Hebrew word · H5577

סַנְסִנִּים

besansinav

fruit-stalk

This word appears only once in the Bible. Comparison with the related Akkadian word sissinnu ('the fruit-bearing stalk or spray of the date palm') points to the long stalks, hanging from the crown, on which the date clusters grow. Some have taken it more generally as the fronds or top branches.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

bough, fruit-stalk (of date 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 Song of Songs 7:8

Range of meaning

This word appears only once in the Bible. Comparison with the related Akkadian word sissinnu ('the fruit-bearing stalk or spray of the date palm') points to the long stalks, hanging from the crown, on which the date clusters grow. Some have taken it more generally as the fronds or top branches.

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'boughs', which suggests branches. BSB, WEB and NIV say 'its fruit', which gives the sense but drops the image. NASB's 'fruit stalks' is closest to the likely meaning.

How it drifted

KJV's 'boughs' came before modern comparison with Akkadian. It followed the general sense of 'branches' given by older interpreters, for example the Septuagint's 'its heights'.

Used elsewhere in the period

HALOT and BDB both connect it with Akkadian sissinnu, the date panicle (the branching stalk that carries the dates). The Septuagint has tōn hypseōn autou ('its heights', meaning its top). The Vulgate has fructus eius ('its fruit').

Where it appears

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 7:8 בְּסַנְסִנָּ֑יו on fruit-stalks its

    I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,

    Here: This word occurs only here in the Bible. It most likely means the long stalks that hang down from the top of a date palm with the clusters of dates on them. Grabbing these means reaching the sweet fruit, which the previous verse identified with her breasts.

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