BRANCH. The Prophets sometimes give this name to the Messiah, Behold the man, whose name is the Branch, says Zech. vi. 12. Zech. iii. 8.Zechary. And in another place1, Behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch. And so the Hebrew reads, what the Vulgate translates Oriens. Jesus Christ is the Branch2 of the house of David. He is likewise Oriens, the Sun of Righteousness, which is risen in order to enlighten us, and deliver us out of the shadow of death.
The Messiah is called likewise by the same name of Branch in Isaiah, iv. 2. Jeremiah, xxiii. 5. xxxiii. 15. and this denomination is a kind of prophecy of his miraculous birth of a Virgin.
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