Olive, Olive-Tree. 1 Kings 6:23. The olive, olea Europæa. It grows plentifully almost everywhere near the shores of the Mediterranean, and is abundant in Palestine. Deuteronomy 6:11; Deuteronomy 8:8. Olive yards are therefore commonly mentioned as a considerable part of a man's property. 1 Samuel 8:14; 1 Chronicles 27:28. This tree flourishes in Syria, in warm and sunny situations, on a rocky soil, at a height not greater than about 3000 feet above the level of the sea. It increases slowly to a moderate altitude of twenty or thirty feet, with a knotty trunk, and numerous extended branches. The leaves grow in pairs, of a pale dusty color, and are not deciduous. The white flowers appear in June; and the fruit is an oblong berry, first green, and, when fully ripe, a blackish-purple. The wood is something like box, but softer, with dark gray veins. The olive tree lives to a great age. With an olive leaf in her mouth the dove returned to Noah when the waters of the flood were abated. Genesis 8:11. The high estimation in which the olive tree was held is seen by its being placed first in Jotham's parable. Judges 9:8-9. And it is often mentioned as indicating plenty, prosperity, and strength; the allusion taking its force from the products, from the evergreen character, and the protracted existence of the tree, e.g., Psalms 52:8, an olive being often planted in the court of a building, Psalms 128:3, young shoots springing, from an old trunk; Jeremiah 11:16; Hosea 14:6. And various applications of the berries are referred to, Deuteronomy 24:20, the oil, Leviticus 24:2, which was an article of commerce, 1 Kings 5:11, and the wood, 6:31-33.
With more than 1,500 subjects and proper names defined and analyzed, this dictionary, authored by Dr. Edwin Rice, will provide unique insites into the Bible as it has since its introduction in 1893Wikipedia
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