Flourish (Hastings' Dictionary)
Two stages may be marked in the nse of the verb to flourish : 1. To flower, blossom, said (a) literally or (6) metaphorically, as (a) Lyte (1578), Dodoens, II. xx. 117, 'It beginneth to floure at the toppe of the stalke, and so goeth florishing downewarde.' So in AV Ec 12' 'the almond tree shall flourish' (['.xj;, RV 'shall blossom'); Ca 6" 7" of the vine (rn^, RV ' bud ' ; cf. Chaucer, Par- tonnes Tale, § 43, Student's ed.
697, 'To smelle the sote savour of the vyne whanne it florissheth ') ; Is 17" ' in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish' (-n-ipn, RV 'thou makest thy seed to blossom'); Ps 90' of the grass i]"T., Del, Cheyne 'blossoms'). (6) Metaphorically of persons or things : Ps 103" ' As for man, his days are as * Why was.^o(c« left in 2 Ch? Because less read, and reck- oned o( liss cons.'quence ? So in the Heb.
Bible some explain the presence of Esh-baal, 1 Ch 8^3 93», when the name was thanged in 2 S into Ishboiheth. grass : as a flower of the field so he flourisheth (("»' [3 ■■nyfi r'V?, lit. ' as tlie flower of the field so h« floweretli ' : so Ps 72'" 92' 132i«, all zuz [in Hiph.], which means to bring forth flowers, and is tf* 'blossom 'in Is 27° as well as [in Qal] Ezk 7'°); Sir 39" ' flouri.sh as a lily ' (ivOfiaaTe iySos ; RV ' put forth flowers'). 2.
lo shoot up quickly, or grow vigorously, again said literally of plants and metaphorically of persons and things. Thus Ezk 17-'' in the Wyclifite version of 1388 is ' Y made the drie tree to brynge forth boowis,' but the earlier version has ' Y made the drye tree for to florisshe,' which is retained in AV. In this sense are all the remaining instances of the word, the Heb. being some part of n"!?, or (in Ps 92''') the adj. \:in (Aram.
Jiyn Dn 4'') ; tiie Greek di'afldXXcii', Sir V' ll'-a 461^ 49i», Ph 4'" ; and the ha.t. forcre, 2 Es 6'^. J. Hastings.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Flourish
Flourish flur'-ish (parach, tsuts; anathallo): The translation of parach, "to break forth" (Ps 72:7; 92:12-13; Pr 14:11; Isa 66:14; Song 6:11; 7:12; the Revised Version (British and American) "budded"); of tsuts "to bloom" (Ps 72:16, Ps 90:1-17:Ps 6:1-10; 92:7; 103:15; 132:18); ra`anan, "green," "fresh," is translated "flourishing" in Ps 92:14, the Revised Version (British and American) "green," and ra`anan, Aramaic in Da 4:4; nubh, "to sprout" (Zec 9:17, the King James Version "cheerful"). ⇒See a list of verses on FLOUR in the Bible. In an interesting passage (Ec 12:5 the King James Version), the Hiphil future of na'ats, meaning properly "to pierce or strike," hence, to slight or reject, is translated "flourish"; it is said of the old man "The almond tree shall flourish," the Revised Version (British and American) "blossom" (so Ewald, Delitzsch, etc.); na'ats has nowhere else this meaning; it is frequently rendered "contemn;" "despise," etc. Other renderings are, "shall cause loathing" (Gesenius, Knobel, etc.), "shall be despised," i.e. the hoary head; "The almond tree shall shake o…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia