HAROSHETH

(Ha·roʹsheth).

A site, called fully “Harosheth of the nations,” that served as military headquarters for Sisera, the army chief of the Canaanite king Jabin, who ruled in Hazor. (Judg. 4:2, 13) Judge Barak pressed his victory over these enemy forces to this same point. (Vs. 16) The name “Harosheth” seems to be preserved at el-Harithiyeh, near the western exit of the Plain of Esdraelon and about eleven miles (17.7 kilometers) NW of Megiddo. However, geographers usually hold that the actual ancient site was at nearby Tell ʽAmr.

HARP

This translates the Hebrew word kin·nohrʹ, the name of the first musical instrument mentioned in Scripture (Gen. 4:21, AS, Da, Fn, Kx, NW, Yg), also rendered “lyre” in a number of Bible translations. (JB, Mo, Ro, RS) In twenty-one of the forty-two occurrences of kin·nohrʹ in the Bible, the translators of the Septuagint Version rendered it by the Greek ki·thaʹra. The ki·thaʹra was an instrument resembling the lyre (Gr., lyʹra), but had a more shallow sounding board. Modern translations generally render ki·thaʹra in the Christian Greek Scriptures as “harp.” (1 Cor. 14:7; Rev. 5:8) Pictorial representations on Egyptian monuments indicate that ancient harps were of many styles and shapes, with a varying number of strings. In view of those points, some have suggested that kin·nohrʹ may have been a somewhat general term designating any instrument incorporating basic features of the ancient harp.

All that the Hebrew Scriptures definitely indicate about the kin·nohrʹ is that it was portable and comparatively light in weight, since it could be played in a procession, or even by a prostitute as she sang, walking through a city. (1 Sam. 10:5; 2 Sam. 6:5; Isa. 23:15, 16) Some were made of “almug” wood. (1 Ki. 10:12) The strings may have been made from the small intestines of sheep, although perhaps spun vegetable fibers were also used.

David, who was skilled in playing the kin·nohrʹ “with his hand” (1 Sam. 16:16, 23), assigned this instrument a prominent place along with the ‘stringed instrument’ (neʹvel) in the orchestra that later played at Solomon’s temple. (1 Chron. 25:1; 2 Chron. 29:25) When Nehemiah inaugurated Jerusalem’s wall, the kin·nohrʹ added to the joy of the occasion. (Neh. 12:27) Since the kin·nohrʹ was essentially a “pleasant” instrument of “exultation,” its sound would cease at times of judgment or punishment. (Ps. 81:2; Ezek. 26:13; Isa. 24:8, 9) Saddened by their captivity in Babylon, exiled Israelites had no inclination to play their harps, but hung them upon poplar trees.—Ps. 137:1, 2.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding the precise identity of the kin·nohrʹ, and especially the neʹvel (stringed instrument), any attempt to compare the two instruments is speculative. First Chronicles 15:20, 21 mentions “stringed instruments [n^eva·limʹ (plural)] tuned to Alamoth, . . . harps [kin·no·rohthʹ (plural)] tuned to Sheminith.” If “Alamoth” refers to a higher musical register and “Sheminith” to a lower tonal range, this could imply that the kin·nohrʹ was the larger, lower-pitched instrument. On the other hand, the reverse could be true (which is the general consensus of thought) if, indeed, Alamoth and Sheminith are specifically here mentioned because of being exceptional tunings for these instruments. In any event, both instruments were portable.

At Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, 15, the Aramaic word sab·b^ekhaʼʹ seems to refer to a “triangular harp” (NW), also rendered as “trigon” (AT, JB, RS) and “sambuca.” (Da) The sab·b^ekhaʼʹ is described by some as a small, shrill, triangular, four-stringed harp, which description harmonizes with the above renderings.

[Picture on page 716]

Three captives playing lyres as shown on an Assyrian relief

HARPOON

A barbed, spearlike instrument generally used in striking large fish. Reference is made to the harpoon only at Job 41:7, drawing attention to the armorlike quality of the skin of Leviathan (the crocodile), which resists penetration by an ordinary harpoon.—See CROCODILE.

HARSHA

(Harʹsha) [mute, or, taciturn].

Ancestral head of a family of Nethinim temple slaves, members of which returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel in 537 B.C.E.—Ezra 2:1, 2, 43, 52; Neh. 7:54.

HARUM

(Haʹrum).

A man of the tribe of Judah.—1 Chron. 4:1, 8.

HARUMAPH

(Ha·ruʹmaph) [probably, having a mutilated nose].

Father (or fore-father) of the Jedaiah who helped Nehemiah rebuild Jerusalem’s wall.—Neh. 3:10.

HARUZ

(Haʹruz) [possibly, gold, or, eager].

A man from Jotbah; the grandfather of King Amon of Judah and the father of Meshullemeth the wife of King Manasseh.—2 Ki. 21:19, 20.

HARVEST

The gathering of crops; one of the things that will never cease “all the days the earth continues.” (Gen. 8:22) Certain Biblical happenings were noted as occurring in relation to the time of harvest.—Gen. 30:14; Josh. 3:15; Judg. 15:1; Ruth 1:22; 2:23; 1 Sam. 6:13; 2 Sam. 21:9; 23:13.

Harvesttime was accompanied by great rejoicing, although much hard work was required to gather the crops. (Ps. 126:5, 6; Isa. 9:3; 16:9, 10) It was no time for sleeping, the lazy one being admonished to take a lesson from the ant, which gathers its food in the harvest.—Prov. 6:6-11; 10:5.

SABBATHS AND JUBILEE

God’s law to Israel outlined certain requirements and provisions regarding the harvest. Important as it was, the Israelites were not relieved of their obligation to observe the sabbath, the Law making no provision for harvesting on that day in the event of an emergency. (Ex. 34:21; compare Nehemiah 13:15.) Since no sowing was to be done during the sabbath year, as well as the Jubilee year, there would, of course, be no crops to gather in, with the exception of the growth from spilled kernels of the former harvest. But even this was not to be harvested by the owner, although he, his slaves and his hired laborers, settlers and alien residents, domestic animals and wild beasts could eat of the land’s produce.—Ex. 23:10, 11; Lev. 25:3-7, 11, 12, 20-22.

CARE FOR POOR, AND FIRSTFRUITS

The Israelites were not to reap the edges of their fields completely nor to pick up the gleanings of their harvest, as such leftovers of their grainfields and vineyards were designated for the afflicted one and the alien resident. (Lev. 19:9, 10; 23:22; Deut. 24:19) The firstfruits of each harvest were to be presented to Jehovah. (Lev. 23:10, 11; Deut. 26:1-4) The fruit of a tree was not to be gathered for personal use until its fifth year. (Lev. 19:23-25) An Israelite could enter the field or vineyard of another and eat of its produce to satisfaction, but he could not carry anything away in a container or use a sickle to cut the grain of his fellowman.—Deut. 23:24, 25; compare Matthew 12:1; Luke 6:1; see GLEANING.

In the Promised Land in ancient times, as today, it rarely rained during harvesttime; in fact, so seldom, that Jehovah’s letting it rain and thunder in answer to Samuel’s prayer proved to the Israelites that they had committed a great evil in asking for a human king. (1 Sam. 12:17-19; see also Proverbs 26:1.) At the beginning of the barley harvest the Jordan River was at flood stage due to the late rains in the early spring and the melting snows from the Lebanon mountains.—Josh. 3:15; 5:10, 11.

The weather is hot at harvesttime, making a cloud of dew most refreshing. (Isa. 18:4) A drink chilled with snow from the mountains is welcome, and this, rather than a snowfall, is evidently what is referred to by the parallelism at Proverbs 25:13, since snow during harvesttime would be a calamity.

FLAX, BARLEY, WHEAT

In the vicinity of Jericho flax began to be harvested in the twelfth month, Adar (February-March), or early in Nisan (March-April), the first month of the Hebrew’s sacred year. The stalks of flax were hoed up and then laid out to dry. There were stalks of flax on Rahab’s roof when she hid the spies (Josh. 2:6) in the first days of Nisan. (Josh. 2:16, 22, 23; 3:1, 2; 4:19) Next came the barley harvest in the month of Nisan (March-April). The Israelites entered the Promised Land at the time of the barley harvest and began eating of the land’s produce on Nisan 15. (Josh. 3:15; 5:10, 11) While the barley harvest continued in the hills of Palestine, in the plains the wheat harvest followed (Ruth 1:22; 2:23; 2 Sam. 21:9), commencing during the month of Ziv or Iyyar (April-May). Then, during the month of Sivan (May-June), the wheat harvest was under way in the uplands. Grasping the stalks of grain with one hand, the reapers cut them off with a sickle.—Compare Deuteronomy 23:25; Isaiah 17:5.

GRAPES, DATES, FIGS, OLIVES

The month of Tammuz (June-July) saw the first ripe grapes, with the harvest of grapes beginning in the month of Ab (July-August), at which time the olives were also ripe in the lowlands. During the month of Elul (August-September) the general vintage harvest was under way, the dates were ripe, pomegranates were ripening and the summer figs were gathered. (Num. 13:23) The harvest had generally been completed by the month of Ethanim or Tishri (September-October), although olives might still be gathered in northern Galilee in the month of Bul or Heshvan (Marheshvan) (October-November). Olives were harvested by beating the tree branches with a stick.—Deut. 24:20; see CALENDAR.

FESTIVALS

Israel’s three primary festivals were directly associated with the harvest. (Ex. 23:14-17) The Festival of Unfermented Cakes, beginning on Nisan 15, coincided with the barley harvest. On Nisan 16, “the day after the sabbath” (not necessarily a weekly sabbath, as the initial day of the festival was designated a sabbath regardless of the day on which it fell), the high priest was to wave a sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest to and fro before Jehovah.—Lev. 23:6-11.

The Festival of Weeks or Pentecost came on the fiftieth day from Nisan 16, at the time of the wheat harvest. Two leavened loaves of the firstfruits of the new grain were then to be presented as a wave offering to Jehovah. (Lev. 23:15-17) Evidently with reference to the seven weeks of harvesting between the Festival of Unfermented Cakes and the Festival of Pentecost, Jeremiah describes Jehovah as “the One who guards even the prescribed weeks of the harvest for us,” preserving this period as a dry season, since rain would be damaging to the harvest.—Jer. 5:24; compare Amos 4:7.

The Festival of Booths or of Ingathering, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month Ethanim or Tishri, brought the agricultural year to a joyful conclusion, as the harvesting had generally been completed by that time.—Lev. 23:33-36, 39-43; see FESTIVAL and the respective festivals under their individual headings.

FIGURATIVE USAGE

The return of people from exile and the gathering of persons for life are compared to harvesting (Hos. 6:11; Matt. 9:37, 38; Luke 10:2; John 4:35-38), as is the gathering and destruction of the wicked. (Jer. 51:33; Rev. 14:17-20) Christ Jesus referred to the “conclusion of the system of things” as the harvest, at which time the angels, acting in the capacity of reapers, would gather out all weedlike ones and pitch them into the “fiery furnace,” whereas the wheatlike ones would “shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43) This harvesting work is carried on under the direction of Jesus Christ, for in the book of Revelation he, as ‘someone like a son of man,’ is depicted with a sharp sickle in his hand.—Rev. 14:14-16; see AGRICULTURE.

HASADIAH

(Has·a·diʹah) [Yah is kind].

One of Zerubbabel’s sons. The fact that the sons of Zerubbabel are listed in two different groups (the first two names being separated from the other five by the mention of Shelomith in the genealogy of King David’s descendants) may mean that they were sons of different mothers.—1 Chron. 3:1, 19, 20.

HASHABIAH

(Hash·a·biʹah) [Jah has taken account].

1. A Levite in the line of descent from Merari to the temple singer Ethan. (1 Chron. 6:31, 44-47) Possibly the same as No. 6 below.

2. Head of the twelfth of the twenty-four groups into which David divided the Levite temple musicians; one of the six sons of Jeduthun and possibly a descendant of No. 1 above.—1 Chron. 25:1, 3, 19.

3. An administrator “for all the work of Jehovah and for the king’s service” whom David assigned with his brothers over the territory W of the Jordan. He was a Levite, a descendant of Kohath’s son Hebron. (1 Chron. 26:30; 23:12) Possibly the same as No. 4 below.

4. A prince and leader of the tribe of Levi during David’s reign. (1 Chron. 27:16, 17, 22) Possibly the same as No. 3 above.

5. One of the “chiefs of the Levites” who contributed many animals for King Josiah’s great Passover celebration.—2 Chron. 35:1, 9.

6. A Levite whose descendant resided in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. (1 Chron. 9:2, 3, 14; Neh. 11:1, 4, 15, 20) Possibly the same as No. 1 above.

7. One of the chief priests whom Ezra entrusted with the transporting of precious materials from Babylon to Jerusalem in 468 B.C.E. (Ezra 8:24-30) He may be the same one mentioned in verse 19 and possibly the same as No. 9 below.

8. A Levite, perhaps a descendant of No. 1 above, who attested the national agreement of faithfulness