Passing Phrase - www.learnhebrew.org.il

Latset Chotzets

Literally: To go out in divisions
Idiomatically: To go out against

The actual phrase would mean to go at the ready. It comes from Proverbs (30:27) referring to a king going out to battle readily prepared. It may be that the word stems from the root chet-tsadik-tsadik ח'צ'צ' meaning to break apart or divide into divisions (Judges 5:11). Note that the word "chatzatz" is the modern word for gravel, which is basically broken up stones.

The best example I can give is here a line from a famous poem by Dylan Thomas:

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

לצאת חוצץ בחימה וזעם נגר כלות אור היום.

"Latset chotsetz becheima veza'am neged chalot or yom."

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