צָמַח
to sprout
also: spring up, grow up fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘cause to grow’
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘of plants’
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘grow abundantly’
Form
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms 20 distinct
- Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 4 times (12%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 3 times (9%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 3 times (9%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 3 times (9%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (6%)
- Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (6%)
- Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Feminine, Plural, Absolute 2 times (6%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 times (6%)
+12 more forms (12 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 33 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H6779 appears — 32 distinct verses across 14 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis 5 verses
- Genesis 2:5 יִצְמָ֑ח Qal impf 3ms No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
- Genesis 2:9 וַ/יַּצְמַ֞ח conj + Hiphil wimpf 3ms Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- Genesis 3:18 תַּצְמִ֣יחַֽ Hiphil impf 3fs Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.
- Genesis 41:6 צֹמְח֖וֹת Qal ptcp.act fp Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.
- Genesis 41:23 צֹמְח֖וֹת Qal ptcp.act fp and, behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.
Exodus 1 verse
Leviticus 1 verse
Deuteronomy 1 verse
Judges 1 verse
2 Samuel 2 verses
- 2 Samuel 10:5 יְצַמַּ֥ח Piel impf 3ms When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, Wait at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.
- 2 Samuel 23:5 יַצְמִֽיחַ Hiphil impf 3ms Most assuredly my house is not so with God; Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things, and sure: For it is all my salvation, and all [my] desire, Although he doesn't make it grow.
1 Chronicles 1 verse
Job 3 verses
- Job 5:6 יִצְמַ֥ח Qal impf 3ms For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, Neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
- Job 8:19 יִצְמָֽחוּ Qal impf 3mp Behold, this is the joy of his way: Out of the earth shall others spring.
- Job 38:27 וּ֝/לְ/הַצְמִ֗יחַ conj + prep + Hiphil inf.cs To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, To cause the tender grass to spring forth?
Psalms 4 verses
- Psalms 85:11 תִּצְמָ֑ח Qal impf 3fs Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
- Psalms 104:14 מַצְמִ֤יחַ Hiphil ptcp.act ms He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And plants for man to cultivate, That he may bring forth food out of the earth:
- Psalms 132:17 אַצְמִ֣יחַ Hiphil impf 1cs There I will make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for my anointed.
- Psalms 147:8 הַ/מַּצְמִ֖יחַ ptcl def.art + Hiphil ptcp.act ms Who covers the sky with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass grow on the mountains.
Ecclesiastes 1 verse
Isaiah 7 verses
- Isaiah 42:9 תִּצְמַ֖חְנָה Qal impf 3fp Behold, the former things have happened, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
- Isaiah 43:19 תִצְמָ֔ח Qal impf 3fs Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Isaiah 44:4 וְ/צָמְח֖וּ conj + Qal wpf 3cp and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
- Isaiah 45:8 תַצְמִ֨יחַ֙ Hiphil impf 3fs Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together; I, Yahweh, have created it.
- Isaiah 55:10 וְ/הִצְמִיחָ֑/הּ conj + Hiphil wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3fs For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn't return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
- Isaiah 58:8 תִצְמָ֑ח Qal impf 3fs Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall by your rearward.
- Isaiah 61:11 תַצְמִ֑יחַ יַצְמִ֤יחַ Hiphil impf 3fs Hiphil impf 3ms For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Jeremiah 1 verse
Ezekiel 3 verses
- Ezekiel 16:7 צִמֵּ֔חַ Piel pf 3ms I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.
- Ezekiel 17:6 וַ/יִּצְמַ֡ח conj + Qal wimpf 3ms It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots of it were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
- Ezekiel 29:21 אַצְמִ֤יחַ Hiphil impf 1cs In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Zechariah 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, צמח (tsâmach) means “to sprout.” Scripture first uses it in Genesis 2:5. It appears 32 verses across 14 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. Read the stem: it spans 3 stems, including Qal and Piel. It clusters with צמח under a shared root. Dig into 32-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H6779 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 32
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 32 distinct verses.
- 14 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 14 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,064
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,064 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 32 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 32 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 15 verses · 47%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 9 verses · 28%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 8 verses · 25%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Grow 4×, Spring forth 3×, Be grown 2×
- American Standard Version: Be grown 3×, Grow 3×, Spring forth 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: Grow 4×, Sprouted 4×, Spring up 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Sprout 8×, Grow 3×, Sprouted 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6779 across 36 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 21 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H6779 across 36 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 22 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H6779 across 33 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H6779 across 46 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 22 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each.
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. צָֽמַח־בּוֹ Lv 13:37; 3 pl. וְצָֽמְחוּ consec. Is 44:4; Impf. 3 ms. יִצְמַח Jb 5:6, 3 fpl. תִּצְמַחְנָה Is 42:9, etc.; Pt. צֹמֵחַ Ex 10:5, צוֹמֵחַ Ec 2:6; fpl. צֹמְחוֹת Gn 41:6, 23;—sprout, spring up: e.g. Leviticus 13:37
- 1. of plants, trees, etc. Gn 2:5; Ex 10:5 (both J), Gn 41:6, 23 (E), Ez 17:6 (in fig.); once (late) יַעַר צוֹמֵחַ עֵצִים Ec 2:6 wood sprouting with trees (full of growing trees); fig. of future ruler (v. צֶמַח) Zc 6:12, posterity Is 44:4, cf. Jb 8:19, trouble (עָמָל) 5:6, truth (אֱמֶת) ψ 85:12, restoration (אֲרֻכָֽתְךָ) Is 58:8, future events Is 42:9. e.g. Genesis 2:5
- 2. of hair Lv 13:37 (P; cf. Pi.). e.g. Leviticus 13:37
Piel
- grow abundantly, always of hair;—Pf. 3 ms. צִמֵּחַ Ez 16:7 (in fig.): Impf. 3 ms. יִצַמַּח 2 S 10:5 = 1 Ch 19:5 (of beard); Inf. cstr. לְצַמֵּחַ Ju 16:22 (Samson’s hair). e.g. Ezekiel 16:7
Hiphil
- Pf. 3 ms. sf. וְהִצְמִיחָהּ Is 55:10; Impf. 3 ms. יַצְמִיחַ 2 S 23:5; Is 61:11, וַיַּצְמַח Gn 2:9, etc.; Inf. cstr. לְהַצְמִיחַ Jb 38:27; Pt. מַצְמִיחַ ψ 104:14; 147:8;— e.g. Isaiah 55:10
- 1. cause to grow, c. acc. of plant, subj. י׳ Gn 2:9 ψ 104:14, cf. Jb 38:27, c. 2 acc. ψ 147:8 who causeth mts. to sprout grass; fig., obj. צֶמַח צְדָקָה Je 33:15; horn (קֶרֶן) of Isr. Ez 29:21, of David ψ 132:17; righteousness, etc. Is 61:11b; cf. also 2 S 23:5 (if interrog., v. Dr Bu; otherwise HPS); subj. ground Gn 3:18 cf. Is 61:11a (sim.), Dt 29:22 (obj. om.); also (fig.) Is 45:8 (cf. Di Kit). e.g. Genesis 2:9
- 2. of rain, cause the earth to sprout (abs.), Is 55:10. e.g. Isaiah 55:10
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. sprout, spring up (NH id., so 𝔗 צְמַח; Syriac ܨܡܰܚ spring or shine forth, ܨܶܡܚܳܐ shining, also sprout; Ph. צמח posterity);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
צָמַח
- (b. h.) to break forth, shine; to bloom, sprout, grow. Cant. R. to III, 6 היה … ועמוד אש צוֹמֵחַ the pillar of cloud came down, and the pillar of fire grew brighter. Ḥull. 60ᵇ יצאו דשאים … וצָמְחוּ the plants came out and stood at the opening of the ground, until Adam prayed, when rain came down, and they came forth. Pesik. R. s. 46 צָמְחָה כפרתו his pardon was revealed. Y. Shebi. IX, 38ᵈ top אם צמחו מוצאי וכ׳ if the leaves came out after the Sabbatical year. Ib. אם צימח וכ׳ if it (the lof in the ground) sprouted again &c. Maasr. I, 3 התלתן כדי שתִּצְמַח Ms. M. fenugrec is subject to tithes when it is so far advanced that the seeds can be planted and will grow; R. Hash. 12ᵇ, expl. משתצמח לזרעים when it has grown sufficiently to be planted (Rashi: when its seeds begin to develop). Neg. X, 3 הצומח a black hair that grows out of the sore (Lev. XIII, 37). Tosef. ib. IV, 1 שתי שערות צומחות two black hairs of recent growth. Ib. אחת צוֹמַחַת וכ׳ one of recent growth, and the other (of old standing) surrounded with flesh; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 13:37
- to be made to grow forth; to grow. Midr. Till. to Ps. XXII נ׳ להם גואל וכ׳ a redeemer grew up for them and redeemed them. Pirké d’R. El. ch. XII נִצְמָהִין מאליהן grew of themselves (without being planted); a. e.
- to grow. Y. Shebi. l. c., v. supra. Y. Maasr. I, 49ᵃ top (ref. to Deut. XIV, 22) דבר שהוא נזרע ומְצַמֵּחַ (R. S. to Maasr. I, 3 ומצְמִיחִ) that (is subject to tithes) which is sufficiently advanced to grow when planted (v. supra); a. e. e.g. Deuteronomy 14:22
- 1. same, v. same, v. Pi.
- to cause to grow, produce. Sifré Deut. 307, v. צִידּוּק.
צְמַח
- Targ. Gen. II, 5. Targ. Ez. VII, 10; a. fr.—Ḥull. 60ᵇ שדי … ולא צ׳ he put seed in it, but it did not sprout, אתא מיטרא וצ׳ a rain came, and it sprouted. Y. Kil. II, 27ᵈ מן דזרע צַמְחִין after he had sown, they (the vines which had been cut down) grew up again. Y. Maas. Sh. IV, end, 55ᶜ צמחין the wheat in the storehouse will sprout (and be ruined).
- 1. same. Targ. O. Ex. X, 5 (Y. Pe.).
- 2. to cause to grow, produce. Targ. O. Gen. II, 9. Targ. Ps. CXXXII, 17; a. e.—Lam. R. to I, 1 רבתי (חד כות׳ 1) דאינון מַצְמְחִין עשבין וכ׳ that they (the wheat stores) shall produce sproutings, and this man (thou) shall have no benefit of them.
צֶמַח I
- preced.) growth, sprout, plant. Pirké d’R. El. ch. V לברך צִמְחָהּ של ארץ to bless the growth of the earth. Ib. הארץ מתעברת וצמחה כאשה וכ׳ the earth becomes pregnant, and what she produces is like the issue of a widow that conceived in whoredom. Ib. וצמחה … ברכה and what she produces is a blessed seed. Tanḥ. Ki Thetsé 4 and the people say, זה צ׳ רשע this is a wicked growth (the father of a wicked son); a. e.—Pl. צְמָחִים, צְמָהִין. Y. Shek. I, beg. 45ᵈ לא כדי שיהו הצ׳ ניכרין is it not (necessary to wait with the examination) until the growths are sufficiently advanced to be distinguishable?; a. e.—Trnsf. morbid growths, swellings, ulcers, eruptions. B. Kam. 85ᵃ אם עלו בו צ׳ מחמת המכה וכ׳ if ulcers grew on his body in consequence of the wound, so that the wound is covered up. Ḥull. 48ᵃ העלתה צ׳ if the lungs have ulcers (or blisters); a. e.
צֶמַח II
- Tsemaḥ, allegorical name of the future Messiah. Y. Ber. II, 5ᵃ top צ׳ שמו his name is Ts. (by ref. to Zech. VI, 12). Ib. הוא צ׳ הוא מנחם the numerical value of the letters צמח is the same as that of the letters of מנהם (138); Lam. R. to I, 16. e.g. Zechariah 6:12
צֶמַח III
- K’far Tsemaḥ, in the district of Susitha (v. סוּסִיתָא). Tosef. Shebi. IV, 10; Y. Dem. II, 22ᵈ top.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 31 distinct written forms H6779 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6779, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 31 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 32 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 2:5
- Exodus 10:5
- Leviticus 13:37
- Deuteronomy 29:23
- Judges 16:22
- 2 Samuel 10:5
- 1 Chronicles 19:5
- Job 5:6
- Psalms 85:11
- Ecclesiastes 2:6
- Isaiah 42:9
- Jeremiah 33:15
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
