Bunch

Bunch in the King James Version translates three distinct Hebrew terms for bound clusters or groupings of plants. The “bunch of hyssop” in Exodus 12:22 was used to apply the Passover blood to the doorposts and lintel, making hyssop the instrument of apotropaic protection on the night of the exodus. The same connection—hyssop and blood—recurs in the purification rites of Leviticus and Numbers, and in Psalm 51:7 (“purge me with hyssop”) as a plea for moral cleansing.

The “bunch of raisins” (a cake of pressed raisins, so most modern versions) brought to David by Ziba (2 Sam. 16:1) and carried as provisions by those who came to David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:40) reflects the portable, long-lasting food staples of ancient Israelite travel and warfare. The “bunch of a camel” in Isaiah 30:6 refers to the hump, as gifts are loaded on animals for an embassy to Egypt. These three quite different uses of the word reflect the breadth of the KJV translators' vocabulary choices where specific Hebrew terms lacked obvious English equivalents.