Roebuck of God

In that day, the Branch will be “beautiful” (Isaiah 4:2). Various words are used for “beauty” in this passage, and here the Hebrew is tzebi , which is typically translated as “roebuck” (e.g., Deuteronomy 12:15, 22; 14:5; 15:22; 2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Kings 4:23; etc.). Jonathan is called the robuch or beauty of Israel (2 Samuel 1:19), and so is the lover of the Song of Songs (2:7, 9, 17; 3:5; 8:14). The roebuck is one of the exemplars of clean, non-sacrificial food.

The uses in the Song are particularly relevant to Isaiah. A number of the Song’s uses of the word are in oaths or adjurations – “I charge you . . . by the roebucks and by the hinds . . . .” That odd formulation is, at least, a pun, tzebi standing in for the common epithet for Yahweh, Yahweh tzebaoth , Yahweh of hosts. That same pun is perhaps operative in Isaiah 4:2: The Branch is an elegant buck on the mountains; He is also the Branch of hosts, the Branch laden with fruit.