In the Bible, trees hold significant symbolic and literal importance, appearing from Genesis to Revelation. They are often used to represent life, growth, and prosperity, as well as instruments of divine teaching and judgment.

Creation and Symbolism

The first mention of trees is found in the creation narrative. In Genesis 1:11-12 , God commands the earth to bring forth vegetation, including "seed-bearing plants and trees on the earth that bear fruit with seed in it." Trees are depicted as part of God's good creation, providing sustenance and beauty.

The Garden of Eden, described in Genesis 2, features two notable trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Tree of Life symbolizes eternal life and divine provision, while the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents moral choice and the consequences of disobedience. Genesis 2:9 states, "And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

Covenant and Law

Trees also play a role in the covenantal and legal aspects of Israelite society. In Deuteronomy 20:19-20 , during instructions for warfare, God commands the Israelites not to destroy fruit trees, recognizing their value for sustenance: "When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit."

Wisdom Literature

In the wisdom literature, trees are often used metaphorically to describe the righteous and the wicked. Psalm 1:3 compares the righteous man to "a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does." This imagery emphasizes stability, nourishment, and prosperity as blessings for those who follow God's law.

Prophetic Imagery

Prophets frequently use trees to convey messages of judgment and restoration. In Isaiah 61:3 , the redeemed are called "oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor." This portrays the strength and enduring nature of those who are restored by God.

Conversely, trees are also used to symbolize judgment. In Ezekiel 31, the fall of Assyria is likened to the cutting down of a great cedar, illustrating the downfall of prideful nations.

New Testament

In the New Testament, trees continue to hold symbolic meaning. Jesus uses the fig tree as a teaching tool in several parables. In Matthew 21:19 , Jesus curses a barren fig tree, symbolizing the judgment on unfruitfulness and hypocrisy.

The cross, often referred to as a "tree" in the New Testament, becomes the ultimate symbol of redemption. In 1 Peter 2:24 , it is written, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness."

Eschatological Vision

The Book of Revelation concludes with the reappearance of the Tree of Life, signifying the restoration of creation. Revelation 22:2 describes the tree as bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding its fruit every month, with leaves for the healing of the nations. This imagery encapsulates the hope of eternal life and the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan.

Throughout Scripture, trees serve as powerful symbols of life, judgment, and redemption, reflecting the overarching narrative of God's relationship with humanity.Tree of life

Stood also in the midst of the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9; 3:22). Some writers have advanced the opinion that this tree had some secret virtue, which was fitted to preserve life. Probably the lesson conveyed was that life was to be sought by man, not in himself or in his own power, but from without, from Him who is emphatically the Life (John 1:4; 14:6). Wisdom is compared to the tree of life (Proverbs 3:18). The "tree of life" spoken of in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14) is an emblem of the joys of the celestial paradise.

Tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Stood in the midst of the garden of Eden, beside the tree of life (Genesis 2, 3). Adam and Eve were forbidden to take of the fruit which grew upon it. But they disobeyed the divine injunction, and so sin and death by sin entered our world and became the heritage of Adam's posterity. (see ADAM.)

1. (n.) Any perennial woody plant of considerable size (usually over twenty feet high) and growing with a single trunk.

2. (n.) Something constructed in the form of, or considered as resembling, a tree, consisting of a stem, or stock, and branches; as, a genealogical tree.

3. (n.) A piece of timber, or something commonly made of timber; -- used in composition, as in axletree, boottree, chesstree, crosstree, whiffletree, and the like.

4. (n.) A cross or gallows; as Tyburn tree.

5. (n.) Wood; timber.

6. (n.) A mass of crystals, aggregated in arborescent forms, obtained by precipitation of a metal from solution. See Lead tree, under Lead.

7. (v. t.) To drive to a tree; to cause to ascend a tree; as, a dog trees a squirrel.

8. (v. t.) To place upon a tree; to fit with a tree; to stretch upon a tree; as, to tree a boot. See Tree, n., 3.

BAY TREE

ba'-tre' (the King James Version only; Psalm 37:35; 'ezrach): The word means "native," "indigenous," and the Revised Version (British and American) translations "a green tree in its native soil."

OIL TREE

oil tre ('ets shemen (Isaiah 41:19), margin "oleaster," in Nehemiah 8:15, translated "wild olive," the King James Version "pine"; 'atse shemen, in 1 Kings 6:23, 31, 32, translated "olive wood"): The name "oleaster" used to be applied to the wild olive, but now belongs to quite another plant, the silver-berry, Eleagnus hortensis (Natural Order Elaeagnaceae), known in Arabic as Zeizafan. It is a pretty shrub with sweet-smelling white flowers and silver-grey-green leaves. It is difficult to see how all the three references can apply to this tree; it will suit the first two, but this small shrub would never supply wood for carpentry work such as that mentioned in 1 Kings, hence, the translation "olive wood." On the other hand, in the reference in Nehemiah 8:15, olive branches are mentioned just before, so the translation "wild olive" (the difference being too slight) is improbable. Post suggests the translation of 'ets shemen by PINE (which see), which if accepted would suit all the requirements.

E. W. G. Masterman

OLIVE TREE

ol'-iv tre (zayith, a word occurring also in Aramaic, Ethiopic and Arabic; in the last it means "olive oil," and zaitun, "the olive tree"; elaia):

1. The Olive Tree:

The olive tree has all through history been one of the most characteristic, most valued and most useful of trees in Palestine. It is only right that it is the first named "king" of the trees (Judges 9:8, 9). When the children of Israel came to the land they acquired olive trees which they planted not (Deuteronomy 6:11; compare Joshua 24:13). The cultivation of the olive goes back to the earliest times in Canaan. The frequent references in the Bible, the evidences (see 4 below) from archaeology and the important place the product of this tree has held in the economy of the inhabitants of Syria make it highly probable that this land is the actual home of the cultivated olive. The wild olive is indigenous there. The most fruitful trees are the product of bare and rocky ground (compare Deuteronomy 32:13) situated preferably at no great distance from the sea. The terraced hills of Palestine, where the earth lies never many inches above the limestone rocks, the long rainless summer of unbroken sunshine, and the heavy "clews" of the autumn afford conditions which are extraordinarily favorable to at least the indigenous olive.

The olive, Olea Europaea (Natural Order Oleaceae), is a slow-growing tree, requiring years of patient labor before reaching full fruitfulness. Its growth implies a certain degree of settlement and peace, for a hostile army can in a few days destroy the patient work of two generations. Possibly this may have something to do with its being the emblem of peace. Enemies of a village or of an individual often today carry out revenge by cutting away a ring of bark from the trunks of the olives, thus killing the trees in a few months. The beauty of this tree is referred to in Jeremiah 11:16 Hosea 14:6, and its fruitfulness in Psalm 128:3. The characteristic olive-green of its foliage, frosted silver below and the twisted and gnarled trunks-often hollow in the center-are some of the most picturesque and constant signs of settled habitations. In some parts of the land large plantations occur: the famous olive grove near Beirut is 5 miles square; there are also fine, ancient trees in great numbers near Bethlehem.

In starting an oliveyard the fellah not infrequently plants young wild olive trees which grow plentifully over many parts of the land, or he may grow from cuttings. When the young trees are 3 years old they are grafted from a choice stock and after another three or four years they may commence to bear fruit, but they take quite a decade more before reaching full fruition. Much attention is, however, required. The soil around the trees must be frequently plowed and broken up; water must be conducted to the roots from the earliest rain, and the soil must be freely enriched with a kind of marl known in Arabic as chuwwarah. If neglected, the older trees soon send up a great many shoots from the roots all around the parent stem (perhaps the idea in Psalm 128:3); these must be pruned away, although, should the parent stem decay, some of these may be capable of taking its place. Being, however, from the root, below the original point of grafting, they are of the wild olive type-with smaller, stiffer leaves and prickly stem-and need grafting before they are of use. The olive tree furnishes a wood valuable for many forms of carpentry, and in modern Palestine is extensively burnt as fuel.

2. The Fruit:

The olive is in flower about May; it produces clusters of small white flowers, springing from the axils of the leaves, which fall as showers to the ground (Job 15:33). The first olives mature as early as September in some places, but, in the mountain districts, the olive harvest is not till November or even December. Much of the earliest fruit falls to the ground and is left by the owner ungathered until the harvest. The trees are beaten with long sticks (Deuteronomy 24:20), the young folks often climbing into the branches to reach the highest fruit, while the women and older girls gather up the fruit from the ground. The immature fruit left after such an ingathering is described graphically in Isaiah 17:6: "There shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking (margin "beating") of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree." Such gleanings belonged to the poor (Deuteronomy 24:20), as is the case today. Modern villages in Palestine allow the poor of even neighboring villages to glean the olives. The yield of an olive tree is very uncertain; a year of great fruitfulness may be followed by a very scanty crop or by a succession of such.

The olive is an important article of diet in Palestine. Some are gathered green and pickled in brine, after slight bruising, and others, the "black" olives, are gathered quite ripe and are either packed in salt or in brine. In both cases the salt modifies the bitter taste. They are eaten with bread.

More important commercially is the oil. This is sometimes extracted in a primitive way by crushing a few berries by hand in the hollow of a stone (compare Exodus 27:20), from which a shallow channel runs for the oil. It is an old custom to tread them by foot (Micah 6:15).

3. Olive Oil:

Oil is obtained on a larger scale in one of the many varieties of oil mills. The berries are carried in baskets, by donkeys, to the mill, and they are crushed by heavy weights. A better class of oil can be obtained by collecting the first oil to come off separately, but not much attention is given to this in Palestine, and usually the berries are crushed, stones and all, by a circular millstone revolving upright round a central pivot. A plenteous harvest of oil was looked upon as one of God's blessings (Joel 2:24; Joel 3:13). That the "labor of the olive" should fail was one of the trials to faith in Yahweh (Habakkuk 3:17). Olive oil is extensively used as food, morsels of bread being dipped into it in eating; also medicinally (Luke 10:34 James 5:14). In ancient times it was greatly used for anointing the person (Psalm 23:5 Matthew 6:17). In Rome's days of luxury it was a common maxim that a long and pleasant life depended upon two fiuids-"wine within and oil without." In modern times this use of oil for the person is replaced by the employment of soap, which in Palestine is made from olive oil. In all ages this oil has been used for illumination (Matthew 25:3).

4. Greater Plenty of Olive Trees in Ancient Times:

Comparatively plentiful as olive trees are today in Palestine, there is abundant evidence that the cultivation was once much more extensive. "The countless rock-cut oil-presses and wine-presses, both within and without the walls of the city (of Gezer), show that the cultivation of the olive and vine was of much greater importance than it is anywhere in Palestine today..... Excessive taxation has made olive culture unprofitable" ("Gezer Mem," PEF, II, 23). A further evidence of this is seen today in many now deserted sites which are covered with wild olive trees, descendants of large plantations of the cultivated tree which have quite disappeared.

5. Wild Olives:

Many of these spring from the old roots; others are from the fallen drupes. Isolated trees scattered over many parts of the land, especially in Galilee, are sown by the birds. As a rule the wild olive is but a shrub, with small leaves, a stem more or less prickly, and a small, hard drupe with but little or no oil. That a wild olive branch should be grafted into a fruitful tree would be a proceeding useless and contrary to Nature (Romans 11:17, 24). On the mention of "branches of wild olive" in Nehemiah 8:15, see OIL TREE.

E. W. G. Masterman

PALM TREE

pam'-tre (tamar, same as the Aramaic and Ethiopic, but in Arabic = "date"; phoinix (Exodus 15:27 Leviticus 23:40 Numbers 33:9 Deuteronomy 34:3 Judges 1:16; Judges 3:13 2 Chronicles 28:15 Nehemiah 8:15 Psalm 92:12 Songs 7:7 Joel 1:12); tomer, Deborah "dwelt under the palm-tree" (Judges 4:5); "They are like a palm-tree (margin "pillar"), of turned work" (Jeremiah 10:5); timorah (only in the plural), the palm tree as an architectural feature (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35; 1 Kings 7:36 2 Chronicles 3:5 Ezekiel 40:16); Greek only Ecclesiasticus 50:12; John 12:13 Revelation 7:9):

1. Palm Trees:

The palm, Phoenix dactylifera (Natural Order Palmeae), Arabic nakhl, is a tree which from the earliest times has been associated with the Semitic peoples. In Arabia the very existence of man depends largely upon its presence, and many authorities consider this to have been its original habitat. It is only natural that such a tree should have been sacred both there and in Assyria in the earliest ages. In Palestine the palm leaf appears as an ornament upon pottery as far back as 1800 B.C. (compare PEF, Gezer Mere., II, 172). In Egypt the tall palm stem forms a constant feature in early architecture, and among the Hebrews it was extensively used as a decoration of the temple (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35; 1 Kings 7:36 2 Chronicles 3:5). It is a symbol of beauty (Songs 7:7) and of the righteous man:

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree:

He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of Yahweh;

They shall flourish in the courts of our God.

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;

They shall be full of sap and green" (Psalm 92:12-14).

The palm tree or branch is used extensively on Jewish coinage and most noticeably appears as a symbol of the land upon the celebrated Judea Capta coins of Vespasian. A couple of centuries or so later it forms a prominent architectural feature in the ornamentation of the Galilean synagogues, e.g. at Tell Chum (Capernaum). The method of artificial fertilization of the pistillate (female) flowers by means of the staminate (male) flowers appears to have been known in the earliest historic times. Winged figures are depicted on some of the early Assyrian sculptures shaking a bunch of the male flowers over the female for the same purpose as the people of modern Gaza ascend the tall trunks of the fruit-bearing palms and tie among the female flowers a bunch of the pollen-bearing male flowers.

2. Their Ancient Abundance in Palestine:

In Palestine today the palm is much neglected; there are few groves except along the coast, e.g. at the bay of Akka, Jaffa and Gaza; solitary palms occur all over the land in the courtyards of mosques (compare Psalm 92:13) and houses even in the mountains. Once palms flourished upon the Mount of Olives (Nehemiah 8:15), and Jericho was long known as the "city of palm-trees" (Deuteronomy 34:3 Judges 1:16; Judges 3:13 2 Chronicles 28:15; Josephus BJ, IV, viii, 2-3), but today the only palms are scarce and small; under its name Hazazon-tamar (2 Chronicles 20:2), En-gedi would appear to have been as much a place of palms in ancient days as we know it was in later history. A city, too, called Tamar ("date palm") appears to have been somewhere near the southwestern corner of the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47:19; Ezekiel 48:28). Today the numerous salt-encrusted stumps of wild palm trees washed up all along the shores of the Dead Sea witness to the existence of these trees within recent times in some of the deep valleys around.

3. Palm Branches:

Branches of palms have been symbolically associated with several different ideas. A palm branch is used in Isaiah 9:14; Isaiah 19:15 to signify he "head," the highest of the people, as contrasted with the rush, the "tail," or humblest of the people. Palm branches appear from early times to have been associated with rejoicing. On the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles the Hebrews were commanded to take branches of palms, with other trees, and rejoice before God (Leviticus 23:40; compare Nehemiah 8:15; 2 Maccabees 10:7). The palm branch still forms the chief feature of the lulabh carried daily by every pious Jew to the synagogue, during the feast. Later it was connected with the idea of triumph and victory. Simon Maccabeus entered the Akra at Jerusalem after its capture, "with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel" (1 Maccabees 13:51 the King James Version; compare 2 Maccabees 10:7). The same idea comes out in the use of palm branches by the multitudes who escorted Jesus to Jerusalem (John 12:13) and also in the vision of the "great multitude, which no man could number.... standing before the.... Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands" (Revelation 7:9). Today palms are carried in every Moslem funeral procession and are laid on the new-made grave.

See also TAMAR as a proper name.

E. W. G. Masterman

PINE TREE

pin tre: (1) `ets shemen, translated the Revised Version (British and American) "wild olive," the King James Version "pine" (Nehemiah 8:15); the Revised Version (British and American) "oil-tree," m "oleaster" (Isaiah 41:19); "olive-wood" (1 Kings 6:23, 31-33). See OIL TREE. (2) tidhhar (Isaiah 41:19, margin "plane"; Isaiah 60:13); peuke, "fir." Lagarde, from similarity of tidhhar to the Syriac deddar, usually the "elm," considers this the best translation. Symmachus also translated tidhhar (Isaiah 41:19) by ptelea, the "elm." The elm, Ulmus campestris, is rare in Palestine and the Lebanon, though it is found today N. of Aleppo. Post (HDB, III, 592-93) considers that

(1) should be translated as "pine," which he describes as a "fat wood tree"; it is perhaps as probably a correct translation for

(2), but great uncertainty remains.

Two species of pine are plentiful in the Lebanon and flourish in most parts of Palestine when given a chance. These are the stone pine, Pinus pinea, and the Aleppo pine, P. halepensis; all the highlands looking toward the sea are suited to their growth.

E. W. G. Masterman

PLANE TREE

plan'-tre ('armon; platanos (Genesis 30:37), elate ("pine" or "fir") (Ezekiel 31:8); the King James Version chestnut): `Armon is supposed to be derived from the root aram, meaning "to be bare" or "naked"; this is considered a suitable term for the plane, which sheds its bark annually. The chestnut of the King James Version is not an indigenous tree, but the plane (Planus orientalis) is one of the finest trees in Palestine, flourishing especially by water courses (compare Ecclesiasticus 24:14).

SHITTAH; TREE; SHITTIM WOOD

shit'a, (shiTTah; Septuagint xulon asepton; the Revised Version (British and American) ACACIA TREE (Isaiah 41:19)); (`ace shiTTim; the Revised Version (British and American) ACACIA WOOD (Exodus 25:5, 10, 13; Exodus 26:15, 26; 27:1, 6 Deuteronomy 10:3)): The word was originally shinTah, derived from the Arabic sanT, now a name confined to one species of acacia, Acacia nilotica (Natural Order, Leguminosae), but possibly was once a more inclusive term. The Acacia nilotica is at present confined to the Sinaitic peninsula and to Egypt. Closely allied species, the Acacia tortilis and Acacia seyal, both classed together under the Arabic name sayyal, are plentiful in the valleys about the Dead Sea from Engedi southward. Those who have ridden from `Ain Jidy to Jebel Usdum will never forget these most striking features of the landscape. They are most picturesque trees with their gnarled trunks, sometimes 2 ft. thick, their twisted, thorny branches, which often give the whole tree an umbrella-like form, and their fine bipinnate leaves with minute leaflets. The curiously twisted pods and the masses of gum arabic which exude in many parts are also peculiar features. The trees yield a valuable, hard, close-grained timber, not readily attacked by insects.

E. W. G. Masterman

SYCAMINE, TREE

sik'-a-min, (sukaminos (Luke 17:6)): This is generally accepted as the black mulberry tree (Morus nigra; Natural Order, Urlicaceae), known in Arabic as tut shrami, "the Damascus mulberry," a fine tree which grows to the height of 30 ft. It produces the dark blood-red mulberry juice referred to in 1 Maccabees 6:34 (moron), "the blood of.... mulberries," which was shown to the elephants of the Syrians. The white mulberry, M. alba, has white and less juicy fruit, and it is cultivated largely for the sake of its leaves with which the silkworms of the Lebanon are fed.

E. W. G. Masterman

SYCOMORE, TREE

sik'-o-mor, (shiqmah, Aramaic shiqema' plural shiqmim; in Septuagint wrongly translated by sukaminos, "the mulberry"; see SYCAMINE (1 Kings 10:27 1 Chronicles 27:28 2 Chronicles 1:15; 2 Chronicles 9:27 Isaiah 9:10 Amos 7:14): shiqkmoth (Psalm 78:47); sukomoraia (Luke 19:4)): The sycomore-fig, Ficus sycomorus (Natural Order, Urticaceae), known in Arabic as Jummeiz, is one of the finest of the lowland trees of Palestine, and attains still greater proportions in Lower Egypt. It is evident from 1 Kings 10:27 2 Chronicles 1:15 that it was once abundant, and at a later period it was so plentiful in the neighborhood of what is now Haifa as to give the name Sykaminon to the town which once stood near there. It is a tree which cannot flourish in the cooler mountain heights; it cannot stand frost (Psalm 78:47). It was one of the distinguishing marks of Lower, as contrasted with Upper, Galilee that the sycomore could flourish there. It is highly improbable that sycomores could ever have flourished near Tekoa (compare Amos 7:14), but it is quite possible that the town or individual inhabitants may have held lands in the Jordan valley or in the Shephelah on which these trees grew. Villages in Palestine today not infrequently possess estates at considerable distances; the village of Silwan (Siloam), for example, possesses and cultivates extensive fertile lands halfway to the Dead Sea. The sycomore produces small, rounded figs, about an inch long, which grow upon tortuous, leafless twigs springing from the trunk or the older branches; they are more or less tasteless. It would appear that in ancient times some treatment was adopted, such as piercing the apex of the fruit to hasten the ripening. Amos was a "nipper" (bolec) of sycomore figs (Amos 7:14). The tree not uncommonly attains a height of 50 ft., with an enormous trunk; in many parts, especially where, as near the coast, the tree grows out of sandy soil, the branching roots stand out of the ground for some distance. The timber is of fair quality and was much valued in ancient times (1 Kings 10:27 2 Chronicles 1:15; 2 Chronicles 9:27 Isaiah 9:10). Mummy cases and many of the best preserved wooden utensils of ancient Egyptian life are made of it. This tree must be distinguished from the English sycamore, Acer pseudo-platanus (Natural Order, Spindaceae), the "false plane tree," a kind of maple.

E. W. G. Masterman

TEIL; TREE

tel the King James Version Isaiah 6:13 = the Revised Version (British and American) TEREBINTH (which see).

TREE OF LIFE

(`ets chayyim; xulon tes zoes): The expression "tree of life" occurs in four groups or connections: (1) in the story of the Garden of Eden, (2) in the Proverbs of the Wise Men, (3) in the apocryphal writings, and (4) in the Apocalypse of John.

1. The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden:

The tree was in the midst of the Garden, and its fruit of such a nature as to produce physical immortality (Genesis 2:9; Genesis 3:22). After guiltily partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the sinful tendency having thus been implanted in their natures, the man and woman are driven forth from the Garden lest they should eat of the tree of life and live forever (Genesis 3:22). The idea seems to be that, if they should eat of it and become immortalized in their sinful condition, it would be an unspeakable calamity to them and their posterity. For sinful beings to live forever upon earth would be inconceivably disastrous, for the redemption and development of the race would be an impossibility in that condition. Earth would soon have been a hell with sin propagating itself forever. To prevent such a possibility they were driven forth, cherubim were placed at the entrance of the Garden, the flame of a sword revolving every way kept the way of the tree of life, and this prevented the possibility of man possessing a physical immortality. It is implied that they had not yet partaken of this tree and the opportunity is now forever gone. Immortality must be reached in some other way.

The interpretation of the story is a standing problem. Is it mythical, allegorical, or historical? Opinions vary from one of these extremes to the other with all degrees of difference between. In general, interpreters may be divided into three classes:

(1) Many regard the story as a myth, an ancient representation of what men then conceived early man to have been, but with no historical basis behind it. All rationalistic and modern critical scholars are practically agreed on this. Budde in his Urgeschichte says there was but one tree, that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the intimation of a tree of life is an interpolation. Barton has endeavored to show that the tree of life was really the date-palm, and the myth gathered around this tree because of its bisexual nature. He holds that man came to his self-realization through the sexual relation, and therefore the date-palm came to be regarded as the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But this difference came in later when the knowledge of its origin became obscured. He calls attention to the fact that the sacred palm is found in the sanctuary of Ea at Eridu. All such interpretations are too obviously based upon a materialistic evolution hypothesis.

(2) There are those who regard the entire story as literal: one tree would actually impart physical immortality, the other the knowledge of evil. But this involves endless difficulties also, requires tremendous differences between the laws of Nature then and now, vast differences in fruits, men and animals, and an equally vast difference in God's dealings with man.

(3) We prefer to regard it as a pictorial-spiritual story, the representing of great spiritual facts and religious history in the form of a picture. This is the usual Bible method. It was constantly employed by the prophets, and Jesus continually "pictured" great spiritual facts by means of material objects. Such were most of His parables. John's Apocalypse is also a series of pictures representing spiritual and moral history. So the tree of life is a picture of the glorious possibilities which lay before primitive man, and which might have been realized by him had not his sin and sinful condition prevented it. God's intervention was a great mercy to the human race. Immortality in sin is rendered impossible, and this has made possible an immortality through redemption; man at first is pictured as neither mortal nor immortal, but both are possible, as represented by the two trees. He sinned and became mortal, and then immortality was denied him. It has since been made possible in a much higher and more glorious way.

2. A Common Poetic Simile:

This picture was not lost to Israel. The "tree of life," became a common poetic simile to represent that which may be a source of great blessing. In the Book of Pr the conception deepens from a physical source of a mere physical immortality to a moral and spiritual source of a full life, mental moral and spiritual, which will potentially last forever. Life, long life, is here attributed to a certain possession or quality of mind and heart. Wisdom is a source and supply of life to man. This wisdom is essentially of a moral quality, and this moral force brings the whole man into right relations with the source of life. Hence, a man truly lives by reason of this relationship (Proverbs 3:18). The allusion in this verse is doubtless to Genesis 2:9; Genesis 3:22. An expression very similar is Proverbs 10:11, where the mouth of the righteous is declared to be a fountain of life. Good words are a power for good, and hence, produce good living. Proverbs 11:30 has a like thought: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life," i.e. the good life is a source of good in its influence on others. Proverbs 13:12 says: "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." The meaning seems to be that the gratification of good and lawful desires produces those pleasures and activities which make up life and its blessings. Proverbs 15:4 says: "A gentle tongue is a tree of life," i.e. its beneficent influences help others to a better life.

3. The Apocryphal Writings:

The apocryphal writings contain a few references to the tree of life, but use the phrase in a different sense from that in which it is used in the canonical books: "They shall have the tree of life for an ointment of sweet savour" (2 Esdras 2:12). Ecclesiasticus 1:20 has only an indirect reference to it. Ethiopic Enoch, in his picture of the Messianic age, uses his imagination very freely in describing it: "It has a fragrance beyond all fragrances; its leaves and bloom and wood wither not forever; its fruit is beautiful and resembles the date-palm" (24:4). Slavonic Enoch speaks thus: "In the midst there is the tree of life.... and this tree cannot be described for its excellence and sweet odor" (8:3). 2 Esdras describing the future says: "Unto you is paradise opened, the tree of life is planted" (8:52).

4. The Book of Revelation:

The Apocalypse of John refers to the tree of life in three places (Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2, 14). These are pictures of the glorious possibilities of life which await the redeemed soul. In Ezekiel's picture of the ideal state and the Messianic age, there flows from the sanctuary of God a life-giving river having trees upon its banks on either side, yielding fruit every month. The leaf of this tree would not wither, nor its fruit fail, because that which gave moisture to its roots flowed from the sanctuary. This fruit was for food and the leaves for medicine (Ezekiel 47:12). Very similar to this and probably an expansion of it is John's picture in Revelation: "To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" (2:7). This means that all the possibilities of a complete and glorious life are open to the one that overcomes, and by overcoming is prepared to become immortal in a vastly higher sense than was possible to primitive man. In his picture of the few Jerusalem, the river of water of life has the tree of life on either side (22:2). Its leaf never fades and its monthly fruitage never fails. Food and medicine these are to be to the world, supplied freely to all that all may enjoy the highest possibilities of activity and blessedness which can come to those who are in right relationships with God and Jesus Christ. In 22:14 John pronounces a blessing on those who wash their robes, who lead the clean and pure Christ life, for they thereby have the right and privilege of entering into the gates of the City and partaking of the tree of life. This means not only immortal existence, but such relations with Jesus Christ and the church that each has unrestricted access to all that is good in the universe of God. The limit is his own limited capacity.

James Josiah Reeve

4807. sukaminos -- the mulberry tree, the sycamine
... the mulberry tree, the sycamine. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration:
sukaminos Phonetic Spelling: (soo-kam'-ee-nos) Short Definition: a sycamore ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4807.htm - 7k

2565. kallielaios -- a cultivated olive (tree)
... a cultivated olive (tree). Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: kallielaios
Phonetic Spelling: (kal-le-el'-ah-yos) Short Definition: a cultivated ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2565.htm - 7k

4808. suke -- a fig tree
... suke. 4809 . a fig tree. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: suke
Phonetic Spelling: (soo-kay') Short Definition: a fig-tree Definition: a fig-tree ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4808.htm - 6k

4809. sukomorea -- the fig-mulberry tree, sycamore fig
... the fig-mulberry tree, sycamore fig. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration:
sukomorea Phonetic Spelling: (soo-kom-o-rah'-yah) Short Definition: a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4809.htm - 7k

1636. elaia -- an olive (the tree or the fruit)
... an olive (the tree or the fruit). Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration:
elaia Phonetic Spelling: (el-ah'-yah) Short Definition: an olive tree ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1636.htm - 7k

1186. dendron -- a tree
... dendron. 1187 . a tree. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: dendron
Phonetic Spelling: (den'-dron) Short Definition: a tree Definition: a tree. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1186.htm - 6k

3030. libanos -- the frankincense tree, frankincense
... the frankincense tree, frankincense. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration:
libanos Phonetic Spelling: (lib'-an-os) Short Definition: incense ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3030.htm - 6k

65. agrielaios -- of the wild olive
... wild olive. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: agrielaios Phonetic
Spelling: (ag-ree-el'-ah-yos) Short Definition: a wild olive tree Definition: a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/65.htm - 7k

3586. xulon -- wood
... lon) Short Definition: a staff, cross, anything made of wood Definition: anything
made of wood, a piece of wood, a club, staff; the trunk of a tree, used to ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3586.htm - 6k

5404. phoinix -- the date palm, a palm
... the date palm, a palm. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: phoinix
Phonetic Spelling: (foy'-nix) Short Definition: a palm tree, palm branch ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5404.htm - 6k

815. eshel -- a tamarisk tree
... 814, 815. eshel. 816 . a tamarisk tree. Transliteration: eshel Phonetic
Spelling: (ay'-shel) Short Definition: tree. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/815.htm - 5k

8384. teenah -- fig tree
... 8383, 8384. teenah. 8385 . fig tree. Transliteration: teenah Phonetic
Spelling: (teh-ane') Short Definition: tree. Word Origin of ...
/hebrew/8384.htm - 6k

8598. tappuach -- apple tree, apple
... 8597, 8598. tappuach. 8599 . apple tree, apple. Transliteration: tappuach
Phonetic Spelling: (tap-poo'-akh) Short Definition: tree. ...
/hebrew/8598.htm - 6k

363. ilan -- a tree
... 362, 363. ilan. 364 . a tree. Transliteration: ilan Phonetic Spelling:
(ee-lawn') Short Definition: tree. Word Origin (Aramaic) corresponding ...
/hebrew/363.htm - 6k

8247. shaqed -- almond (tree)
... 8246, 8247. shaqed. 8248 . almond (tree). Transliteration: shaqed Phonetic
Spelling: (shaw-kade') Short Definition: tree. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/8247.htm - 6k

8558. tamar -- palm tree, date palm
... 8557, 8558. tamar. 8559 . palm tree, date palm. Transliteration: tamar Phonetic
Spelling: (taw-mawr') Short Definition: trees. ... palm tree. ...
/hebrew/8558.htm - 6k

8561. timorah -- palm (tree) figure
... 8560, 8561. timorah. 8562 . palm (tree) figure. Transliteration: timorah
Phonetic Spelling: (tim-more') Short Definition: trees. ...
/hebrew/8561.htm - 6k

8410. tidhar -- (name of a tree) probably elm
... 8409, 8410. tidhar. 8411 . (name of a tree) probably elm. Transliteration:
tidhar Phonetic Spelling: (tid-hawr') Short Definition: box. ...
/hebrew/8410.htm - 6k

2132. zayith -- olive tree, olive
... 2131, 2132. zayith. 2133 . olive tree, olive. Transliteration: zayith Phonetic
Spelling: (zay'-yith) Short Definition: olive. ... olive tree Olivet. ...
/hebrew/2132.htm - 6k

1057. baka -- balsam tree
... 1056, 1057. baka. 1058 . balsam tree. Transliteration: baka Phonetic
Spelling: (baw-kaw') Short Definition: trees. ... mulberry tree. ...
/hebrew/1057.htm - 6k

The Mango-Tree
... THE MANGO-TREE. He wiled me through the furzy croft; He wiled me down the sandy
lane. ... The next"beneath this mango-tree, By him in barrack burying-ground. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/andromeda and other poems/the mango-tree.htm

Under the Fig-Tree.
... UNDER THE FIG-TREE. ... It is evident that something had occurred with Nathanael under
the fig -tree outside the common details of every-day life. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/orr/how to live a holy life/under the fig-tree.htm

The Unfruitful Tree.
... THE UNFRUITFUL TREE. A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard,
and he came and sought fruit thereon, but found none. ...
/.../anonymous/mother stories from the new testament/the unfruitful tree.htm

The Barren Fig-Tree.
... THE BARREN FIG-TREE. In the ... Seeing a fig-tree afar off, covered with leaves,
He came to it, hoping to find some fruit on it. But the ...
/.../anonymous/mother stories from the new testament/the barren fig-tree.htm

The Tree of Life.
... THE TREE OF LIFE. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life," says
Proverbs. How wonderful! how inspiring! The fruit borne by ...
/.../orr/food for the lambs or helps for young christians/the tree of life.htm

The Fig-Tree.
... XIX. THE FIG-TREE. The hosannahs ... save." The eye of Jesus, as he traversed the
rocky path with His disciples, rested on a Fig-tree. (Mark ...
//christianbookshelf.org/macduff/memories of bethany/xix the fig-tree.htm

The Leafless Tree
... The Leafless Tree. A Sermon (No.121). ... The figure is taken, first of all, from
the terebinth or turpentine tree"here translated the teil tree. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 3 1857/the leafless tree.htm

The Barren Fig-Tree;
... THE BARREN FIG-TREE; OR, THE ... Christ. In this vineyard stood a fig-tree"by
nature remarkable for fruitfulness"but it is barren. No ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the barren fig-tree.htm

The Barren Fig-Tree.
... THE BARREN FIG-TREE. ... He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig-tree planted
in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. ...
/.../arnot/the parables of our lord/xx the barren fig-tree.htm

The Tree of Life.
... Hymn 3:8. The tree of life. ... 3 The tree of life that near the throne In heaven's high
garden grows, Laden with grace, bends gently down Its ever-smiling boughs. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/watts/hymns and spiritual songs/hymn 3 8 the tree of.htm

Tree (245 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Tree of life. ... Some writers have advanced the opinion that
this tree had some secret virtue, which was fitted to preserve life. ...
/t/tree.htm - 75k

Fir-tree (5 Occurrences)
Fir-tree. Firtree, Fir-tree. Fir-trees . Int. Standard Bible
Encyclopedia FIR; FIR-TREE. fur, (the Revised Version, margin ...
/f/fir-tree.htm - 11k

Olive-tree (17 Occurrences)
Olive-tree. Olivetree, Olive-tree. Olive-trees . Easton's Bible Dictionary
Is frequently mentioned in Scripture. The dove from ...
/o/olive-tree.htm - 13k

Oak-tree (11 Occurrences)
Oak-tree. Oak-the, Oak-tree. Oak-trees . Multi-Version Concordance
Oak-tree (11 Occurrences). Joshua 19:33 And their ...
/o/oak-tree.htm - 10k

Palm-tree (8 Occurrences)
Palm-tree. Palms, Palm-tree. Palm-trees . Multi-Version Concordance
Palm-tree (8 Occurrences). Judges 4:5 And she dwelt ...
/p/palm-tree.htm - 8k

Oil-tree (5 Occurrences)
Oil-tree. Oiltree, Oil-tree. Ointment . Easton's Bible Dictionary (Isaiah
41:19; RV marg., "oleaster"), Hebrews `etz shemen, rendered ...
/o/oil-tree.htm - 8k

Box-tree (2 Occurrences)
Box-tree. Boxtree, Box-tree. Boxwood . Easton's Bible Dictionary (Hebrews
teashshur), mentioned in Isaiah 60:13; 41:19, was, according ...
/b/box-tree.htm - 8k

Thorn-tree (7 Occurrences)
Thorn-tree. Thorns, Thorn-tree. Thorny . Multi-Version Concordance
Thorn-tree (7 Occurrences). Mark 12:26 But as to ...
/t/thorn-tree.htm - 8k

Apple-tree (3 Occurrences)
Apple-tree. Appletree, Apple-tree. Application . Int. Standard Bible
Encyclopedia APPLE; APPLE-TREE. ap'-l ap'-l tre, (tappuach ...
/a/apple-tree.htm - 11k

Plane-tree (3 Occurrences)
Plane-tree. Planes, Plane-tree. Plane-trees . Multi-Version
Concordance Plane-tree (3 Occurrences). Genesis 30:37 And ...
/p/plane-tree.htm - 7k

Why did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden? | GotQuestions.org

Did Adam and Eve know what death was when God commanded them not to eat from the tree of knowledge? | GotQuestions.org

What is the legend of the dogwood tree? Was the cross Jesus was crucified on made of dogwood? | GotQuestions.org

Tree: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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