Branch

See BRANCH.

(1) zemorah used especially of a vine branch. The spies "cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes" (Nu 13:23). See also Ezek 15:2; Nah 2:2. "They put the branch to their nose" (Ezek 8:17), refers to some unknown idolatrous practice, as does also Isa 17:10, "thou plantest pleasant plants, and settest it with strange slips," or "vine slips of a strange (god)" the Revised Version, margin.

(2) yoneqeth, literally "a sucker." "The tender branch thereof will not cease" (Job 14:7). Used figuratively of Israel, Ps 80:11 (the Revised Version (British and American) "shoots"); Ezek 17:22 the King James Version; Hos 14:6, and of the wicked, Job 8:16 (the Revised Version (British and American) "shoots"), 15:30.

(3) kippah, Job 15:32. Isa 9:14; 19:15, the Revised Version (British and American) has "palm-branch," "Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day" (9:14).

(4) netser (of the same Hebrew root, according to many commentators, as Nazareth), literally "a little shoot springing from the root" ("out of a shoot from her roots," Dan 11:7), which may be planted out to grow (Isa 11:1; 60:21), or may be rooted out and thrown away (Isa 14:19).

(5) tsemach. The "branch" of Messianic prophecy. See PROPHECY. "In that day shall the branch (m "shoot" or "sprout") of Yahweh be beautiful and glorious" (Isa 4:2); "a shoot out of the stock of Jesse" (Isa 11:1); "a righteous branch" (Jer 23:5; 33:15): "my servant the Branch" (Zec 3:8); "the man whose name is the Branch" (Zec 6:12).

(6) qanah, is used for the "branches" of the golden candlesticks (Ex 25:32; 37:18 ff). Literally, qanah means a "reed."

There are a number of words, less frequently used, meaning "branch":

(7) baddim (plural only used; Ezek 17:6; 19:14).

(8) dalith (plural only used; Jer 11:16).

(9) maTTeh (Ezek 19:11).

(10) ca`iph (Isa 18:5; ce`appah (plural) (Ezek 31:6); car`appah (Ezek 31:5).

(11) `anaph (Mal 4:1; Ps 80:11); `anaph (Dan 4:14,21); `eneph (Ezek 36:8).

(12) pu'rah, "a bough" (Isa 10:33); po'roth (pl. only) (Ezek 31:5,8).

(13) tsammereth, "foliage" or "boughs of trees," literally "locks" or "fleece" of trees (Ezek 17:3; 31:3).

(14) qatsir (collective) (Job 14:9), "boughs" (Ps 80:11), "branches."

(15) shibbeleth, the two olive branches of Zec 4:12.

(16) soqch, root meaning "to interweave" (Jdg 9:49); sokhah (Jdg 9:48), "boughs."

(17) sarigh (pl. only, sarighim), "branches" (of the vine) (Gen 40:10; Joel 1:7).

Represented in Greek in the New Testament:

(1) baion (Jn 12:13), "a palm branch."

(2) klados (Mt 13:32; 21:8; 24:32; Mk 4:32; 13:28; Lk 13:19; Rom 11:16,17,18,19,21).

(3) klema, a slip or cutting of the vine, especially one cut off to be grafted into another plant (Jn 15:2,4,5,6).

(4) stibos (= stoibas), a "twig" or "bough" (Mk 11:8).

E. W. G. Masterman

a symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors (Ezek. 17:3, 10; Dan. 11:7); of prosperity (Job 8:16); of the Messiah, a branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11:1), the "beautiful branch" (4:2), a "righteous branch" (Jer. 23:5), "the Branch" (Zech. 3:8; 6:12).

Disciples are branches of the true vine (John 15:5, 6). "The branch of the terrible ones" (Isa. 25:5) is rightly translated in the Revised Version "the song of the terrible ones," i.e., the song of victory shall be brought low by the destruction of Babylon and the return of the Jews from captivity.

The "abominable branch" is a tree on which a malefactor has been hanged (Isa. 14:19). The "highest branch" in Ezek. 17:3 represents Jehoiakim the king.

Many figures of speech in Scripture used to illustrate spiritual truth are taken from agriculture. One such set of ideas has to do with limbs, secondary stems, or new growth on vines, bushes, and trees. More than twenty Hebrew and Greek words are employed to connote this growth; they have been translated variously as a "branch, " "shoot, " "sprout, " "tendril, " or "twig."

When olive trees, indigenous to Israel, are cut down, new trees grow from the shoots that sprout from the base and root system. It was not uncommon for the prophets to depict the Messiah as a new shoot or branch growing from David's stock, even though that "tree" would be cut off. Isaiah proclaims that "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" (11:1). Jeremiah announces that one day in the future the Lord will raise up for David a "righteous Branch, " who will reign as the rightful heir to the throne (23:5). Zechariah notes that this royal Branch will be the one who will rebuild the temple (6:12-13).

Israel is often referred to as a vine. The Lord brought Israel, the vine, out of Egypt and planted it in the promised land. As the Lord blessed the vine, it prospered and "sent out its boughs to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River" (Psalm 80:11). The fruit that the vine produced, however, was an embarrassment to the Lord and steps were taken against it (see Isa 5:1-7). More often, however, the prophets use the analogy of the vine and branches to describe Israel's future restoration (Isa 60:21; Hosea 14:6).

Jesus uses the analogy of the relationship of the vine to the branches to describe his relationship with his disciples: "I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5). The branches derive their very existence and ability to produce fruit from the vine. Detached, the branches cease to live or produce. Likewise, apart from Christ, an individual has neither spiritual life nor fruit.

In Romans 11 Paul draws attention to grafting a branch into a stock. Normally, a farmer takes a wild root or stock and grafts into it a cultivated scion. That was not the case with Israel, the cultivated olive tree; the branches broken off were replaced by wild olive shoots, in other words, Gentile believers. When the Deliverer from Zion comes, however, it will be easy for him to restore Israel to its rightful position (vv. 25-27).

Glenn E. Schaefer

See also Jesus Christ, Name and Titles of; Messiah

Bibliography. W. J. Beecher, The Prophets and the Promise; R. Brown, The Gospel According to John; R. L. Harris, Baker's Dictionary of Theology; W. Kaiser, Toward an Old Testament Theology; S. Mowinckel, He That Cometh.

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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible

[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary

After the Jews’ return from their Babylonian captivity, the name ‘branch’ was used in relation to Zerubbabel, the Jewish governor in Jerusalem. Zerubbabel was a descendant of David in the royal line that eventually produced Jesus the Messiah (Hag 2:21-23; Zech 3:8-10; 6:11-13; Matt 1:12-16; see ZERUBBABEL).