# harvest

## Definition

The term "harvest" refers to the gathering in of ripe fruits or vegetables from the plants on which they were growing.

* The harvest time normally happens at the end of a growing season.
* The Israelites held a "Festival of Harvest" or "Festival of Ingathering" to celebrate the reaping of the food crops. God commanded them to offer the first fruits of these crops as a sacrifice to him.
* In a figurative sense, the word "harvest" can refer to people coming to believe in Jesus or can describe a person's spiritual growth.
* The idea of a harvest of spiritual crops fits with the figurative image of fruits being a picture of godly character qualities.


## Translation Suggestions



* It is best to translate this term with the word that is commonly used in the language to refer to the harvesting of crops.
* The event of harvesting could be translated as, "time of gathering in" or "crop gathering time" or "fruit picking time."
* The verb "to harvest" could be translated as, "to gather in" or "to pick up" or "to collect."