Hebrew word · H1808

דָּלִיּוֹת

daliyotav

branch

A bough or branch, probably the long, hanging branches (BDB connects it to dālāh, 'hang down, dangle').

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) branch, bough

1a) of Israel (fig.) (used with olive tree, vine, cedar tree)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Jeremiah 11:16

Range of meaning

A bough or branch, probably the long, hanging branches (BDB connects it to dālāh, 'hang down, dangle').

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'branches'. YLT 'thin branches'. The Hebrew points to the spreading boughs that carry leaves and fruit, not twigs.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used almost only in pictures of kingdoms as trees or vines: Ezekiel 17:6-7, 23; 19:11; 31:7, 9, 12, where Assyria is a great cedar whose boughs are cut down.

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 11:16 דָּלִיּוֹתָֽיו׃ branches its

    The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.

    Here: 'Its boughs', the spreading, hanging branches. The same word appears in Ezekiel's tree pictures of kingdoms (Ezek 17; 31). Here it is masculine 'its', back to the tree.

Ezekiel · 7

  1. Ezekiel 17:6 דָּלִיּוֹתָיו֙ branches its

    It sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in height, with branches turned toward him; yet its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and yielded branches and sent out shoots.

  2. Ezekiel 17:7 וְדָֽלִיּוֹתָיו֙ and branches its

    But there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed, so that he might water it.

  3. Ezekiel 17:23 דָּלִיּוֹתָ֖יו branches its

    I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

    Here: Its spreading, hanging boughs. The same word is used of the vine's tendrils in 17:6–7, which reached toward the wrong eagle.

  4. Ezekiel 19:11 דָּלִיֹּתָֽיו׃ branches its

    It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage.

  5. Ezekiel 31:7 דָּֽלִיּוֹתָ֑יו branches its

    It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its limbs, for its roots extended to abundant waters.

  6. Ezekiel 31:9 דָּֽלִיּוֹתָ֑יו branches its

    I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’

  7. Ezekiel 31:12 דָלִיּוֹתָ֗יו branches its

    Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.