הדס

Hebrew

הדסים

Root
ה־ד־ס (h-d-s)

Etymology

Sometimes also vocalized, perhaps archaically, הָדָס (hāḏā́s), and probably the same as Aramaic אָסָא / ܐܵܣܵܐ (ʾāsā, “myrtle”), Arabic آس (ʔās, “myrtle”), Akkadian 𒄑𒊍 (asum, “myrtle”) with multiple determiners, compare typologically Hebrew צַתְרָה (ṣaṯrā́, “savory”), Arabic زَعْتَر (zaʕtar, “wild thyme”), also denoting odoriferous plants, explained semantically as an old ذُو عِطْرٍ (ḏū ʕiṭrin, “having scent”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

הֲדַס • (haḏás) m (plural indefinite הֲדַסִּים)

1. myrtle: any of a genus of flowering plants in genus Myrtus, as well as a twig of it
   • Zechariah 1:8:

     רָאִיתִי הַלַּיְלָה וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ רֹכֵב עַל סוּס אָדֹם וְהוּא עֹמֵד בֵּין הַהֲדַסִּים אֲשֶׁר בַּמְּצֻלָה וְאַחֲרָיו סוּסִים אֲדֻמִּים שְׂרֻקִּים וּלְבָנִים.

     ra'íti haláyla v'híne ísh rokhév ál sús adóm v'hú oméd bén hahadasím ashér bam'tsulá va'akharáv susím adumím s'rukím ul'vaním.

     I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that [were] in the bottom; and behind him [were there] red horses, speckled, and white.

   • Nehemiah 8:15:

     וַאֲשֶׁר יַשְׁמִיעוּ וְיַעֲבִירוּ קוֹל בְּכָל עָרֵיהֶם וּבִירוּשָׁלִַם לֵאמֹר צְאוּ הָהָר וְהָבִיאוּ עֲלֵי זַיִת וַעֲלֵי עֵץ שֶׁמֶן וַעֲלֵי הֲדַס וַעֲלֵי תְמָרִים וַעֲלֵי עֵץ עָבֹת לַעֲשֹׂת סֻכֹּת כַּכָּתוּב:

     va'ashér yashmí'u v'ya'avíru kól b'khól areihém uvirushalám leimór ts'ú hahár v'haví'u aléi záyit va'aléi éts shémen va'aléi hadás va'aléi t'marím va'aléi éts avót la'asót sukót kakatúv.

     And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as [it is] written.

   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 32b:
     (translation by Daf Shevui^[1])

     תנו רבנן "ענף עץ עבות" (ויקרא כג מ) שענפיו חופין את עצו ואי זה הוא הוי אומר זה הדס

     Our Rabbis taught, "Branches of a thick tree" [means] [the kind of tree] whose branches completely cover its trunk Now what [tree] is this? You must say that it is the myrtle.

Descendants

• → Arabic: هَدَس (hadas)
  • → Amharic: ኣደስ (ʾadäs), አደስ (ʾädäs)
  • → Ge'ez: አደስ (ʾädäs)
  • → Swahili: mhadasi
  • → Tigrinya: ኣደስ (ʾadäs)
• → Aramaic: הֲדַסַא (hăḏasā)
• → German: Addas f (used once by Heinrich Heine)
• → Yiddish:

Proper noun

הֲדַס • (hadás) f

1. a female given name

Related terms

• הֲדַסָּה f (hadasá, “Hadassah (female given name)”)

References

• H1918 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 334a
• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎^[2] (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, pages 50–51
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[3] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 257-274

Further reading

• הדס on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he