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H1959 · Hebrew · Old Testament
הֵידָד
heydad
Noun, masculine
shout of joy, battle cry, vintage shout

Definition

Heydad is a shout of excitement, particularly the joyful cry that accompanied the grape harvest or battle. The vintners would shout as they treaded the grapes; warriors would raise the shout in victory. It is an onomatopoetic word — the sound of the shout itself seems captured in the word. The LXX renders it as a battle cry or harvest shout.

Usage & Theological Significance

Judgment oracle passages in Jeremiah and Isaiah use the absence of heydad as a sign of catastrophic loss: when the joyful harvest shout is silenced, devastation has come. Conversely, this word teaches that work and worship were united in ancient Israel — the harvest shout was simultaneously a shout of thanks to God. In Jeremiah 25:30, God Himself thunders with a heydad against the nations — the divine warrior raising His own battle shout over fallen idols. Joy and judgment, praise and power, are not opposites.

Key Bible Verses

Jeremiah 25:30 The LORD will roar from on high... he will shout with a shout [heydad] like those who tread grapes, against all who live on earth.
Isaiah 16:9 I drench you with tears, Heshbon and Elealeh; the shout [heydad] over your summer fruit and your harvest is gone.
Isaiah 16:10 Joy and gladness are taken from the orchards; no one sings or shouts [heydad] in the vineyards.
Jeremiah 48:33 I have made the wine stop flowing from the presses; no one treads them with shouts [heydad].
Jeremiah 51:14 I will fill you with men as with a locust swarm; they will shout in triumph over you.

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