Palestine Grapes (of natural size).
but should glean quite clean, and leave nothing behind through haste. (See Blayney.) Ezek. xviii, 2 : "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge ;" a proverbial expression, ex- plainad by the Chaldec, " The fathers have sinned, and the sons are smitten." In the second command- ment it is expressly declared that the children should be punished in this life for the idolatrj- of the fathers. In the destruction by the Bal>ylonians the good were to escape (Ezek. vi, 4, 5) ; but they were onW to deliv- er themselves (xiv, 14, 20, 21). Whenever" the chil- dren had suffered temporal evils for the idolatry- of their fathers, they had justly incurred a punishment solomnl)'- denounced. With respect to the impending calamity from Nebuchadnezzar, God's purpose was to observe another rule of conduct (Newcome). See Vine.
Grapheus, Cornelius, was born in 1482 at Aalst, in Flanders. He was secretary of the city of Antwerp, and in 1.520 published a translation of Goch's De llber- tate Christiana, with a Preface, in which he severely censured the condition of the Roman Catholic Church.
He was consequently arrested (1521), imprisoned at Brussels, compelled to recant, and deposed from his of- fice. The later years of his life he spent in literary re- tirement at Antwerp, sympathizing with reformatory movements, without, however, daring to be their avow- ed champion. He died at Antwerp Dec. 19, 1558. — Ilerzog, Real-Encykl. xix, 577. (A. J. S.)
Grass is the somewhat indistinct rendering ia the Engl. Vers, of several Heb. terms :
1. It is the ordinarj' rendering of the Hebrew word ^"^ijn, chitsir' , which signifies properly an inclosed spot, from the root 'n^n, to inclose; but this root also has the second meaning to flourish, 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 1 Kings xviii, 5 ; Job xl, 5; Psa. civ, 14; Isa. xv, G, etc. As the herbage rap- idly fades under the parching heat of the sun of Pales- tine, it has afforded to the sacred writers an image of the fleeting nature of human fortunes (Job viii, 12; Psa. xxxvii, 2), and also of the brevity of human life (Isa. xl, 6,7; Psa. xc, 5). The Sept. renders T^an b}' /3oraV// and Troa, but most frequently hy y^oproc, a word which in Greek has passed through the verj' same modifications of meaning as its Hebrew repre- sentative : x6pT0Q=^gramen, "fodder," is properlj^ a court or inclosed space for cattle to feed in (Homer, //. xi, 774), and then any feeding-place, whether inclosed or not (Eurip. Iph. T. 134, x»p~oi evvti'vpoi'). Gesenius questions whether "''"'liH, x^P'^oGt and the Sansc. ha- rit = green, may not be traceable to the same root. See Leek.
In the N. T., wherever the w^ord grass occurs, it is the representative of the Greek x^P'^oQ- '^'^^ dry stalks of grass, etc. were often used as fuel for the oven (Matt, vi, 30 ; xiii,30; Lukexii,28). See Fhel.
2. The next most usual, and, indeed, more appropri- ate word, is X'C'^f, dt' she, green gi-ass, from the root X'Jl to germinate. This is the word rendered ^r/wss in Gen. i, 11, 12, where it is distinguished from 3"^", e' seb, the latter signifying herbs suitable for human food, while the former is herbage for cattle. Gesenius says it is used chiefly concerning grass, which has no seed (at least none obvious to general observers), and the small- er weeds which spring up spontaneously from the soil. It properly signifies the first shoots from the earth, tender grass, 3'oung herbage, as clothing the meadows, and as affording the clioice food of beasts (Gen. i, 11 ; Isa. Ixvi, 14 ; Dcut. xxxii, 2 ; 2 Sam. xxiii, 4 ; Job vi, 5 ; Psa. xxxvii, 2, etc.). The sickly and forced blades of grass which spring up on the flat plastered roofs of houses in the East are used as an emblem of speedy destruction, because they are small and weak, and, be- ing in an elevated part, with little earth, exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, thej' soon wither away (2 Kings xix, 2G ; Psa. cxxix, G ; Isa. xxxvii, 27). (See Hackett's Illustra. of Scrip, p. 125.) The Sept. renders it hy \'\o//, as well as b}' ;:^0|Oroe, ftoTui'i], and TToa. In Dan. iv, 15, ^0, the corresponding Chaldee NP'n, de'the, is used. See Herb.
In Jer. 1, 11, the A. V. renders X'j^ i^^??? «5 f^^ heifer at grass, and the Sept. toQ iSoiCia tv ftoTc'ivy. It should be "as the heifer treading out corn" (comp. Hos. X, 11). N'li^, dasha' , the word here employed, comes from "O^^, to triturate, and has been confounded with the preceding term. See Fodder.
3. 2'J^), e'seb, is used in Deut., in the Psalms, and in the Prophets, and as distinguished from the forego- ing X'diT, signifies herbs for human food (Gen. i, 30; Psa. civ, 14), but also fodder for cattle (Deut. xi, 15 ; Jer. xiv, G). It i.-^ the grass of the field (Gen. ii, 5; Exod. ix, 22) and of the mountain (Isa. xlii, 15 ; Prov. xxvii, 25). See Hay.
GRASS
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GRATIAN
4. In Numb, xxii, 4, where mention is made of the ox licking u]) the grass of the field, the Ileb. word is p"!"^, ye rek, which elsewhere is rendered (jnen when followed hy X'd'H or 13'w"", as in Gen. i, 30, and Psa. xxxvii, 2. It answers to the German das Grilne, and comes from the root p'^^, to Jlmirish like grass. — Smith, s. V. See Green.