Encyclopedia entry
Olive-tree
Is frequently mentioned in Scripture. The dove from the ark brought an olive-branch to Noah (Gen. 8:11). It is mentioned among the most notable trees of Palestine, where it was cultivated long before the time of the Hebrews (Deut. 6:11; 8:8). It is mentioned in the first Old Testament parable, that of Jotham (Judg. 9:9), and is named among the blessings of the “good land,” and is at the present day the one characteristic tree of Palestine. The oldest olive-trees in the country are those which are enclosed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is referred to as an emblem of prosperity and beauty and religious privilege (Ps. 52:8; Jer. 11:16; Hos. 14:6). The two “witnesses” mentioned in Rev. 11:4 are spoken of as “two olive trees standing before the God of the earth.” (Comp. Zech. 4:3, 11-14.)
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The “olive-tree, wild by nature” (Rom. 11:24), is the shoot or cutting of the good olive-tree which, left ungrafted, grows up to be a “wild olive.” In Rom. 11:17 Paul refers to the practice of grafting shoots of the wild olive into a “good” olive which has become unfruitful. By such a process the sap of the good olive, by pervading the branch which is “graffed in,” makes it a good branch, bearing good olives. Thus the Gentiles, being a “wild olive,” but now “graffed in,” yield fruit, but only through the sap of the tree into which they have been graffed. This is a process “contrary to nature” (11:24).
In the Bible
17
Verses where Olive-tree is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Kings 6:23
In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.
- 1 Kings 6:31
For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.
- 1 Kings 6:32
The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.
- 1 Kings 6:33
In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.
- Deuteronomy 24:20
When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
- Haggai 2:19
Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”
+11 more verses naming Olive-tree.
Scripture on Olive-tree
16
Sources · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.