Hebrew word · H6631

צֶאֱצָא

vetze'etza'eihem

offspring

"That which comes out" (from yāṣāʾ, "to go out"): offspring or issue of a person (Isa 48:19; 61:9; 65:23; Job 5:25; 21:8), and also what comes out of the earth, its plants and produce (Isa 34:1; 42:5; Job 31:8, "let my produce be uprooted"). The word occurs only in Isaiah and Job.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) offspring, produce, issue

1a) offspring (of men)

1b) produce (of earth)

1c) descendants (metaphorical)

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 44:3

Range of meaning

"That which comes out" (from yāṣāʾ, "to go out"): offspring or issue of a person (Isa 48:19; 61:9; 65:23; Job 5:25; 21:8), and also what comes out of the earth, its plants and produce (Isa 34:1; 42:5; Job 31:8, "let my produce be uprooted"). The word occurs only in Isaiah and Job.

Against the English

"Offspring" and "descendants" capture the human sense but not the plant sense that the word has elsewhere in Isaiah.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 42:5 has God "spreading out the earth and its ṣeʾĕṣāʾîm," meaning its vegetation. Job 31:8 uses it of crops.

From the study of Isaiah 42:5

Range of meaning

That which comes out: offspring, descendants (of people); produce, growth (of the ground). From the root 'to go out'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'that which comes out of it' keeps the root. BSB 'its offspring' keeps the family picture but may puzzle readers. NIV's 'all that springs from it' is clear but loses the mother-and-child image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Of human descendants: Isa 44:3; 48:19; 61:9; 65:23; Job 5:25. Of crops: Job 31:8 ('let my produce be rooted out'). Isa 34:1 has 'the world and all that comes out of it'.

From the study of Isaiah 34:1

Range of meaning

Offspring, descendants, produce: what 'comes out' (from yatsa, 'go out'). It is used for human descendants (Isa 44:3; 48:19; 61:9; 65:23; Job 5:25; 21:8; 27:14) and for what grows out of the ground (Isa 42:5; Job 31:8 may also fit).

Against the English

BSB 'all that springs from it', KJV 'all things that come forth of it', YLT 'all its productions'. These keep the idea of things coming out of the earth. Paraphrases that just say 'everyone in it' narrow the word to people.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 42:5 is the exact phrase: God 'who spread out the earth and what comes from it (tseʾetsaʾeha)', which describes creation. The Septuagint here turns it into 'the people in it', reading it as human offspring.

Where it appears

Job · 4
  1. Job 5:25 וְ֝צֶאֱצָאֶ֗יךָ and descendants your

    You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth.

    Here: From the verb 'to go out', so 'what comes out of you', your issue. A poetic word also used of what the ground puts out, which fits the plant comparison that follows.

  2. Job 21:8 וְ֝צֶאֱצָאֵיהֶ֗ם and descendants their

    Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.

  3. Job 27:14 וְ֝צֶאֱצָאָ֗יו and descendants his

    Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.

  4. Job 31:8 וְֽצֶאֱצָאַ֥י and produce<s> my

    then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.

Isaiah · 7
  1. Isaiah 22:24 הַצֶּֽאֱצָאִים֙ the descendants

    So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.

    Here: "The offspring." Literally "what comes out" (from yatsa, "go out"). It means descendants in general and is often paired with "seed." Here it covers the whole brood of relatives.

  2. Isaiah 34:1 צֶאֱצָאֶֽיהָ׃ produce<s> its

    Come near, O nations, to listen; pay attention, O peoples. Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that springs from it.

    Here: 'Its offspring' or 'what springs out of it.' The word comes from the verb 'to go out.' It covers human descendants elsewhere (Isa 48:19; 61:9) and plant growth (Isa 42:5). Here it pictures everything the earth gives birth to, matching 'its fullness.'

  3. Isaiah 42:5 וְצֶאֱצָאֶ֑יהָ and produce<s> its

    This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

    Here: 'Her offspring': everything that comes out of the earth, above all plants and crops. The earth is pictured as a mother producing children; elsewhere in Isaiah the word is used for human descendants.

  4. Isaiah 44:3 צֶאֱצָאֶֽיךָ׃ descendants your

    For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

    Here: Literally "what comes out from you" (from yāṣāʾ, "go out"). Isaiah also uses the word for what comes up out of the earth, its plants (Isa 42:5), so it carries both meanings: your children and your growth.

  5. Isaiah 48:19 וְצֶאֱצָאֵ֥י and [the] descendants of

    Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.”

    Here: 'And the ones who come out of': a word built on yatsa, 'to go out', so it means what comes out of someone. It is a favourite of Isaiah's and often paired with 'seed'. It also sounds ahead to the command 'Go out (tseʾu) from Babylon!' in v. 20.

  6. Isaiah 61:9 וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶ֖ם and descendants their

    Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.

    Here: From the verb 'to go out': 'what comes out' of someone, their issue or progeny. In Isaiah it is regularly paired with 'seed' (44:3; 48:19; 65:23), so the pair stresses a full, flourishing line of descendants.

  7. Isaiah 65:23 וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶ֖ם and descendants their

    They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.

    Here: 'And their offspring': literally 'what comes out of them'. It is a favourite word of Isaiah's for descendants and adds a second generation to the first.

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