### Core Meaning & Semantic Range
The Hebrew word **gath**, represented by `{{H1660}}`, refers to a **wine-press** or a vat for holding grapes during pressing. It is likely derived from a root word meaning to tread out grapes. This term appears **5 times** in **5 unique verses**, carrying both a literal agricultural meaning and a powerful metaphorical weight.
### Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis
In its literal sense, `{{H1660}}` denotes the physical press used for winemaking. In Nehemiah, the people are rebuked for "treading **wine presses** on the sabbath" [[Nehemiah 13:15]], highlighting its role in daily labor and commerce. It also serves as a landmark or location, as when Gideon "threshed wheat by the **winepress**, to hide it from the Midianites" [[Judges 6:11]]. Figuratively, it becomes a symbol of divine judgment. The Lord is depicted as treading the people of Judah "as in a **winepress**" [[Lamentations 1:15]], and a figure with red-stained garments is compared to one "that treadeth in the **winefat**" [[Isaiah 63:2]], symbolizing the consequences of wrath.
### Related Words & Concepts
Several related words illuminate the actions associated with the winepress:
* `{{H1869}}` **dârak** (to tread): This word for treading is explicitly linked to the winepress imagery. In a vision of judgment, God is described as having "trodden" the people of Judah in a winepress [[Lamentations 1:15]].
* `{{H2251}}` **châbaṭ** (to thresh): This term for beating out grain is used when Gideon "threshed" wheat at the winepress, showing a related agricultural process of separation taking place at the same location [[Judges 6:11]].
* `{{H7665}}` **shâbar** (to crush, break): This word intensifies the winepress metaphor for judgment. God calls an assembly against Judah specifically "to crush" the young men, linking the act of crushing to the treading of the press [[Lamentations 1:15]].
### Theological Significance
The theological significance of `{{H1660}}` is primarily tied to its use as a metaphor for God's judgment.
* **Divine Judgment:** The image of treading grapes in a winepress is used to portray the complete and overwhelming nature of divine wrath against wickedness. The press is "full" and the vats "overflow" because the people's "wickedness is great" [[Joel 3:13]].
* **National Suffering:** For Israel, the winepress symbolizes a place of immense suffering and destruction at the hand of the Lord. The prophecy in Lamentations describes Judah itself being trodden down, showing the severity of the consequences of sin [[Lamentations 1:15]].
* **Place of Unconventional Work:** In the narrative of Gideon, the winepress becomes a place of desperate, hidden activity. Threshing wheat there, instead of on an open threshing floor, illustrates a time of oppression and the need for God's deliverance [[Judges 6:11]].
### Summary
In summary, `{{H1660}}` is a word with a dual identity. While it refers to a simple agricultural tool, the **gath** or winepress is transformed in prophetic and poetic scripture into a fearsome symbol. It powerfully illustrates the concept of divine judgment, where wickedness is crushed like grapes, and serves as a stark metaphor for the suffering and pressure experienced by a people under God's hand.
TRV