What does θερισμός (therismós) mean in the Bible?
Therismos means harvest or gathering time. In ordinary speech it names the moment when a crop is ready to be gathered, but Jesus uses it to speak about mission, readiness, and final judgment.
Greek · G2326
θερισμός
Harvest
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θερισμός G2326
Pronunciation therismós
What does θερισμός (therismós) mean in the Bible?
Therismos means harvest or gathering time. In ordinary speech it names the moment when a crop is ready to be gathered, but Jesus uses it to speak about mission, readiness, and final judgment.
Reader summary
Full entry for θερισμός (G2326) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2326?
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include harvest (10), . . . (1), crop (1), harvest [is] (1).
Where does θερισμός (therismós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 9:37. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (6), Luke (3), John (2), Mark (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Therismos means harvest or gathering time. In ordinary speech it names the moment when a crop is ready to be gathered, but Jesus uses it to speak about mission, readiness, and final judgment. In John 4, the disciples must lift their eyes and see fields already ripe for harvest as Samaritans are coming to Jesus. In Matthew 9 and Luke 10, the plentiful harvest exposes the need for workers and prayer to the Lord of the harvest.
In Matthew 13, harvest becomes the end of the age, when wheat and weeds are separated. Revelation 14 uses harvest imagery for the earth's ripeness under divine judgment. The word therefore carries both urgency and sobriety: some harvest language calls workers into mission, and some warns of final separation.
How the Bible Uses It
Therismos names harvest, but the New Testament uses harvest language in more than one register: mission readiness, prayer for workers, patient waiting, final separation, and judgment.
- John.4.35
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.
Jesus tells the disciples to look at fields already ripe for harvest as the Samaritan response unfolds before them.
- Matt.9.37
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
The plentiful harvest and few workers lead Jesus to summon prayer and compassion-driven mission.
- Matt.13.30
Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The wheat and weeds grow together until harvest, warning against premature separation before the appointed time.
- Matt.13.39
And the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Jesus interprets the harvest as the end of the age, so this use is explicitly eschatological.
- Luke.10.2
And He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.
Jesus sends laborers after commanding prayer to the Lord of the harvest, binding mission to dependence.
- Rev.14.15
Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest, for the crop of the earth is ripe.”
The crop of the earth is ripe for reaping, placing harvest language inside judgment imagery.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It harvest 10× Matthew 9:37, Matthew 9:38, Matthew 13:30, Matthew 13:39
. . . 1× Matthew 13:30
crop 1× Revelation 14:15
harvest [is] 1× Luke 10:2
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 9:37 θερισμὸς to harvest Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 9:38 θερισμοῦ to harvest Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 9:38 θερισμὸν to harvest Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Matthew 13:30 θερισμοῦ to harvest Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 13:30 θερισμοῦ to . . . Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 13:39 θερισμὸς to harvest Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 4:29 θερισμός to harvest Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Luke 10:2 θερισμὸς to harvest [is] Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Luke 10:2 θερισμοῦ to harvest Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Luke 10:2 θερισμὸν to harvest Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 9:37
Aligned rows 13
Books represented 5
Matthew 6 Mark 1 Luke 3 John 2 Revelation 1
Source forms
θερισμὸς 5x therismos Matthew 9:37, Matthew 13:39, Luke 10:2, John 4:35
θερισμοῦ 4x therismou Matthew 9:38, Matthew 13:30, Luke 10:2
θερισμὸν 2x therismon Matthew 9:38, Luke 10:2
θερισμόν 1x therismon John 4:35
θερισμός 1x therismos Mark 4:29
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 6x Matthew 9:37, Matthew 13:39, Mark 4:29, Luke 10:2
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 4x Matthew 9:38, Matthew 13:30, Luke 10:2
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 3x Matthew 9:38, Luke 10:2, John 4:35
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use harvest language as a generic growth slogan without asking whether the passage concerns mission, waiting, or judgment.
- Do not let urgency erase dependence. Jesus commands prayer to the Lord of the harvest before laborers are sent.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim every harvest reference is evangelistic opportunity.
- Do not claim Matthew 13 authorizes present human certainty about final wheat and weeds.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Harvest as eschatological symbol for the final gathering of souls into God's kingdom judgment
Strong's G2326
Lexical occurrences 13 verses Greek text appearances 13 times Word forms 3 forms 13 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Mark 4:26–29 Source Gloss
harvest
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Harvest as eschatological symbol for the final gathering of souls into God's kingdom judgment
(θερίζω), [in LXX chiefly for קָצִיר ;] harvest;
athe act: Jhn.4:35;
bthe time: fig., Mat.13:30, 39, Mrk.4:29 __(with) the crop: figuratively, Mat.9:37-38, Luk.10:2, Rev.14:15.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 9:37 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸς qerismov
reaping, harvest
Read verse Matthew 9:38 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θερισμοῦ, qerismou
reaping, harvest
Read verse Matthew 9:38 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸν qerismon
reaping, harvest
Read verse Matthew 13:30 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θερισμοῦ· qerismou
reaping, harvest
Read verse Matthew 13:30 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θερισμοῦ qerismou
reaping, harvest
Read verse Matthew 13:39 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸς qerismov
reaping, harvest
Read verse Mark 4:29 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θερισμός. qerismov
reaping, harvest
Read verse Luke 10:2 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸς qerismov
reaping, harvest
Read verse Luke 10:2 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θερισμοῦ, qerismou
reaping, harvest
Read verse Luke 10:2 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸν qerismon
reaping, harvest
Read verse John 4:35 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸς qerismov
reaping, harvest
Read verse John 4:35 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸν qerismon
reaping, harvest
Read verse Revelation 14:15 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θερισμὸς qerismov
reaping, harvest
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 3 Aligned forms 13 Case pattern Nominative (6) Number pattern Singular (13)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 9:37 · Matt 13:39 · Mark 4:29 · Luke 10:2 · John 4:35 · Rev 14:15 6×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 9:38 · Matt 13:30 · Luke 10:2 4×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 9:38 · Luke 10:2 · John 4:35 3×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Additional Occurrences
John 4:27-42 θεισμός therismós
harvest
Luke 10:1–12 θερισμός therismós
Harvest
Mark 4:26–29 θερισμός therismós
harvest
New Testament Witnesses
harvest
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 13 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
θερισμός is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Points to the certainty of final fulfillment.
Symbolizes gathering of believers into eternal life.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Therismos holds urgency and patience together. John 4 tells disciples not to wait four months when God is already drawing Samaritans to Jesus. Matthew 9 and Luke 10 teach that the harvest belongs to the Lord, so mission begins with prayer and depends on His sending. Matthew 13 restrains premature judgment by letting wheat and weeds grow until the appointed harvest, then explains that harvest as the end of the age.
Revelation 14 shows ripeness for judgment, not evangelistic opportunity. A responsible word study therefore refuses to use harvest as a slogan. Sometimes harvest means open mission. Sometimes it means final separation. In every case, God owns the field, sets the timing, sends workers, and judges rightly.
Anchor passage
John.4.35
Doctrinal connections
- G2040 Ergates: Workers are needed because the harvest is plentiful and belongs to the Lord.
- G1189 Deomai: Prayer to the Lord of the harvest keeps mission from becoming self-appointed activism.
- G68 agros: Field imagery helps distinguish mission context from judgment parable.
- G4621 sitos: Wheat in Matthew 13 keeps harvest tied to separation and preservation.
- G165 Aion: Matthew 13:39 explicitly identifies harvest with the end of the age.
- G2325 Therizo: The verb to reap helps connect harvest imagery with action when the appointed time arrives.
Therismos names the harvest event or season. Its theological force depends on whether the passage is using agricultural readiness for mission, patient waiting, or eschatological judgment.
From Old to New Testament
Old Testament harvest language can mark provision, firstfruits, joy, and judgment. The New Testament carries that range forward in Jesus' mission teaching and final judgment imagery, with Christ as the Lord who sees fields truly and judges harvest rightly.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain