StrongerBible

tsamaḥ

צָמַח

HebrewH6779spring up, grow, ...

Appears 33 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 2:5Gen 2:9Gen 3:18Gen 41:6Gen 41:23Exo 10:5Lev 13:37Deu 29:23(22)Jdg 16:222Sa 10:52Sa 23:51Ch 19:5Job 5:6Job 8:19Job 38:27Psa 85:11(12)Psa 104:14Psa 132:17Psa 147:8Ecc 2:6Isa 42:9Isa 43:19Isa 44:4Isa 45:8Isa 55:10Isa 58:8Isa 61:11 (2×)Jer 33:15Ezk 16:7Ezk 17:6Ezk 29:21Zec 6:12
Root family
Word studytsah-MAKHverb

What tsamaḥ means

to sprout up out of the ground, or to make something sprout: the fresh springing of new growth

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This verb pictures new life pushing up out of the earth. In its plain form it is what a seed, a plant, or a field does on its own: the shoot breaks the surface and comes into view. It also has a paired sense where someone or something makes that growth happen, most often God sending the plants up or the watered soil bringing them forth. The two are the same event seen from opposite sides, the sprouting and the causing of it, which is why one Hebrew word covers both.

From that farming picture the word stretches naturally to anything that grows the same way. Hair and a beard grow back after they are cut. Trouble is said to spring from the ground like a weed. And in the prophets the word turns into a favorite image for God bringing new things into being: rescue, right living, and honor are described as springing up from the earth the way a crop does, sudden, visible, and unstoppable once God starts it.

The most weighted use is when a king or deliverer is said to spring up. God promises to make a horn (a symbol of strength) sprout for David, and a coming ruler is announced with this same verb. That prophetic thread is where the related noun, the messianic title usually translated Branch or Shoot, comes from, though the noun is a separate word from this verb.

Nuances

1aof plants and vegetation: to sprout, spring up, grow out of the ground
Gen 2:5Gen 41:6Gen 41:23Exo 10:5Deu 29:23(22)Job 8:19Ecc 2:6Isa 44:4Ezk 17:6
1bto cause to sprout: for God or the watered ground to make plants grow
Gen 2:9Gen 3:18Job 38:27Psa 104:14Psa 147:8Isa 55:10
1cof hair or a beard: to grow, grow back
Lev 13:37Jdg 16:222Sa 10:51Ch 19:5Ezk 16:7
1dfiguratively: for something abstract (rescue, right living, new events, trouble) to spring up as if from the ground
Job 5:6Psa 85:11(12)Isa 42:9Isa 43:19Isa 45:8Isa 58:8Isa 61:11 (2×)
1eof a king or deliverer: to spring up, be raised up (the prophetic image behind the Branch and the horn for David)
2Sa 23:5Psa 132:17Jer 33:15Ezk 29:21Zec 6:12

What scholars say about tsamaḥ

The lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat צמח as a single verb, glossed "sprout, spring up, grow," with the Hiphil as the transitive causative "cause to grow, make sprout." The sense is not in dispute; the range from literal vegetation to the growth of hair (Jdg 16:22; 2 Sam 10:5) to figurative uses (righteousness, salvation) is standard. Its greatest theological weight is in the prophetic "sprouting" of a Davidic ruler (Jer 33:15; Zech 6:12; Ps 132:17), which gives rise to the nominal title צֶמַח (H6780). TDOT and the messianic-Branch literature (e.g. treatments in the Zechariah and Jeremiah commentaries) trace this development; TWOT and NIDOTTE catalog the same semantic spread.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. צמחlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. צמחlexicon
  • TDOT, s.v. צמח (tsamach)theological-dictionary
  • NIDOTTE, s.v. צמחtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of צָמַח

hiphil imperfect 3fs

תַּצְמִיחַ, תַצְמִחַ

Gen 3:18, Isa 45:8, Isa 61:11, Deu 29:23

hiphil imperfect 1cs

אַצְמִיחַ

Psa 132:17, Jer 33:15, Ezk 29:21

qal imperfect 3fs

תִּצְמָח

Psa 85:11, Isa 43:19, Isa 58:8

qal imperfect 3ms

יִצְמָח, יִצְמַח

Gen 2:5, Zec 6:12, Job 5:6

hiphil imperfect 3ms

יַצְמִיחַ

2Sa 23:5, Isa 61:11

hiphil participle m s absolute

מַצְמִיחַ, מַּצְמִיחַ

Psa 104:14, Psa 147:8

piel imperfect 3ms

יְצַמַּח

2Sa 10:5, 1Ch 19:5

qal participle f p absolute

צֹמְחוֹת

Gen 41:6, Gen 41:23

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיַּצְמַח

Gen 2:9

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְהִצְמִיחָ

Isa 55:10

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַצְמִיחַ

Job 38:27

piel infinitive-construct construct

צַמֵּחַ

Jdg 16:22

piel perfect 3ms

צִמֵּחַ

Ezk 16:7

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּצְמַח

Ezk 17:6

qal consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְצָמְחוּ

Isa 44:4

qal imperfect 3fp

תִּצְמַחְנָה

Isa 42:9

qal imperfect 3mp

יִצְמָחוּ

Job 8:19

qal participle m s absolute

צֹּמֵחַ

Exo 10:5

qal participle m s construct

צוֹמֵחַ

Ecc 2:6

qal perfect 3ms

צָמַח

Lev 13:37