KNOWN BY ITS FRUIT
by Jeremy Chance Springfield
9/23/2026
The Torah’s holy times are commanded to be observed by deeds that are distinctive to each one. While we are called to come before the Holy One enacting what pertains to that festival, the text sometimes leaves their purpose unexplained. This forces us to sift through the Scriptures for deeper answers to our commanded actions.
This is because everything obligated of us has a higher wisdom at work behind its decree. What is imposed upon His people is done with righteous reason, intended to transform us forever into who He knows we can be. These commandments are thus balm to our brokenness, contributing to our participation in healing the hurting heart of His creation.
No obedience expected of us ever lacks a sublime purpose. In contrast to the lifeless legalism of man’s absurd edicts, the decrees of the Divine to which we are beholden brim with infinite love and eternal principles enlivening even the heavenly realms above. It is our supreme honor to break the barriers of mundane observance and reach for the supernal significance empowering the commandments from beyond.
This is because everything obligated of us has a higher wisdom at work behind its decree. What is imposed upon His people is done with righteous reason, intended to transform us forever into who He knows we can be. These commandments are thus balm to our brokenness, contributing to our participation in healing the hurting heart of His creation.
No obedience expected of us ever lacks a sublime purpose. In contrast to the lifeless legalism of man’s absurd edicts, the decrees of the Divine to which we are beholden brim with infinite love and eternal principles enlivening even the heavenly realms above. It is our supreme honor to break the barriers of mundane observance and reach for the supernal significance empowering the commandments from beyond.
An example of the depth behind seemingly arbitrary actions is beautifully portrayed in the final festival of the year commanded in the Torah. The holy time of Sukkot—often called “Tabernacles” or “Booths” in the English language—commands us to return to the creation from which we came and dwell for a week under the stars, reconnecting with the world in its purest form.
Sukkot has a very specific set of additional unique actions the believer is expected to perform in its observance, as seen in Leviticus 23:40.
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And you shall take for yourself on the first day fruit of a beautiful tree, branches of palm trees, and boughs of a thick tree, and willows of a river. And you shall rejoice before YHWH your Deity seven days.
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The objects with which we are to worship the Creator during Sukkot provide the believer with a simplistic path to observe the festival--with one notable exception. The first is not given a specific identity by which we can know what to use. The text simply states to take a PRI EITZ HADAR “fruit of a beautiful tree.”
Depending on the English translation, this may read alternatively something like “boughs of goodly trees” (KJV), “branches from luxuriant trees” (NIV), or “foliage of beautiful trees,” (NASB). The literal translation is indeed “fruit” rather than anything signifying “branches” or “foliage,” as the term PRI only ever signifies “fruit” from vegetation or, in a poetic sense, “offspring” from humans.
The text commands that a certain fruit be used along with the other specific tree branches (traditionally collectively called the lulav “branch”) that are together brought for the act of worship during Sukkot. The most ancient identification of the fruit is in the Targum Onkelos to this verse, which translated the Hebrew phrase into Aramaic as PEIREI ILANA ETROGIN “fruits of [the] citron tree.”
The singular form of ETROGIN is ETROG “citron.”
A citron is the ancestor of the modern citrus fruits common in today’s culinary usage. It is a unique fruit itself, not to be confused with the citron “lemon” of the French language. One may also encounter it referenced in Jewish sources via the form of ESROG, which is merely a variation of pronunciation and not representative of any actual difference.
This identification of the fruit to be used is echoed with only slight variation in the other extant Targumim to the verse from Leviticus 23 in the form of TROGIN.
An exploration of the etymology of ETROG helps to appreciate the spiritual purpose behind the usage of the fruit for the Sukkot worship experience. It originates from the root term of TARAG and refers to something that is “bright.”
The bold yellow color of the etrog displays this “brightness”—easily recognized hanging among the green leaves of its tree. This highly noticeable feature leads also to a secondary usage of the meaning behind its name.
This is seen in the term TARGUMA “loud speech.”
The idea is that loud speech is “bright,” that is to say, it is conspicuous and difficult to ignore. The term eventually became used to signify any of the several ancient Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible—that which has already been referenced in this study in the form of TARGUM “translation.”
The concept involved here is that a Targum / translation should serve to seize the attention of someone unable to comprehend the phonetics of the Hebrew text when it is read. The Targum is thus a “bright” moment for the believer who would not typically be paying attention to the unknown tongue of Hebrew.
This succession of etymology and usage is emphasized to truly value Torah’s command to worship with a PRI EITZ HADAR “fruit of a beautiful tree”—whose identity is only preserved from antiquity in the Targums as being an etrog.
The verdict that the etrog / citron is the Torah’s intended fruit is also confirmed by the nuance of the Hebrew text in Leviticus 23:40, wherein the phrase PRI EITZ HADAR “fruit of a beautiful tree” is understood to mean that the fruit possesses an unusual quality that is also found in the tree itself. For the fruit to be good enough to use in the act of worship the tree itself must be good, as well.
This succession of etymology and usage is emphasized to truly value Torah’s command to worship with a PRI EITZ HADAR “fruit of a beautiful tree”—whose identity is only preserved from antiquity in the Targums as being an etrog.
The verdict that the etrog / citron is the Torah’s intended fruit is also confirmed by the nuance of the Hebrew text in Leviticus 23:40, wherein the phrase PRI EITZ HADAR “fruit of a beautiful tree” is understood to mean that the fruit possesses an unusual quality that is also found in the tree itself. For the fruit to be good enough to use in the act of worship the tree itself must be good, as well.
The etrog tree is viewed as having this peculiar nature in Vayikra Rabbah 30:8.
The physical nature of the etrog tree is such that both its fruit and its leaves have been valued for millennia by several cultures as having a pleasant taste and scent—an unusual feature not shared by most fruit-bearing trees.
It is this trait of the etrog tree that holds an insightful idea that will prove to be worthy as this study develops further. In the text of Bereshit Rabbah 15, the discussion about Sukkot turned to the identification of the tree whose fruit should be used to rejoice. One rabbi posited that it was none other than the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! He then gave his reasoning.
His assertion stemmed from his careful reading of Genesis 3:6.
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And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree was desirous for wisdom. And she took from its fruit, and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
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The translation I have rendered here is typical of most English versions, but the interpretation in Bereshit Rabbah reveals the rabbi viewed the Hebrew in a way that led him to an insight about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He read the term HA’EITZ “the tree” in its alternative meaning of “the wood.”
By reading it instead as “the wood,” the passage can suddenly be understood as “the wood was good for food.” Since the text blatantly declares the woman ate from the fruit afterwards, the idea is supported by the text that the unique nature of the forbidden tree was such that its wood was as edible as its fruit.
This just happens to be a notable feature of the etrog tree.
Now, what is the purpose of using such forbidden fruit for the act of rejoicing during Sukkot? The reasoning begins with the idea that the festival of Sukkot represents an idealized world—where the Creator reigns without challenge in His perfect creation. This is seen in the Zohar, Tetzaveh 186b, commenting on the command to dwell in sukkot for seven days, as found in Leviticus 23:42.
In a perfected world, man uses all of creation within the limits in which he is commanded to operate. He does not transgress his boundaries but rather recognizes them as righteous and by them deepens his worship experience of the Holy One. As such, using the citron for rejoicing during Sukkot involves mankind elevating the elements of his original fall in Eden back to their proper purpose.
When the separation of sin is no longer present, then all of man’s actions are in harmony. The concept is thus that the etrog exemplifies someone whose inner nature is in unity with his outer actions. It is a wonderful fruit to symbolically show our desire to be people of true integrity in our walk before the Holy One.
This aspect of the fruit and its symbolic application is again applied when we return to the text of Vayikra Rabbah 30 and continue in the passage.
This means a believer’s outside reflects his inside—an idea further developed in the text, which claims that of the four types of plants the Torah commands us to rejoice with during Sukkot, the etrog is central among them.
The passage quotes from Psalm 35:10 and asserts the heart of the commandment is the fruit—the expressive aspect of a plant. The etrog therefore symbolizes a heart beating with focus and integrity. We rejoice in an overflow of words and deeds that stem from the proper inner intent.
This holy source of our worship with the etrog emerges not from a heart of flesh, but rather, from something far greater, as Tikkunei Zohar 29a explains.
Rejoicing with the citron during Sukkot is a spiritual act, as the Shechinah is expressly identified as such in the Zohar, Ki Teitzei 275b.
The work of the Shechinah / Holy Spirit is the source for our performance of the Torah, as Ezekiel 11:19-20 explains (repeated almost verbatim in 36:26-27).
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“And I shall give to them a single heart, and a new Spirit I shall place in your innermost. And I shall remove the stone heart from their flesh, and give to them a heart of flesh, so that in My statutes they shall walk, and My rulings they shall guard, and perform them. And they shall be for Me a people, and I shall be for them a Deity.”
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The etrog with which we worship the Holy One during Sukkot is wisely and meaningfully chosen—a symbol conveying our joy and gratitude for all He has done for us. The citron signifies the “brightness” of realizing He is responsible for every good we have received. By the etrog we “speak loudly” our desire for harmony, led by a unity of intent and deed in our actions, “translating” what cannot ever be sufficiently expressed into a proper show of joy in His presence.
It should come as no surprise, then, to read the sentiment of the Zohar, Pinchas 256a Ra’ya Mehemna about the ultimate symbolism of the etrog.
The greatest expression of the Creator’s presence in the world is the Kingdom. Man must portray his Maker’s will by speaking truth and living it in all his deeds. It is our duty to clarify the King’s commands in all aspects of our lives so that creation is vivified by the goodness of the Most High. These are the characteristics exemplified by the traits of the etrog of Sukkot.
With the recognition of the citron’s significance, we can now consider another ancient Aramaic translation of the Torah that leads to an even deeper appreciation of the festival fruit. This begins in the Aramaic Peshitta translation of Leviticus 23:40. The phrase PRI EITZ HADAR is rendered in that ancient Aramaic text as PIRE ILANE SHAPIRE ATRUGE “fruits of beautiful trees—etrogs.”
This translation is straightforward, but it is especially valuable in that it provides a link to the New Testament in an account not normally viewed as connected to Sukkot, but which will be seen as infused with thematic festival elements. These aspects are only appreciable in the Aramaic Peshitta’s text of Matthew 12. It is in verse 33 that the passage’s Sukkot allusion takes on its clearest form.
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Or, you must make the tree beautiful and its fruits beautiful, or you must make the tree evil and its fruits evil—for from its fruits the tree is known.
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This records Yeshua’s words in a diatribe against certain Pharisees who vocally opposed his miraculous healing of a man blind and deaf due to the presence of a demon. Those Pharisees accused him of acting with satanic power, and his response revealed they were the ones suffering from spiritual dissonance.
It is in this statement that Yeshua’s words take on a blatant Sukkot theme, for the phrase he utters in the Aramaic is ILANA SHAPIRA W’FIRWAHI SHAPIRE “the tree beautiful and its fruit beautiful.”
It is in this statement that Yeshua’s words take on a blatant Sukkot theme, for the phrase he utters in the Aramaic is ILANA SHAPIRA W’FIRWAHI SHAPIRE “the tree beautiful and its fruit beautiful.”
This expression uses the exact same wording of the Aramaic translation of the Torah mentioned above when it rendered the type of fruit used for Sukkot!
It is imperative to emphasize Yeshua was not using terms haphazardly. Rather, as a rabbi, he repeatedly utilized Pharisaic teaching methods—and carefully crafted phrasing that mirrored Biblical phrases was a common tool of early rabbinic teachers to signal an allusion to a specific Scriptural theme. Coincidence was not part of the range of rabbinic instruction: keywords and familiar expressions entailed calculated connections to certain Scriptural topics.
The fact that he was addressing fellow Pharisees is further evidence that it was deliberate dialogue they would have easily recognized. Use of the same phrase of ILANA SHAPIRA “beautiful tree” that the Aramaic translation of the Torah preserved for EITZ HADAR was Yeshua’s way of distinguishing his comment as relating to a very specific context: the etrog!
The fact that he was addressing fellow Pharisees is further evidence that it was deliberate dialogue they would have easily recognized. Use of the same phrase of ILANA SHAPIRA “beautiful tree” that the Aramaic translation of the Torah preserved for EITZ HADAR was Yeshua’s way of distinguishing his comment as relating to a very specific context: the etrog!
The Pharisaic approach Yeshua was using is also seen in his latter phrase: MEN PIRAHI HA GER METHIDA ILANA “for from its fruits the tree is known.”
While this is presented during an a fortiori logical argument, or what is known from antiquity in rabbinic Judaism as a kal v’chomer “light and heavy” argument, it could also be viewed in connection to the ILANA SHAPIRA “beautiful tree” etrog statement, since its fruit distinguishes its tree!
Additionally, Yeshua’s wording of MEN PIRAHI HA GER METHIDA ILANA “for from its fruits the tree is known,” alludes to another aspect of the etrog previously addressed in this study: the idea that the tree was originally the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! Rather than just saying the obvious notion that a tree is recognizable by its fruits, Yeshua also hinted at the familiar Jewish concept because the word METHIDA “known” is the same term inflected slightly differently that is used to describe the forbidden tree in the Aramaic translation of Genesis 2:9, where it is ILANA DIDATHA D’TABTHA D’BISHTHA “the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and of Evil.”
Although pronounced differently due to grammatical necessity, the term DIDATHA “of the knowledge” is merely another conjugation of the term METHIDA “known.” This link is further established by Yeshua’s next statement in 12:34.
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Offspring of vipers! How are you able to speak good who are evil? For from the excess of the heart the mouth speaks!
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He alters his delivery slightly, changing from SHAPIRA, which he used for “beautiful,” but which can also be used for “good” in the Aramaic tongue, to the more common Aramaic word for “good,” which is TABTHA. This is also the same term used for the forbidden tree: ILANA DIDATH D’TABTHA D’BISHTHA.
Note also that Yeshua refers to those specific Pharisees who opposed his holy work with the moniker of “vipers!” One only needs to recall that the fall of man in the Garden was not just centered around the prohibited tree, but also the serpent who tempted humanity to eat of its fruit! This reference to “vipers” was intentional and cleverly within the context of his allusions.
Furthermore, the term Yeshua used to refer to them was YALDA “offspring.” This word is deceptively simple, for while it is very commonly used to speak of human children, it is also used to refer to “fruit” from a tree.
Note also that Yeshua refers to those specific Pharisees who opposed his holy work with the moniker of “vipers!” One only needs to recall that the fall of man in the Garden was not just centered around the prohibited tree, but also the serpent who tempted humanity to eat of its fruit! This reference to “vipers” was intentional and cleverly within the context of his allusions.
Furthermore, the term Yeshua used to refer to them was YALDA “offspring.” This word is deceptively simple, for while it is very commonly used to speak of human children, it is also used to refer to “fruit” from a tree.
Since he had just spoken of deeds as fruit, it is logical for the reader to see the term as “fruit,” but then when the next word is encountered, to reinterpret it as “offspring.” Hence, in one masterful utterance, Yeshua linked the dual concepts of “fruit” and the “serpent” to the topic of the “tree” and “good” and “evil.”
All of this, it must be remembered, was originally introduced in the context of Sukkot and the etrog tree. When this is recalled, a passage from Tikkunei Zohar 29a-29b about worshiping during the holy time with fruit and the branches commanded in Leviticus 23:40 suddenly takes on a new relevance.
All of this, it must be remembered, was originally introduced in the context of Sukkot and the etrog tree. When this is recalled, a passage from Tikkunei Zohar 29a-29b about worshiping during the holy time with fruit and the branches commanded in Leviticus 23:40 suddenly takes on a new relevance.
The admonishment is to take up the elements commanded for rejoicing during Sukkot and praise the Creator with them in such a way that they become spiritual weapons against the primordial enemy of man. This aligns incredibly well with Yeshua’s words recorded in Matthew 12:18-21, which set the stage for his citron-centric tirade against the Pharisees.
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18 “See My servant—My desire is in him! My beloved, in whom My soul rejoices! My Spirit I shall place upon him, and judgment for the peoples he shall declare! |
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19 He shall not disagree and neither cry loudly, and no man shall hear his voice in the street.
20 The broken reed he shall not break off, and a lamp that flickers he shall not extinguish—until victorious judgment goes forth.
21 And in his name the peoples shall hope!”
20 The broken reed he shall not break off, and a lamp that flickers he shall not extinguish—until victorious judgment goes forth.
21 And in his name the peoples shall hope!”
Yeshua quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4 to emphasize his Messianic mission. Note his paraphrase in verse 20 of “until victorious judgment goes forth” that is nearly identical to the passage in the Tikkunei Zohar about Sukkot’s etrog elements having the purpose of being “victorious [in] judgment.” These parallels are not insignificant!
A spiritual reckoning occurs during our rejoicing at Sukkot. We participate in the regaining of what we lost to the serpent in the Garden so long ago by acting in the spiritual power that is realized through the commandments we perform—just as the Messiah is known by every holy act he accomplishes.
This is emphasized in Yeshua words to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:25-29.
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25 Yet, Yeshua knew their reckonings, and said to them, “Every kingdom that is divided against itself shall be ruined—and all in it. And the city that is divided against itself shall not stand.
26 And if Satana casts out Satana, against himself he is divided. How, therefore, does his kingdom stand? |
27 And if I, by Belzbub, cast forth demons, your sons—by whom do they cast them forth? On account of this, they shall become your judges!
28 And if by the Spirit of the Deity I cast forth demons, upon you has come the Kingdom of the Deity!
29 Or, how is a man able to enter the house of the mighty one, and his weapons plunder, except if he first binds the mighty one, and then plunders his house?”
28 And if by the Spirit of the Deity I cast forth demons, upon you has come the Kingdom of the Deity!
29 Or, how is a man able to enter the house of the mighty one, and his weapons plunder, except if he first binds the mighty one, and then plunders his house?”
Yeshua reiterates that he can only restore what was undone if he is defeating the enemies of righteousness, not siding with them. Amazingly, the phrase he used in verse 29 that is translated as “and his weapons” is W’MANAW and is notable in that it is not a typical term used for that concept. The reason it is worth mentioning here is that the previous quotation from Tikkunei Zohar 29a-29b about the etrog elements as “weapons” also used that very term: MANEI!
The text of Tikkunei Zohar 29b also reinforced the deeper reality that is occurring when we raise the etrog and lulav in rejoicing during Sukkot.
During Sukkot, the etrog and lulav are traditionally pointed in all four directions to signify that the earth belongs to its Maker. The text of Tikkunei Zohar 29b asserts they are utilized in those directions due to the wording of Genesis 3:24, which reveals how the Garden of Eden was guarded after man’s fall.
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And He cast out the man, and he set up from the east of the Garden of Eden the keruvim, and the flaming sword that turned every direction, to guard the path [to] the tree of life.
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By correctly using the fruit of the tree at Sukkot, we effectively become the new guardians of the Garden like man was initially tasked with performing in Genesis 2:15.
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And YHWH [the] Deity took the man and placed him in [the] Garden of Eden to serve it and to guard it.
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When we understand that our worship at Sukkot involves aspects of retaking the creation to be the Kingdom of the Creator, we can appreciate what we have been called to do with the most mundane of things. The simple plants that grow from the earth are elevated during those seven days to remind us that the goal of all things is to restore what was originally created in seven days. We therefore take those elements and rejoice with a loud voice, translating the good news that the world will be reclaimed for the realization of its true calling.
The witness of Messiah showed that we must be united in heart and hand—expressing in action what is written on our hearts. We therefore act by the power of the Spirit to stand against the enemy. What he has shackled to shame and pain we have the power to free by the Spirit upon us that grows and matures us so that we will be known by our fruit as the rightful guardians of the world.
All study contents Copyright Jeremy Chance Springfield, except for graphics and images, which are Copyright their respective creators.