Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

OLIVE

Olive press at Gezer, Field VII (Iron II) (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)

A slow-growing evergreen tree (Olea europeae) reaching 4.5-6 m. (15-20 ft.) at maturity if pruned or 12 m. (40 ft.) if unpruned. Indigenous to western Asia, it is attested as early as the 4th millennium b.c. The wet cool winters and hot dry summers of the Mediterranean region are ideal for the olive tree (Heb. zayiṯ; Gk. elaía). An extensive though shallow root system enables it to survive the hot dry summers. Young trees have a smooth silvery-gray bark, but older trees have hollow gnarled trunks and holes where the side branches have rotted away. Flowering and fruit begins when trees are five to six years old, and peak production is reached between 40 and 50 years. Production can continue for hundreds or even 1000 years. The olive tree grows well in the rocky hillsides of Samaria, Judea, and the Shephelah, though the elevation around Hebron is too high for successful cultivation. The tree is hardy, but a hard frost will kill it. The “wild olive” (Gk. agriélaios; Rom. 11:17, 24) has been identified with either the wild or Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia, unrelated to the true olive) or the oleaster (Olea europaea var. sylvestris).

Olive trees can be grown from seeds if they are subsequently grafted onto older trees. However, cutting a slip from an older tree and rooting it or grafting it is more common. Cutting off very old trees at the base of the trunk also produces new shoots. Resembling a willow leaf, the leaf is narrow (1.3 cm. [.5 in.]) and long (5-7.6 cm. [2-3 in.]), green on the upper side and white on the lower side, with minute scales to prevent water loss from the tree. Despite the small leaf size numerous branches form excellent shade for animals.

The olive tree produces clusters of small white flowers in May, and the fruit forms after the flowers fall. Green table olives can be harvested in September-October, but most olives are harvested in December when they turn black and the oil content is greatest (as much as 50 percent). The ripe fruit is ca. 2 cm. (.75 in.) long, 1.3 cm. (.5 in.) wide, and has skin, flesh, and a stone. The fruit can be carefully handpicked or beaten or shaken off the trees (Isa. 17:6). Gleanings must be left on the tree for the resident alien, orphan, and widow (Deut. 24:20). Each tree produces ca. 9-20 kg. (20-45 lbs.) of fruit every other year; with irrigation and fertilization the best trees can produce good crops every year. The wood of the olive tree is very beautiful and was used throughout the temple (1 Kgs. 6:23, 33).

The olive was a staple in the diet. The fruit or its oil was served at almost every meal. In addition, the oil was used for lighting, cosmetics, medicine, and a variety of rituals, including purification rituals (Lev. 12:32) and the anointing of kings (1 Sam. 16:1-13), priests (Exod. 29:7), stelae (Gen. 28:18), and the tabernacle and its contents (Exod. 30:23-29). It was one of the three most important agricultural products of the Promised Land (Deut. 7:13).

The olive or olive tree was a symbol of fertility (Ps. 128:3), beauty (Jer. 11:16), perpetual usefulness (Ps. 52:8[MT 10]), and dignity (Judg. 9:9). In Rom. 11 Paul compares the inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant of God with the grafting of the olive tree.

Bibliography. F. N. Hepper, Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants (Grand Rapids, 1992).

James C. Moyer

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

OLIVE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)