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b-hebrew - tsemach as "the Branch", Zechariah 3:8, 6:12, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15

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  • From: Schmuel <schmuel AT escape.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: tsemach as "the Branch", Zechariah 3:8, 6:12, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15
  • Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2002 16:31:49 -0500


Shalom b-Hebrew,

Wonder if any of our experts would like to comment on the translation of
tsemach as "branch" as compared to "spring, sprout, bud, grow". Shoot is
another word used that is sorta inbetween these various usages, acting as
one definition for sprout and also it is a definition for branch..

Tsemach 6779-Strongs is used 12 times and four times in the KJB it is translated as "branch".
6780 is a closely related word as well.

<http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?passage=zec+3:8&version=kjv&showtools=yes>Zec 3:8
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before
thee:
for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

<http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?passage=zec+6:12&version=kjv&showtools=yes>Zec 6:12
And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying,
Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his
place,
and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

<http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?passage=jer+23:5&version=kjv&showtools=yes>Jer 23:5
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

<http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?passage=jer+33:15&version=kjv&showtools=yes>Jer 33:15
In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David;
and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

Note the addition of the article "the" in some of these, where Branch is considered a name.

These passages are generally accepted as Messianic by Christian and Jewish scholars alike,
which effects in various ways the translation....

And there are various interesting interpretations put on the word, for example
a "shoot" or "sprout" is often hidden and revealed only as a small beginning and quietly
and easy to miss..
(perhaps like a little baby born to a poor family in Bethlehem)

Generally the Jewish translations do not use "branch", with a couple of exceptions,
such as the JPS-1985....

Another, Samson Levey in his Targum book simply translates tsemach in the MT as branch.
(in the Targum "Messiah" (in Aramaic) is substituted/translated in some passages for tsemach,

So there seems to be an interesting divergence of usage and translation, and in a sense
"the branch" may be more of a contextual or doctrinal usage than literal..

On the other hand, a lot of times we superimpose our modern Hebrew understanding
upon the Scripture text...

Your thoughts ?

Shalom,
Steven Avery
Bayside, NY

schmuel AT escape.com
Messianic_Apologetic-subscribe AT yahoogroups.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Messianic_Apologetic/




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