Tidbit #3 "Almond Branch"
“The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
Jeremiah 1:11-12
Have you ever read this passage at the beginning of Jeremiah and just thought, what the??? Well I have, so here is my interesting bit of learning for today…
The almond branch thing is all about a play on words. The Hebrew word for almond branch is “shaqed” and in God’s reply the Hebrew word used for watching is “shoqed”. This play on words would have been particularly poignant for any Hebrew readers of Jeremiah as Hebrew is written without vowels, so the two words appear identical. The image of the almond branch is also significant as this was the first thing to blossom at the beginning of spring, i.e. if you want to know when spring is upon us watch for the blossoms on the almond tree. This image heightens the picture of God watching over his word and the imminence of him performing it.
Jeremiah 1:11-12
Have you ever read this passage at the beginning of Jeremiah and just thought, what the??? Well I have, so here is my interesting bit of learning for today…
The almond branch thing is all about a play on words. The Hebrew word for almond branch is “shaqed” and in God’s reply the Hebrew word used for watching is “shoqed”. This play on words would have been particularly poignant for any Hebrew readers of Jeremiah as Hebrew is written without vowels, so the two words appear identical. The image of the almond branch is also significant as this was the first thing to blossom at the beginning of spring, i.e. if you want to know when spring is upon us watch for the blossoms on the almond tree. This image heightens the picture of God watching over his word and the imminence of him performing it.
posted by David @ 3:17 PM
4 Comments:
You know what's amazing!!!!?? We read that passage at churh the same day you posted about it. I was following along in my Bible and when we read that verse I DID think "what the..?" How funny is that???
When I read it again on your blog I thought, "I wonder if God was testing Jeremiah's vision for the visions?" You know like God showed him a branch of an almond tree to see if he would get it right. Coz God wanted to make sure His message was correctly given. He he.
there are many of these play-on-words in the OT. that's one reason why i so want to learn Hebrew. are you studying Hebrew or Greek by any chance? thanks for sharing that informative tidbit!
Yea, I've been studying Hebrew this year and that is very true - lots of word plays. (I'm looking foreward to doing Hebrew exegesis of Psalms, should be fascinating!)
wow, i'm sure it will be! i look forward to more of these types of posts then! :)
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