StrongerBible

zaraḥ

זָרַח

HebrewH2224rise, shine, ...

Appears 18 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 32:31(32)Exo 22:3(2)Deu 33:2Jdg 9:332Sa 23:42Ki 3:222Ch 26:19Job 9:7Psa 104:22Psa 112:4Ecc 1:5 (2×)Isa 58:10Isa 60:1Isa 60:2Jon 4:8Nam 3:17Mal 4:2(3:20)
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studyzah-RAKHverb

What zaraḥ means

to rise and shine forth: to break over the horizon and give light, as the sun does at dawn

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

At its core this is the everyday word for the sun coming up. It fuses two ideas English usually keeps apart: the upward movement of rising and the sudden flooding of light. The sun does not merely climb; it breaks out over the edge of the world and lights up what the night had hidden. That single picture drives every use of the word.

From the literal sunrise the word reaches outward. It describes light "rising" for a person in trouble, a picture of relief or blessing arriving after a dark stretch. It describes God himself, who is depicted rising like the sun over his people to rescue them, blazing out in glory from the mountains or over a waiting city. And once, strikingly, it describes a skin disease that "broke out" and became visible on a king's forehead, the same idea of something coming suddenly into view.

Because the one word carries both the motion and the radiance, English translations rotate among "rise," "shine," "dawn," and "break out" depending on what is coming forth. They are all chasing the same underlying image: something once unseen now surging up into the light.

Nuances

1aof the sun: to come up over the horizon at dawn
TranslatabilityDirect
Gen 32:31(32)Exo 22:3(2)Jdg 9:332Sa 23:42Ki 3:22Job 9:7Psa 104:22Ecc 1:5 (2×)Jon 4:8Nam 3:17
1bof light: to break forth on someone, as a picture of relief or blessing arriving after darkness
Psa 112:4Isa 58:10
1cof God or his glory: to blaze forth like the rising sun, appearing to save
Deu 33:2Isa 60:1Isa 60:2Mal 4:2(3:20)
1dof a skin disease: to break out and become visible on the body
2Ch 26:19

What scholars say about zaraḥ

The lexicons treat זרח as a single well-attested root meaning "to rise, come forth, shine," used most often of the sun (BDB; HALOT). From the literal sunrise the verb extends to the shining forth of light for the righteous (Isaiah 58:10; Psalm 112:4) and to theophany, where the LORD is depicted rising like the sun over his people (Deuteronomy 33:2; Isaiah 60:1-2; Malachi 3:20, English 4:2); TDOT and the standard commentaries treat these as figurative developments of the one root rather than separate homonyms. The isolated use in 2 Chronicles 26:19, of leprosy that "broke out" on Uzziah's forehead, is understood the same way, as the disease coming visibly forth. The Septuagint regularly renders the verb with ἀνατέλλω, the ordinary Greek word for the rising of the sun, a rendering the New Testament continues (Matthew 5:45; Hebrews 7:14).

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. זרחlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. זרחlexicon
  • TDOT, s.v. זרח (זָרַח)theological-dictionary

All attested forms of זָרַח

qal perfect 3fs

זָרְחָה

Exo 22:3, 2Ki 3:22, 2Ch 26:19, Nam 3:17

qal imperfect 3ms

יִזְרַח, יִזְרָח

2Sa 23:4, Isa 60:2, Job 9:7

qal perfect 3ms

זָרַח, זָרָח

Deu 33:2, Psa 112:4, Isa 60:1

qal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְזָרַח

Ecc 1:5, Isa 58:10

qal infinitive-construct construct

זְרֹחַ

Jdg 9:33, Jon 4:8

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּזְרַח

Gen 32:31

qal consecutive-perfect 3fs

וְזָרְחָה

Mal 4:2

qal imperfect 3fs

תִּזְרַח

Psa 104:22

qal participle m s absolute

זוֹרֵחַ

Ecc 1:5