v. Palm
Deu 34:3 the plain of Jericho, city of p, until
Jdg 4:5 under the p of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel
Psa 92:12 the righteous will flourish like p; will grow
Son 7:7 your stature is like p, and your
Joh 12:13 branches of p and went out to meet him
Palm tree (Heb. tâmâr, tômer, timmôrâh; gr. fóinix). Scholars generally agree that the palm of Scripture is almost always the date palm, an upright, branchless tree that held an important place in the economy and daily life of the people of Palestine. If cultivated properly it grows to a height of 18 to 24 m and can live and produce up to 200 years. It generally begins to bear fruit at the 6th year, and reaches its maturity at 30; reaches its maximum production at the end of the 1st century. Its long, feathery lower leaves (sometimes called “branches” in the Bible) hang down around the trunk when they die, until they fall off while new ones come out (this gives it the appearance of an umbrella). Dates grow in clusters, weighing between 15 and 25 kg, and are an important element in the diet of some Arab tribes. The seeds are ground as fodder for animals. Date palms’ huge leaves, 1.8 to 3m long, serve many uses in the Palestinian economy: roofing, fencing, matting, and decoration (Arabs say there are as many uses for a date palm as there are days in the year). They grow in dense copses or solitary. It may be that once most of the Jordan Valley, from the shores of the Sea of Gennesaret to the Dead Sea, had date groves, but now there are only a few in Palestine, except along the sea plain of Philistia and in the region around Jericho. The near extinction of these important and graceful trees has been attributed to neglect of their cultivation, for they still grow abundantly in other regions of the Near East (figs 112, 213, 398). 398. Palm trees at Refidim, on the Sinai Peninsula. In their flight from Egypt the Israelites came to a forest of 70 Elim palm trees (Exo 15:27; Num 33:9), and were later instructed to tear leaves from that tree to build their booths on the Feast of Tabernacles ( Lev 23:40; Neh 8:15). Because he was so familiar to the Israelites, it was natural that his figure should be used in the design of Solomon’s temple (1Ki 6: 29, 32, 35) and in the temple of Ezekiel’s vision (Eze_40; 41). Jericho was called “the city of palm trees” (Deu 34:3; Jdg 1:16; 3:13; 2Ch 28:15). The leaves were used in various celebrations (John 12:13; Rev 7:9; 1 Mac. 13:51; 2 Mac. 10:7). Bib.: PR 169-172. Span. A distinction was made between: 1. Palmo mayor or “fourth” (heb. zereth). Length measure equivalent to the width of 3 palms (an open hand, from thumb to little finger) or 1/2 cubit* (Exo 28:16; 39:9; 1Sa 17:4; Isa 40:12; Eze 43: 13). According to the scale of values adopted by this Dictionary, it would be 26.16 cm, if the Egyptian cubit is used; or 22.23 cm if the elbow were 44.45 894 cm (the one used for the Siloam tunnel works). 2. Smaller span or “width of a hand” (Heb. teÆ’aj and tôfaj). Measurement of length derived from the width of a hand (or palm; width of the base of the 4 fingers); it was 1/3 of the zereth or 1/6 of a cubit (Exo 25:25-1; 37:12-1; 1Ki 7:26; 2Ch 4:5; Eze 40:5, 43; 43:13). It measured 8.72 cm if the Egyptian cubit is taken, or 7.41 cm if the Hebrew from the 8th century BC Palo is used. Mace, club or war stick. In biblical times it was a smooth stone or metal ball crossed by a stick that served as a handle. It is known that they were used from very early times throughout the Near East as a deadly weapon of war. In the Bible it is a translation of the Heb. mêÆ’îts (Pro 25:18) and from Heb. tothâj (Job 41: 29). the gr. xúlon, literally “wood” (Mat 26:47, 55; Mar 14:43, 48; Luk 22:52), was probably not a club but a heavy wooden staff that flared toward one end (like baseball bats). baseball), used as a club or stick to intimidate, beat or kill. Other terms for “stick” are matteh and shêbet. See Rod.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
see PLANTS
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
Oily plant that grows straight, with a large size, and in exceptional cases can reach up to 30 m in height. It is a tree of warm climates. The one that proliferates in Israel is p. date palm Dates hang in bunches below the plume of p. It is possible that the poetic expression arises from this: †œYour stature is similar to the p., and your breasts to the clusters. I said: I will go up to the p., I will take hold of its branches† (Can 7:7-8). When Israel traveled through the desert they encamped at †¢Elim, †œwhere there were twelve springs of water, and seventy p.† (Exo 15:27). †¢Jericho was called the †œcity of p.† (Deu 34:3). The expression “land flowing with milk and honey”, always used in relation to the land of Canaan, is indicative of abundance, of much fruitfulness (Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Exo 13:5; Exo 33:3) . The rabbis interpret the honey mentioned in that sentence as an allusion to the one drawn on p. date palm †¢Plants of the Bible.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, TYPE FLOWER FOOD TREE
see, TADMOR
vet, (Heb. “tamar”, “timmorah”, “tomer”; Gr. “phoinix”). It is a big tree (Song 7:7, 8); straight and tall, it serves as a simile for the growth of the righteous (Ps. 92:13); he was counted among the fruit trees (Jl. 1:12). It inspired the decorative motifs of Solomon’s Temple and other sanctuaries (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35; Herodotus 2:169). Palm trees symbolized victory and peace (1 Mac. 13:51; 2 Mac. 10:7; Jn. 12:13; Rev. 7:9). The expression “palm branches” found in passages like Lev. 23:40; Neh. 8:15; Jn. 12:13 does not correspond to current botanical language. Few palms bear branches in the botanical sense, and the date palm of which certain species are found in Palestine does not. This term then refers to the palms, which resemble large feathers, and which have a length of 1.20 to 1.80 m. Palm trees abounded in the Nile valley; there was at Elim, in the desert, near the Red Sea (Ex. 15:27); in Edom (Virgil, Georgics 3:12). The palm tree thrived in various places in Judea, in En-gedi, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in the Jordan Valley, and especially in Jericho, “the city of palm trees” (Dt. 34:3; Judges 1 :16; 2Ch 28:15). According to Strabo, Josephus, etc., the palm forest of Jericho was 20 km long and, according to Pliny, its dates were the best, thanks to the saline nature of the land (cf. Gn. 14:7, where it appears the palm tree in the geographical name of Hazezon-tamar; Deut. 34:3; Ant. 9:1, 2; Wars 1:6, 6; 3:10, 8); the names of Sansana (south of Judah, Jos. 15:31) and Quiriat-sana (Jos. 15:49) evoke palm trees. They were also found on Mount Ephraim, near Bethel (Judges 4:5; 20:33); near Jerusalem (Neh. 8:15; Jn. 12:13); east of Damascus, in the city successively called Tadmor and Palmyra (see TADMOR). Palm trees also thrived along the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates (Herodotus 1:193). The Greeks and Romans considered the palm tree as the typical tree of Palestine and neighboring countries. Coins minted in Rome to commemorate the capture of Jerusalem in AD 70 depicted Judea as a desolate woman sitting under a date palm. This tree, so widespread in Palestine in the past, disappeared from almost all of it, with the exception of the maritime fringe of Philistia and the Beirut areas; but now large areas have been replanted. The palm tree that is constantly found in the Scriptures is almost always the “Phoenix dactylifera”, a date palm that rises between 14 and 20 m. Tall. Its stipe (long unbranched stem), straight and of constant thickness, bears the marks of fallen palms, and is crowned by a crown of large evergreen palms. It has a life of 100 to 200 years; With it you can make ceilings, walls, palisades, mats, baskets. The tender part of the spathe is crossed to extract the juice, which gives sugar by evaporation. Through fermentation or distillation, the juice is transformed into a strong drink, called arrack (Wars 4:8, 3; Herodotus 1:193). Its fruit, the dates, is very abundant, and appreciated for its great nutritional value. The Persians mention 360 different uses of the date palm. The pits of dates serve as food for camels. The Israelites may have known another species of date palm, that of Palmyra, which grows at Tadmor in the desert. It is the “Borassus flabelliformis”, whose palm is fan-shaped.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
(Heb. ta·mar, to·mer; Gr. foi·nix).
Although today the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is only found in certain areas, in ancient times it was abundant in Palestine, and it seems that it was as characteristic of that land as it was before and is now of the Nile Valley (Egypt). After the second destruction of Jerusalem, the Roman emperor Vespasian minted a large number of coins bearing the effigy of a crying woman sitting under a palm tree and bearing the inscription “Judaea Capta”. (RECORDING, vol. 2, p. 751.)
Palm trees are associated with oases, and present an encouraging sight to desert travelers, as in the case of the seventy palm trees that grew alongside the twelve springs of water at Elim, the second stop the Israelites made on his way after crossing the Red Sea. (Ex 15:27; Nu 33:9) Its long taproot enables it to reach water sources that many plants cannot reach, allowing it to grow in desert conditions.
In biblical times palms grew on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (The Jewish War, Book III, Chap. X, Sect. 8), as well as along the lower reaches of the hot Jordan Valley, and were especially abundant around of En-gedí (Jewish Antiquities, book IX, chapter I, sec. 2) and of Jericho, called “the city of palm trees”. (De 34:3; Jg 1:16; 3:13; 2Ch 28:15) They also grew in the highlands, such as “the palm tree of Deborah” in the mountainous region of Ephraim. (Jg 4:5) Similarly, they grew around Jerusalem, as evidenced by the fact that their fronds were used when the festival of booths was celebrated (Le 23:40; Ne 8:15) and on the occasion when Jesus entered that city. (Joh 12:12, 13) Tamar, one of Solomon’s cities, was named after this tree. (1Ki 9:17, 18) Similarly, the land of Tire and Sidon was later called Phoenician from the Greek foi·nix (“palm tree”; Ac 11:19; 15:3), as was possibly the city of Phoenice from the island of Crete. (Ac 27:12.)
The palm tree, tall and majestic, has a graceful silhouette of singular beauty. Its trunk, long and slender, can reach 30 m. and is crowned with a plume of long, sturdy fronds. The Hebrew girls must have been pleased to receive the name Tamar, as Judah’s daughter-in-law was called (Ge 38:6), the…