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.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
