Hebrew word · H2224

זָרַח

zarach

to rise

To rise or come up, used above all of the sun. To dawn, to break forth or appear. Related words are mizrach, 'east' (the place of sunrise), and zerach, 'dawning'.

Appears 18 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to rise, come forth, break out, arise, rise up, shine

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to rise

1a2) to come out, appear

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 Isaiah 60:1

Range of meaning

To rise or come up, used above all of the sun. To dawn, to break forth or appear. Related words are mizrach, 'east' (the place of sunrise), and zerach, 'dawning'.

Against the English

BSB and NIV have 'rises' and KJV, ESV and NASB 'has risen'. These keep the sunrise image, though English readers may not notice that this is specifically a sun verb.

Used elsewhere in the period

Of the sun: Genesis 32:31 (32:32 in Hebrew), Ecclesiastes 1:5. Of God's coming: 'The LORD came from Sinai and dawned (zarach) on them from Seir' (Deuteronomy 33:2). 'The sun of righteousness will rise (zarach) with healing in its wings' (Malachi 4:2; 3:20 in Hebrew). The next verse, Isaiah 60:2, repeats it: 'the LORD will rise (yizrach) upon you.'

From the study of Isaiah 60:2

Range of meaning

To rise or come up, used especially of the sun at daybreak (Gen 32:31; Judg 9:33; Eccl 1:5). More broadly, to shine forth or break out. The related noun mizrāḥ means "sunrise" and so "the east."

Against the English

BSB and NASB use "will rise" and keep the sunrise picture. KJV, ESV and WEB use "arise," which a modern reader can hear as "stand up" or "get up and act" (as in the command of v.1, which uses a different verb, qûm).

How it drifted

"Arise" was natural Early Modern English for the sun coming up. Today it mostly suggests rising from sitting or from sleep, so the picture of dawn is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

Of God: "Yahweh came from Sinai and dawned (zāraḥ) from Seir upon them" (Deut 33:2). "The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings" (Mal 3:20 / 4:2 Eng). In Isaiah: "your light will rise in the darkness" (58:10). The LXX here translates loosely with phanēsetai, "will appear." Picturing gods and kings as a rising sun was widespread in the ancient Near East (Shamash in Mesopotamia, solar royal titles in Egypt), and Israel's poets borrowed the image for Yahweh.

From the study of Isaiah 58:10

Range of meaning

To rise or come up, said of the sun (Gen 32:31; Eccl 1:5). It also describes God's glory dawning on his people (Deut 33:2; Isa 60:1-2) and the light of the upright (Ps 112:4).

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'rise' keeps the sunrise image. BSB 'go forth' is weaker and loses the dawn picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 112:4 'Light rises (zarach) in the darkness for the upright, gracious, compassionate and righteous' is a very close parallel. Isa 60:2 'upon you the LORD will rise (yizrach).' Mal 4:2 (3:20 in Hebrew) 'the sun of righteousness will rise.'

Where it appears

Genesis · 1
  1. Genesis 32:31 וַיִּֽזְרַֽח־ and it rose

    The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Exodus · 1
  1. Exodus 22:3 זָרְחָ֥ה it has risen

    But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.

Deuteronomy · 1
  1. Deuteronomy 33:2 וְזָרַ֤ח and he dawned

    He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

    Here: The verb used for the sun coming up. God's arrival is pictured as sunrise breaking over the mountains, not simply 'rose up'.

Judges · 1
  1. Judges 9:33 כִּזְרֹ֣חַ when rises

    And in the morning at sunrise, get up and advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, do to them whatever you are able.”

2 Samuel · 1
  1. 2 Samuel 23:4 יִזְרַח־ [when] it dawns

    is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’

    Here: The verb for the sun breaking over the horizon. The form can be read as a plain statement ('when the sun rises') or as a wish ('may the sun rise'). Elsewhere it is used for God's glory 'dawning' on his people.

2 Kings · 1
  1. 2 Kings 3:22 זָרְחָ֣ה it shone

    When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and it looked as red as blood to the Moabites across the way.

2 Chronicles · 1
  1. 2 Chronicles 26:19 זָרְחָ֨ה it arose

    Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead.

Job · 1
  1. Job 9:7 יִזְרָ֑ח it shines

    He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.

Psalms · 2
  1. Psalm 104:22 תִּזְרַ֣ח it rises

    The sun rises, and they withdraw; they lie down in their dens.

  2. Psalm 112:4 זָ֘רַ֤ח it rises

    Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

    Here: This is the word for the sun coming up at daybreak. The Hebrew form presents it as a settled fact, something that happens and keeps happening: light 'has dawned' and does dawn. It comes first in the line because the psalm is an alphabet poem and this half-line has to start with the letter zayin.

Ecclesiastes · 2
  1. Ecclesiastes 1:5 וְזָרַ֥ח זוֹרֵ֥חַֽ and it rises, [is] rising

    The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.

Isaiah · 3
  1. Isaiah 58:10 וְזָרַ֤ח and it will rise

    and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

    Here: 'Then will rise.' A sunrise verb, used for the sun coming up over the horizon. This is where the 'then' half of the sentence starts.

  2. Isaiah 60:1 זָרָֽח׃ it has dawned

    Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

    Here: 'Has dawned' or 'has risen'. This is the ordinary Hebrew verb for sunrise, and the word for 'east' (mizrach) comes from it. God's glory breaks over Zion like the sun coming up over the hills. Like 'has come', it is stated as already done.

  3. Isaiah 60:2 יִזְרַ֣ח he will dawn

    For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you.

    Here: The ordinary verb for the sun coming up. God is pictured as the dawn breaking over Zion. It is a picture of the sun rising, not of someone standing up. Verse 1 uses the same verb in a completed form ("has dawned"); here it looks ahead ("will dawn").

Jonah · 1
  1. Jonah 4:8 כִּזְרֹ֣חַ when arose

    As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

    Here: "Just as the sun came up." The time marker follows straight on from 4:7, where the worm struck "when dawn came up." First dawn and the worm, then sunrise and the wind: God's actions follow one after another through a single morning.

Nahum · 1
  1. Nahum 3:17 זָֽרְחָה֙ it rises

    Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.

    Here: 'The sun has risen.' No connecting word, which makes the change abrupt: the sun comes up, and the swarm is gone.

Malachi · 1
  1. Malachi 4:2 וְזָרְחָ֨ה and it will rise

    “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

    Here: The word for the sun coming up over the horizon, and for God's glory breaking out (Deut 33:2; Isa 60:1–2). The form points to the future and is feminine because its subject, 'sun', is feminine here: 'and she (the sun) will dawn'.

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