Root

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Deuteronomy 29:18 (b) This is a symbol of the hidden, insidious, unseen, wicked influence among the people of GOD which produces evil results.

 Judges 5:14 (b) It is evident that the men of Ephraim in the past years were enemies of Amalek, as their children became enemies of Amalek. It was a historical hatred.

 2 Kings 19:30 (a) By this we learn that the people of Judah will again embrace the Word of GOD, the truth of GOD, and the Rock of Ages, as roots embrace the soil. They will publicly confess their GOD, and bear fruit to His glory, as the tree grows upward above its roots.

 Job 29:19 (a) This figure represents the prosperity and the blessing that were in the life of Job before he was afflicted.

 Proverbs 12:3 (b) Probably this is a reference to the faith of the Christian. His faith has fastened itself to the eternal Rock of Ages.

 Isaiah 5:24 (b) This represents a life lived in a sinful atmosphere. These choose their pleasures from sin and evil activities.

 Isaiah 11:10 (a) The term is used to express the fact that this root which is a type of the Lord Jesus existed before the human JESUS, in the eternal ages, and that Jesse came from Christ the root.

 Isaiah 14:29 (a) One kind of sin produces more sin. Evildoers shall cause trouble but GOD will punish them for it.

 Isaiah 27:6 (b) Israel will again be established as a nation, and we see this prophecy being fulfilled today in Palestine. (See  Isaiah 37:31).

 Isaiah 40:24 (b) By this we learn that GOD will destroy the wicked leaders of the earth such as Moab, Assyria, et cetera. The temples may remain in ruins, while the worshipers are gone.

 Isaiah 53:2 (a) This represents the Lord JESUS who, while, on earth, was unwanted, and undesired. The people did not believe that He would bring a blessing. Those of every group were opposed to Him. He was despised in the social circles, and by the politicians, by the educators, and by the military forces. He was not attractive to the public.

 Jeremiah 12:2 (b) This lament is from the heart of Jeremiah who could not understand why the wicked seemed to prosper. Asaph had this same difficulty (see  Psalm 73:3,  Psalm 73:12). Job also raised this question, for he was distressed by it. (See  Job 21:7-14).

 Ezekiel 31:7 (a) The picture represents the great King of Assyria who had access to great wealth and business opportunities, so that he grew to be a mighty monarch.

 Daniel 11:7 (b) The Queen of the South had a son and he would supercede and succeed in the battle.

 Hosea 9:16 (a) We see by this figure that GOD's wrath would be poured out upon His people so that their basic supplies would be cut off.

 Malachi 4:1 (a) In the great judgment day, whether it be the local one with the nations, or the individual one with Israel, or the eternal one in the last great final day, the wicked are to be removed from the earth, with no posterity. If the time refers to the end time, when the earth is dissolved, then also all the wicked of the earth are sent to the eternal lake of fire, and their memory is blotted out. This has already happened to the seven nations of Canaan. They have been destroyed from off the earth, root and branch.

 Matthew 3:10 (b) This prophecy concerns the end of the nation of Israel. Titus came with his Roman army, conquered the country, and scattered the inhabitants. (See also  Luke 3:9).

 Matthew 13:6 (b) The hearers of GOD's Word had no convictions and no decision in the soul. They had an outward show of repentance and of faith, but the inner heart was unmoved. (See  Matthew 13:21; also  Mark 4:6;  Luke 8:13).

 Luke 3:9 (b) It probably expresses the Lord's will and desire for Christians to obliterate and to remove all those hidden evils in the life which would prevent fruit bearing.

 Luke 17:6 (b) The lesson learned from this type is that to the man of faith the cause or the causes of his troubles will be removed.

 Romans 11:16 (b) We must be basically right in our faith and in our thinking.

 Hebrews 12:15 (a) This represents hidden evil thoughts and desires, secret words of animosity and dislike coming from a bitter heart. As this grows in the church, it produces trouble among GOD's people.

 Judges 1:12 (b) Probably our Lord is reminding us of the fact that the enemies of GOD will be completely destroyed from off the earth as was Hitler and as was Judas.

 Revelation 5:5 (a) The Scripture plainly teaches that the Lord JESUS lived before David, and in His human form descended from David.

 Revelation 22:16 (a) CHRIST is the root which existed before David, David came from CHRIST as Jesse came from CHRIST. They were both products of the work and plan of the Lord JESUS. He lived before they existed.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The descending, and commonly branching, axis of a plant, increasing in length by growth at its extremity only, not divided into joints, leafless and without buds, and having for its offices to fix the plant in the earth, to supply it with moisture and soluble matters, and sometimes to serve as a reservoir of nutriment for future growth. A true root, however, may never reach the ground, but may be attached to a wall, etc., as in the ivy, or may hang loosely in the air, as in some epiphytic orchids.

(2): ( n.) An edible or esculent root, especially of such plants as produce a single root, as the beet, carrot, etc.; as, the root crop.

(3): ( n.) The underground portion of a plant, whether a true root or a tuber, a bulb or rootstock, as in the potato, the onion, or the sweet flag.

(4): ( n.) A primitive form of speech; one of the earliest terms employed in language; a word from which other words are formed; a radix, or radical.

(5): ( n.) An ancestor or progenitor; and hence, an early race; a stem.

(6): ( v. i.) Hence, to seek for favor or advancement by low arts or groveling servility; to fawn servilely.

(7): ( n.) The cause or occasion by which anything is brought about; the source.

(8): ( n.) That factor of a quantity which when multiplied into itself will produce that quantity; thus, 3 is a root of 9, because 3 multiplied into itself produces 9; 3 is the cube root of 27.

(9): ( n.) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.

(10): ( n.) The lowest place, position, or part.

(11): ( n.) The time which to reckon in making calculations.

(12): ( v. i.) To turn up the earth with the snout, as swine.

(13): ( v. t.) To turn up or to dig out with the snout; as, the swine roots the earth.

(14): ( v. i.) To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.

(15): ( v. i.) To be firmly fixed; to be established.

(16): ( v. t.) To plant and fix deeply in the earth, or as in the earth; to implant firmly; hence, to make deep or radical; to establish; - used chiefly in the participle; as, rooted trees or forests; rooted dislike.

(17): ( v. t.) To tear up by the root; to eradicate; to extirpate; - with up, out, or away.

(18): ( n.) That which resembles a root in position or function, esp. as a source of nourishment or support; that from which anything proceeds as if by growth or development; as, the root of a tooth, a nail, a cancer, and the like.

(19): ( v. i.) To shout for, or otherwise noisly applaud or encourage, a contestant, as in sports; hence, to wish earnestly for the success of some one or the happening of some event, with the superstitious notion that this action may have efficacy; - usually with for; as, the crowd rooted for the home team.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

A — 1: Ῥίζα (Strong'S #4491 — Noun Feminine — rhiza — hrid'-zah )

is used (a) in the natural sense,  Matthew 3:10;  13:6,21;  Mark 4:6,17;  11:20;  Luke 3:9;  8:13; (b) metaphorically (1) of "cause, origin, source," said of persons, ancestors,  Romans 11:16-18 (twice); of things, evils,   1—Timothy 6:10 , RV, of the love of money as a "root" of all "kinds of evil" (marg., "evils;" AV, "evil"); bitterness,  Hebrews 12:15; (2) of that which springs from a "root," a shoot, said of offspring,  Romans 15:12;  Revelation 5:5;  22:16 .

B — 1: Ῥιζόω (Strong'S #4492 — Verb — rhizoo — hrid-zo'-o )

"to cause to take root," is used metaphorically in the Passive Voice in  Ephesians 3:17 , of being "rooted" in love;  Colossians 2:7 , in Christ, i.e., in the sense of being firmly planted, or established. In the Sept.,  Isaiah 40:24;  Jeremiah 12:2 .

B — 2: Ἐκριζόω (Strong'S #1610 — Verb — ekrizoo — ek-rid-zo'-o )

"to root out or up" (ek, "out," and No. 1), is rendered "to root up" in  Matthew 13:29;  15:13; see Pluck.

King James Dictionary

ROOT, n. L. radix. A root is a shoot, and only a different application of rod, L. radius.

1. That part of a plant which enters and fixes itself in the earth, and serves to support the plant in an erect position, while by means of its fibrils it imbibes nutriment for the stem, branches and fruit. 2. The part of any thing that resembles the roots of a plant in manner of growth as the roots of a cancer, of teeth, &c. 3. The bottom or lower part of any thing.

Deep to the roots of hell -

Burnet uses root of a mountain, but we now say base, foot or bottom. See  Job 28:9 .

4. A plant whose root is esculent or the most useful part as beets, carrots, &c. 5. The original or cause of any thing.

The love of money is the root of all evil.  1 Timothy 6 .

6. The first ancestor.

They were the roots out of which sprung two distinct people -

7. In arithmetic and algebra, the root of any quantity is such a quantity as, when multiplied into itself a certain number of times, will exactly produce that quantity. Thus 2 is a root of 4, because when multiplied into itself, it exactly produces 4. 8. Means of growth. "He hath no root in himself " that is, no soil in which grace can grow and flourish.  Matthew 13 . 9. In music, the fundamental note of any chord.

Root of bitterness, in Scripture, any error, sin or evil that produces discord or immorality.

To take root, to become planted or fixed or to be established to increase and spread.

to take deep root, to be firmly planted or established to be deeply impressed.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

ROOT ( ῥίζα).—The ‘root’ is that part essential to the life of a plant ( Matthew 13:6,  Mark 4:6), which penetrates the earth, and draws sap and nourishment from the soil. ‘Root’ is, therefore, taken to signify that condition of heart without which religious life is impossible ( Matthew 13:21,  Luke 8:13). The intelligent and stable Christian is described as ‘rooted’ in love ( Ephesians 3:17), and ‘rooted’ in Christ ( Colossians 2:7). Utter destruction is signified by plucking up by the root ( Matthew 13:29,  Judges 1:12). The Baptist’s vivid ‘the axe is laid unto the root’ ( Matthew 3:10,  Luke 3:9) points to the complete overthrow he desired for the rampant growth of evils in his day. As applied to Christ ( Revelation 5:5;  Revelation 22:16), the title ‘Root’ probably means more than ‘branch or sucker from an ancient root.’ Rather does it point to Him as Himself the ‘root’ whence David and his tribe sprang, appearing at last to manifest His transcendent power and glory.

W. Ewing.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Deuteronomy 29:18 Hebrews 12:15 1 Timothy 6:10 Psalm 80:9 Proverbs 12:3 Proverbs 12:12 Psalm 1:3 1 Kings 14:15 Jeremiah 24:6 2 Kings 19:30 Isaiah 27:6 Isaiah 37:31

Seed that fails to take root pictures those whose commitment to Christ is not firm enough to withstand trouble or persecution ( Matthew 13:6 ,Matthew 13:6, 13:21 ). To be rooted in Christ is to be established in faith ( Colossians 2:6 ). Root of Jesse ( Isaiah 11:10;  Romans 15:12 ) and root of David ( Revelation 5:5;  Revelation 22:16 ) serve as titles of the Messiah. In Paul's allegory of the grape vine Israel is the root of the plant, the church the branches ( Romans 11:16-18 ).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( שֹׁרֶשׁ , Shoresh , Ῥίζα ), that part of a plant which extends downwards and fastens itself in the earth. The rocky ground of Palestine is in some places covered with a very thin soil, so that the plants growing in these spots cannot strike deep roots, and are therefore easily uptorn by the winds or withered by the scorching sun — a circumstance to which a beautiful allusion is made in the parable of the sower ( Matthew 13:21). The root of a family is the progenitor from whom the race derives its name; thus, "Out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice" ( Isaiah 14:29), meaning Hezekiah, who was descended from David, and was, like him, a scourge to the oppressors of Israel. The word is used in this sense in a very remarkable prophecy, "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious" ( Isaiah 11:10). The Messiah, elsewhere called "the branch," is here described as "the root," for though David's son in his human character, yet in his divine capacity he is David's "root," as being his Lord and God. A similar passage occurs in Revelation. "The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed" (5:5). So "covetousness is the root of all evil" ( 1 Timothy 6:10); that is, the origin, the cause, the occasion; "Lest any root of bitterness trouble you" ( Hebrews 12:15). In  Job 19:28, "root of the matter" signifies a Ground or cause of controversy. The root may also denote the race, the posterity:  Proverbs 12:3, "The root of the righteous shall not be moved," i.e. shall not fail;  Jeremiah 12:2, "Whence do the wicked prosper in all things? thou hast planted them, and they have taken root." In Daniel and in the Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes, the persecutor of the Jews, is represented as a young sprout or sucker, or root of iniquity, proceeding from the kings, the successors of Alexander the Great. Jesus Christ, in his humiliation, is described as a root ill nourished, growing in a dry and barren soil ( Isaiah 53:2). In the contrary sense, Paul says ( Romans 11:16-18) that the Jews are, as it were, the root that bears the tree into which the Gentiles are grafted; and that the patriarchs are the pure and holy root of which the Jews are, as it were, the branches. Jesus Christ is the root on which Christians depend, and from which they derive life and subsistence ( Colossians 2:7).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

rōōt ( שׁרשׁ , shōresh  ; ῥίζα , rhı́za ): Frequently mentioned in the Old Testament and New Testament, but almost always in a figurative sense, e.g. "root of the righteous" (  Proverbs 12:3 ,  Proverbs 12:12 ); "root that beareth gall" ( Deuteronomy 29:18 ); "Their root shall be as rottenness" ( Isaiah 5:24 ); "root of bitterness" ( Hebrews 12:15 ). Also of peoples: "they whose root is in Amalek" ( Judges 5:14 ); of Assyria ( Ezekiel 31:7 ); "Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up" ( Hosea 9:16 ); "Judah shall again take root downward" ( 2 Kings 19:30; compare  Isaiah 27:6;  Isaiah 37:31 ); the root of Jesse ( Isaiah 11:10;  Romans 15:12 ); root of David ( Revelation 5:5;  Revelation 22:16 ).