter or acrid taste. The comprehensive prohibition—'from X to Y'—is a Hebrew idiom indicating totality.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The Nazirite vow required complete separation from wine and grape products, expressed through this merism (seeds to skin = everything). The specification of even grape seeds, normally discarded as inedible, emphasizes the absoluteness of the prohibition. The preposition 'from' begins this phrase, which continues 'even to skin,' creating a bracket of smallest-to-outermost parts. This total abstention marked Nazirites as specially consecrated, separated from even tangential contact with wine culture. 1×
AR["مِنْ-الْبُذُورِ"]·ben["-থেকে-বীজ"]·DE["von-Samen"]·EN["from-seeds"]·FR["de-semences"]·heb["מ-חרצנים"]·HI["बीजों-से"]·ID["dari-biji-bijiannya"]·IT["da-semi"]·jav["saking-wiji"]·KO["씨들-에서"]·PT["de-semente"]·RU["от-семечек"]·ES["de-semillas"]·SW["Mhrtsnim"]·TR["-den-çekirdeklerinden"]·urd["بیجوں-سے"]
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
† חַרְצַנִּים n.m.pl. some insignificant vine-product, usually taken as grape-kernels, grapestones, from acrid taste, so Thes (after Onk Mishn.), v. also זָג p. 260 supr.: מִגֶּפֶן הַיַּיִן מֵח׳ וְעַד־זָג Nu 6:4 of the wine-vine, including both חרצנים and זג, he shall not eat.