"Time to collect stones": the meaning and etymology of expression

Biblicalisms are very popular among commonly used stable expressions. They have a profound meaning. But sometimes they are often misunderstood. For example, what does "time to collect stones" mean? Many believe that this expression is very understandable. People tend to think that it means "everything has its time." Perhaps, in part this is exactly so. However, linguists think otherwise.

"Time to collect stones": the meaning of phraseology

"Preparing for something" - this explains this biblicalism of MI Stepanov in the school phraseological dictionary.

Many people use this expression in such a turn as "it's time to collect stones", the meaning of which is "the time has come to reap the rewards". It is also popular to use phraseology in the sense of "everything has its time".

Despite the discrepancies between the interpretations, it can be concluded that each person has the right to explain bibleism in such a way that he understands it himself.

Why do linguists decipher the meaning of phraseology as a preparation for something, we learn after considering its etymology.

History of the origin of expression

Phraseology is a quote from the Old Testament, which gives antonymous expressions, among which is "time to scatter and time to collect stones." This is a passage from the third chapter of the Ecclesiastes. According to him, we can conclude that everything is destined for its time.

However, in ancient times stones were collected for certain reasons. Firstly, in order to cast them criminals to death. Thus, the expression "time to collect stones" meaning had "to prepare for punishment."

Secondly, the importance of phraseology is associated with agriculture in Israel. In it the soil is distinguished by stony. To get a good harvest, it was necessary to prepare the ground - to remove the stones. Thus, proceeding from this feature, the expression has the meaning "to carry out preparatory work".

As we see, in ancient times people collected stones for important reasons. They were preparing for execution, earthwork, and therefore, it is no coincidence that the linguists interpret the biblicalism we are considering as preparation for anything.

Examples of using an expression

This phraseology is actively used in the media and literature, less often in colloquial speech, since it has a book style. They even named the eponymous Russian war film, in which, after the war, the German collects mines, which he himself scattered.

This expression is used by journalists as headlines. As a rule, they write in such articles that it is time to collect stones, the meaning of which is "it's time to answer for your actions".

The expression is used for the names of literary works, songs, exhibitions, festivals and even assignments in virtual games. It is very popular in the modern world and has not lost its relevance since its inception.

A stable expression is also used as a word game. For example, it is inserted in the headline of a medical article, which deals with ... kidney stones. Thus, scientific work is revived, the language of the narrative becomes brighter and more interesting for readers.

Classical writers also titled their works with the help of this bibleism. For example, V. Soloukhin named one of his essays, published in the Optina almanac.

Conclusion

Having considered phraseology, we learned a lot about it: variants of its meanings, the history of origin, noted that expression is widely used in modern journalism and not only.

Summing up, we can say with certainty that "the time to collect stones" meaning has "to prepare for anything." Characteristic use of this expression in another sense. Often it is used to convey the idea that everything has its time and sooner or later it is time to be responsible for its actions.