Grass

Grass is the somewhat indistinct rendering in the Engl. Vers. of several Heb. terms:

1. It is the ordinary rendering of the Hebrew word חָצַיר, Chatsir', which signifies properly an inclosed spot, from the root חָצִר, to inclose; but this root also has the second meaning to Nourish, and hence the noun frequently signifies "fodder," food of cattle. It designates ripe grass fit for mowing and for feed, and in this sense it occurs in 1Ki 18:5; Job 40:5; Ps 104:14; Isa 15:6, etc. As the herbage rapidly fades under the parching heat of the sun of Palestine, it has afforded to the sacred writers an image of the fleeting nature of human fortunes (Job 8:12; Ps 37:2), and also of the brevity of human life (Isa 40:6-7; Ps 90:5). The Sept. renders חָצַיר by βοτάνη and πόα, but most frequently by χόρτος a word which in Greek has passed through the very same modifications of meaning as its Hebrew representative χόρτος =gramen, "fodder," is properly a. court or inclosed space for cattle to feed in (Homer, Il. 11:774), and then any feeding-place, whether inclosed or not (Eurip. Iph. T. 134, χόρτοι εὔδενὃροι). Gesenius questions whether חָצַיר χόρτος, and the Sanse. harit=green, may not be traceable to the same root. See LEEK.

In the N.T., wherever the word grass occurs, it is the representative of the Greek χόρτος. The dry stalks of grass, etc. were often used as fuel for the oven (Mt 6:30; Mt 13:30; Lu 12:28). See FUEL.