Branch (Messianic Title)

Biblical Texts

The Korean term for "Branch" (ssak) literally means a new shoot sprouting from the ground. In the Old Testament prophets, the corresponding Hebrew word tsemach serves as a title for a figure who is to come. It is used as a title in the following passages:

• Isaiah 4:2: "In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious." The verse appears in the context of the restoration of the remnant after judgment.
• Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15: God promises to raise up unto David "a righteous Branch" who will reign in justice. The Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) renders tsemach in these two passages as gaji ("branch") rather than ssak.
• Zechariah 3:8: God says to Joshua the high priest, "I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH."
• Zechariah 6:12–13: After a crown is set on Joshua's head, it is proclaimed that "the man whose name is The BRANCH" shall build the temple of the LORD and rule.

In Isaiah 11:1, "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse," Korean Bibles also use the word ssak (for "rod"), but the underlying Hebrew word there is choter, not tsemach.

Background

Jeremiah prophesied during the period when the kingdom of Judah was collapsing. At a time when the tree of the Davidic dynasty seemed to have been cut down, he invested this word with the hope that a new ruler would spring up from its stump.

Zechariah prophesied after the return from the Babylonian exile, while the temple was being rebuilt. The community at that time was led by the governor Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, and by Joshua the high priest. For this reason the "Branch" appears alongside the themes of the rebuilding of the temple and of kingship and priesthood.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

"Branch" is a title that carries forward the promise of dynastic restoration contained in the Davidic covenant. The Targums, the Aramaic translations of the Old Testament, are known to have rendered several of the "Branch" passages interpretively as "Messiah."

The New Testament does not quote the term directly. However, the Septuagint translated tsemach as "rising" or "dawning" (anatolē). On this basis, some interpreters see "the dayspring from on high" in Luke 1:78 as an allusion to this title. Others connect "He shall be called a Nazarene" in Matthew 2:23 with the "Branch" (netzer) of Isaiah 11:1.

On the basis of these texts, Christian tradition has understood the "Branch" as a messianic prophecy concerning Jesus Christ.

Interpretation and Debated Points

• The identity of the "Branch" in Zechariah: Scholars who emphasize the historical context hold that it refers primarily to Zerubbabel. Christian tradition reads it as referring ultimately to Christ. Many interpreters combine the two views, regarding Zerubbabel as a type of Christ.
• "Them both" in Zechariah 6:13: This verse speaks of a king and a priest together. Some read it as referring to two persons (Zerubbabel and Joshua). Others read it as describing the union of the royal and priestly offices in a single person and connect this with the offices of Christ.
• The time of fulfillment: Dispensationalism tends to associate the completion of the restoration foretold by Jeremiah and Zechariah with the millennial kingdom following Christ's Second Coming. Covenant theology, by contrast, tends to hold that it has already begun to be fulfilled in Christ's first coming and in the church.
• A supplementary traditional interpretation: Sermons frequently present a scheme that pairs the "King-Branch" (Jeremiah), "my servant" (Zechariah 3), "the man" (Zechariah 6), and "the branch of the LORD" (Isaiah) one by one with the portraits of Jesus in the four Gospels. This is a later devotional connection, not something the texts themselves state directly.