As trees, in Scripture, denote great men and princes, so branches, boughs, sprouts, or plants denote their offspring. In conformity with this way of speaking, Christ, in respect of His human nature, is styled a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of His roots (Isaiah 11:1) that is, a prince arising from the family of David.
A branch is the symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors, as branches from the root (Ezekiel 17:3; Ezekiel 17:10; Daniel 11:7). As only a vigorous tree can send forth vigorous branches, a branch is used as a general symbol of prosperity (Job 8:16). From these explanations it is easy to see how a branch becomes the symbol of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 4:2; Jeremiah 23:15; Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:12; and elsewhere). Branch is also used as the symbol of idolatrous worship (Ezekiel 8:17), probably in allusion to the general custom of carrying branches as a sign of honor. An abominable branch (Isaiah 14:19) means a tree on which a malefactor has been hanged. In Ezekiel 17:3 Jehoiachim is called the highest branch of the cedar, as being a king.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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