The Bible includes names of male and female prophets, some of whom had visions of the Divine Presence and prophesied events in the future, including the end of history, aHarit ha-yamim. But probably none of them forecast the next day’s weather. So, the word Hazzay cannot be found in the Bible, but its root H-z-y is quite common in Hebrew and Aramaic.
Related words in the Bible and in modern Hebrew: Hazah (mostly poetic/prophetic) “beheld (the face of God)” (Psalms 11:7; 63:3); Hozeh “seer, prophet”; Hizzayon “vision, revelation”; Hazon “(prophetic) vision”; Hazut “(grand) appearance, sight”; Hazuti “visual (dictionary)”; taHazit “forecast”; maHazeh “show, play”; maHaza’ut “playwriting“; maHazemer “musical (show)”; HitHazut “impersonation, posing, making yourself looking like someone else”; Hozeh “contract,” “covenant,” “vision” (Isaiah 28:7).
Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA.
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