Page 237 - Foundations

One at her bending knee; and in her hand
Glitters that bright and golden Ear of Corn.

One of the bright stars in this constellation appears in the ear of corn which the virgin holds in her left
hand. It is called Al Zimach, meaning “The Branch.” One Biblical corollary to this heavenly
testimony is found in the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 11:1-5
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the
Spirit of Yahweh will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and
strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh. And He will delight in the fear of Yahweh,
and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; but with
righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He
will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.

The prophet Jeremiah also prophesied of The Branch.

Jeremiah 23:5-6
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “When I shall raise up for David a righteous
Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His
days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be
called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’”

The Hebrew word for Branch in these verses is nearly identical to the Arabic name Al Zimach. The
Hebrew word is Tsemech. In the Old Testament of the Bible there are twenty Hebrew words
translated as “branch,” but only the word Tsemech is used as a reference to the Son of God who
would be called “The Branch.” It is remarkable that this is the word the Arabs have preserved in the
star catalogues.

A star in the arm that carries the branch is called Al Mureddin which means “who shall come down,”
or “who shall have dominion.” Another name given for this star is Vindemiatrix. This is a Chaldean
word that means “the Son,” or “Branch, who comes.” The Arabs called this constellation Adarah,
meaning “the pure virgin,” as well as Sunbul, meaning “an ear of corn.” This latter name puts the
emphasis upon the seed the virgin is bearing, rather than upon the virgin herself. This seems befitting
of the prophetic word that Yahweh spoke to our first forebears in the Garden of Eden, for it is the
Seed of the woman, and not the woman herself, who would crush the head of the serpent.

According to A.H. Layard, a British archaeologist, and the first man to perform excavations at the
ancient site of Nineveh, the name of this constellation in Assyrian was Mylitt, or Mylitta, meaning
“She who brings forth.” The Babylonians also referred to Virgo as “The Great Mother.”

The second brightest star in the constellation is Zavijaveh, meaning “gloriously beautiful.”