H5342 — נֵצֶר (netser)¶
Core Data¶
- Strong's: H5342
- Original: נֵצֶר
- Transliteration: netser
- Pronunciation: nay'-tser
- Part of Speech: Masculine noun
- Root: From H5341 (natsar) in the sense of greenness as a striking color
- Occurrences: 4 unique verses (5 tokens)
- Books: 2 (Isaiah, Daniel)
- First Occurrence: Isa 11:1 — "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots"
- Hapax Legomenon: No
Lexicon Definition¶
From H5341 (natsar) in the sense of greenness as a striking color; a shoot; figuratively, a descendant. KJV: branch.
Translation Distribution (KJV)¶
| Translation | Verses | % |
|---|---|---|
| and a Branch | 1 | 25% |
| branch | 1 | 25% |
| like an [abominable branch] | 1 | 25% |
| out of a branch | 1 | 25% |
| the branch | 1 | 25% |
Note: Token count (5) exceeds unique verse count (4) because Isa 14:19 may carry a double tagging. All KJV renderings use "branch" as the core translation.
Distribution by Book¶
| Book | Count | Per 100 Verses |
|---|---|---|
| Isaiah | 3 | 0.2 |
| Daniel | 1 | 0.3 |
Exclusively prophetic usage. All three Isaiah occurrences are in distinct sections: First Isaiah (11:1), the Babylon oracle (14:19), and Third Isaiah (60:21). The Daniel occurrence is in the Kings of North and South prophecy.
Semantic Categories¶
1. Messianic Shoot / Royal Descendant¶
- Isa 11:1 — "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots" — the netser sprouts from the stump (geza) of Jesse's felled dynasty, paired with choter ("rod/twig"); the image is of new growth from an apparently dead line.
2. God's Planting / Covenant People as Shoots¶
- Isa 60:21 — "Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified" — Israel collectively described as God's netser, emphasizing divine origin and permanence.
3. Abominable / Rejected Shoot (Negative Reversal)¶
- Isa 14:19 — "But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet" — the king of Babylon is a netser that is loathsome, cast away — an anti-image inverting the positive "branch" of 11:1.
4. Genealogical Offshoot / Dynastic Descendant¶
- Dan 11:7 — "But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall prevail" — netser used in a political-genealogical sense: a descendant from the same dynastic root.
Common Collocations¶
| Word | Strong's | Co-occurrences | Typical Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| שֶׁרֶשׁ (sheresh) | H8328 | 2x (50%) | "branch... out of his roots" — netser grows from sheresh |
| גֶּזַע (geza) | H1503 | 1x (25%) | "stem of Jesse... a Branch" — netser sprouts from the geza (stump) |
| חֹטֵר (choter) | H2415 | 1x (25%) | "a rod... and a Branch" — parallel pair in Isa 11:1 |
| יִשַׁי (Yishay) | H3448 | 1x (25%) | "stem of Jesse" — Davidic lineage context |
| בּוּס (bus) | H947 | 1x (25%) | "carcase trodden under feet" — negative branch context |
The strongest collocational pattern is the botanical cluster: netser co-occurs with sheresh ("root") in half its occurrences and with geza ("stump/stem") and choter ("rod/twig") in its defining occurrence at Isa 11:1.
Related Words¶
Synonym¶
- H2415 חֹטֵר (choter) — "rod, twig" (2 occurrences: Prov 14:3; Isa 11:1). Parallel to netser in Isa 11:1 ("a rod... and a Branch"). Both denote new growth from a tree, but choter emphasizes the twig/rod shape while netser emphasizes verdant freshness.
Word Family¶
- H5341 נָצַר (natsar) — root verb: "to watch, guard, keep"; the noun netser derives from this root in its secondary sense of greenness/freshness (a watched/preserved shoot).
Easily Confused Words¶
| Word | Strong's | Shared Translation | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| צֶמַח (tsemach) | H6780 | "Branch" | tsemach = sprout/growth (12 occ); used as a messianic title in Jer 23:5, 33:15, Zech 3:8, 6:12; emphasizes sprouting/growing up. netser = verdant shoot from a stump; emphasizes the greenness and the root origin. |
| יוֹנֶקֶת (yowneqeth) | H3127 | "branch, tender branch" | yowneqeth = suckling shoot, young twig (6 occ); from yanaq "to suck"; emphasizes tenderness and youth. netser emphasizes color/freshness. |
| דָּלִיָּה (daliyah) | H1808 | "branch" | daliyah = dangling bough (8 occ); from dalah "to hang/dangle"; describes hanging branches of large trees (Ezekiel's allegories). netser = a fresh shoot from a stump or root. |
| זְמוֹרָה (zemorah) | H2156 | "branch, vine" | zemorah = pruned vine twig (5 occ); from zamar "to prune"; viticulture term. netser is not vine-specific. |
| קָנֶה (qaneh) | H7070 | "branch" (of lampstand) | qaneh = reed, stalk, measuring rod (62 occ); used for lampstand branches in Exodus; completely different semantic field. |
Semantic Domain¶
- [001002004002] Trees — other words in domain: אֲהָלֹות (H174), אֶזְרָח (H249), אַיִל (H352), אִילָן (A363), אַלְגּוּמִּים (H418), אֵלָה (H424)
LXX Mapping¶
No dominant Greek equivalent. The LXX data shows only function words (εἰς, ὁ, καί) rather than a consistent semantic translation, indicating the LXX translators rendered netser variously in each context rather than with a single Greek term. This contrasts with tsemach (H6780), which the LXX more consistently renders with ἀνατολή (G395).
Generated from: gather_word_data.py, search_relationships.py, search_strongs.py Last updated: 2026-05-01