Hebrew word · H534

אָמִיר

'amir

bough

The top of a tree, its crown or uppermost branch. It occurs only in Isa 17:6 and 17:9, and its origin is uncertain.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) top, summit

1a) of tree

1b) of mountain

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 17:6

Range of meaning

The top of a tree, its crown or uppermost branch. It occurs only in Isa 17:6 and 17:9, and its origin is uncertain.

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'the uppermost bough'. BSB: 'atop the tree'. NIV: 'the topmost branches'. All capture the height. BSB's shorter wording drops the stacking 'head of the top'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In v. 9 the Hebrew text pairs it with 'woodland' ('the deserted places of the woodland and the treetop/summit'); the Greek Septuagint reads 'Amorites' there instead. The rarity of the word has left its exact shade uncertain.

From the study of Isaiah 17:9

Range of meaning

Very rare. Besides this verse it occurs only in Isaiah 17:6, "at the top of the highest bough (bərō’š ’āmîr)," for the topmost branch of an olive tree. It probably means a treetop or high bough. Some extend it to "summit."

Against the English

KJV says "an uppermost branch," BSB "summits," WEB "mountain top," YLT "the branch." The spread of renderings shows real uncertainty.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its only other use is v. 6. The consonants ’-m-y-r are very close to ’-m-r-y, "Amorite," which is what the Greek translators appear to have read.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 17:6 אָמִ֑יר [the] tree-top

    Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

    Here: The highest bough or treetop. The word is very rare and appears again in v. 9. 'At the head of the topmost bough' stresses that only the unreachable fruit survives.

  2. Isaiah 17:9 וְהָ֣אָמִ֔יר and the tree-top

    In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.

    Here: A rare word, used elsewhere only in v. 6, for the topmost bough where a few olives are left after the harvest. Its meaning here (treetop? summit?) is uncertain, which is part of why some translators follow the Greek instead.

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