Barley Hordeum distichum or Hordeum vulgare is a type of grass like wheat and rice. It has been cultivated in the Middle East for thousands of years and is now one of the most prominent seed crops grown in the world. Twenty species are known, of which eight are European. Barley needs less rain than wheat does, so in the Holy Land it was typically found in the drier areas above the coastal plain and near the desert. From 2 Kings 7:1 and Revelation 6:6 we know that barley was considered inferior to wheat and was often used to feed animals, as it is today. When the wheat supply ran out, people had to make their bread with barley. Barley was gathered before wheat, the harvest coming around March or April in the lower regions and in May in the mountains (see Exodus 9:31 et al.). In Egypt and in ancient Greece barley was used to make beer.
Barley plants look like wheat or rice. They are less than 1 meter (3 feet) tall, and have a single head on each stalk, with six rows of kernels, although the biblical kind may have had only two rows. The head bends at a down-ward angle when it is ripe.
In the story of Gideon and the Midianites in Judges 7:13, “a cake of barley” representing the (despised) Israelite army tumbles into the Midianite camp and knocks down the tent (representing the nomadic Midianites).
Barley is a plant of temperate zones, like Europe and the Near East; it does not grow well in the tropics. However, barley has been recently introduced along with wheat into many parts of the world for brewing beer and other malted drinks. It is also known to have grown in Korea as early as 1500 B.C. along with wheat and millet. It is becoming known in Malay as barli. Except for the reference in Judges, all references to barley in the Bible are non-rhetorical, so unrelated cultural equivalents are discouraged. Some receptor language speakers may coin a name for it as in Malay, or the translator can use a transliteration from Hebrew (se‘orah), Latin (horideyo), or from a major language (for example, Arabic sha’ir, Spanish cebada, French orge, Portuguese cevada, Swahili shayiri), together with a classifier, if there is one (for example, “grain of shayir”).
The olive family has over four hundred species in the world. Many of them grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but it is the one in the Bible, the European Olive Olea europaea, that has become famous. It is likely that the olive was domesticated in Egypt or the eastern Mediterranean basin in the third millennium B.C. The botanist Newberry argued that Egypt was its original home. We know from the Bible that olives grew in the hills of Samaria and in the foothills. There is a wild variety, called Olea europaea sylvestris, that is smaller than the domestic one; it produces a smaller fruit with less oil. The Apostle Paul refers to this wild variety in Romans 11:17 and 11:24. Olives are easily propagated by cuttings and by grafting fruitful species into less fruitful ones. They grow best on hillsides where the rain drains off quickly. The fruit forms by August but does not ripen until December or January.
The olive is not a big tree, reaching up to perhaps 10 meters (33 feet), but with pruning it is usually kept to around 5 meters (17 feet) tall. The leaves are grayish green above, and whitish underneath. The bark of young trees is silvery gray but gets darker and rougher as the tree ages. The trunk also gets twisted and hollow and may reach over a meter in thickness. Olives grow for hundreds of years, and some in Israel have possibly reached two thousand years.
The fruit of the olive is about 2 centimeters (1 inch) long and a bit more than a centimeter (1/2 inch) thick. It has a hard stone inside and a soft skin that covers the oily flesh. Today a mature tree may yield 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) of fruit, which, when processed, will yield 1.3-2.6 kilograms (3.6 pounds) of oil.
For the Jews the “big three” trees were the vine, the fig, and the olive. People ate olive fruits, but more importantly, they squeezed the oil from the fruits, and used it for cooking, for lamps, for rubbing on the body, for medicine, and in religion. Jacob poured olive oil on the stone where he saw a vision of angels, declaring it a holy place (Genesis 28:18). Moses, similarly, anointed the Tabernacle and its equipment with olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling resins (Exodus 40:9). Aaron and the priests who served in the Tabernacle were also anointed (Exodus 29:21).
Some types of wild olive grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but are not well-known. The so-called “African olive” produces a black, oil-bearing fruit much like an olive. It is common as a snack in northern Nigeria. The “Chinese olive” is also a species of Canarium and may be a possible cultural substitute, if it produces edible fruit and oil. The “Russian olive” grown in dry regions of the world is a member of the Elaeagnus family and not a true olive. A variety of olive (Olea cuspidate) is used for building in India and Nepal, but it is probably not possible to use it in the Bible except perhaps in a study Bible where you could say that the biblical olive was related to this tree.
Since most of the kinds of olive trees in the world do not have edible fruit, it may not be possible to substitute a local variety. If it is done, however, a footnote would be required saying that the Palestinian kind produced edible fruit and oil. If a variety of Canarium is eaten in your area, you could use the local name for it. Otherwise transliterate from a major language.
The references to mulberry in the Scriptures are all controversial. However, Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) on the basis of cognate words in Sumerian (messikanu, sukannu) confidently associates the Hebrew word mesukan in Isaiah 40:20 with the mulberry tree, as did Thompson before him. Further, they take the Greek word sucaminos in Luke 17:6 as also cognate with Sumerian sukannu. Like the apple, the pomegranate, the fig and the pistachio, the Black Mulberry Morus nigra may have been introduced into the Holy Land from one of the neighboring countries like Persia (now Iran).
The black mulberry is a large, broad tree (6 meters [20 feet] high) that produces flowers and leaves in spring and loses its leaves every year in winter. The crown is broad and low. The trunk gets twisted as it grows old and may rot away, only to be replaced by another one from the same root. People pile stones up in order to support the low branches of old trees. The leaves are stiff, rough, and hairy. The flowers are pollinated by the wind, and the fruit is a rather tart, black berry about the size of a large cashew nut. In Europe and North America, people use mulberries mostly to make pies and wine. A different species, the white mulberry, has a whitish fruit.
The black mulberry tree is similar in size and shape to the sycomore fig. In fact, the translators of the Greek Septuagint introduced considerable confusion by translating the Hebrew word shiqmah as sucaminos (1 Kings 10:27 et al.)
There are at least eighteen subspecies of mulberry in the world, distributed from China to North America. In the Middle East area two have been cultivated, the black mulberry and the white mulberry. The black mulberry grows well in what is now Iran, and it may have been introduced into Canaan from there. In areas where the mulberry tree is found, the local name should be used in Luke 17:6. Where it is not found (for example, most of Africa), transliteration from a major language is advised, for example, muluberi or sikamayin. (French mûrier, Spanish mora, Portuguese amoreira, Arabic tut).
Two types of fig trees are mentioned in the Bible, the Common Fig Ficus carica (Hebrew te’enah) and the Sycomore Fig Ficus sycomorus (Hebrew shiqmah; see “Sycomore fig”). They are closely related. The common fig tree grows not only in Israel, but throughout the world in warm climates. In the Holy Land it was a common source of food; the fruit was eaten both fresh and dried. Sometimes the dried ones were pressed together to form flat “cakes” or blocks (Hebrew develah). But, just as important, the large leaves of the fig make it an excellent shade tree. However, the first use of the fig mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 3:7) was not for food or shade but for clothing; Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves for themselves to cover their nakedness.
The fig was probably domesticated in northwestern Turkey from a wild variety that grew there around 5000 years ago. Greek, Roman, and Egyptian records indicate that the fruits were popular. Figs are now grown especially in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, as well as in the warm parts of the United States.
The fig is believed to be indigenous to western Asia and to have been distributed by humans and birds throughout the Mediterranean area. Remnants of figs have been found in excavations of sites traced to at least 5000 B.C.
The domesticated fig grows to about 5-8 meters (17-26 feet) and has a round crown and very deep and round roots. The trunk may grow to be more than 70 centimeters (2 feet) thick. Fig trees may grow to be several decades old, if they are well cared for. Figs are usually propagated by planting cuttings. The pollination of the flowers is an amazingly intricate process closely linked to the life cycle of a tiny wasp, and the fact that fig trees, like papayas and date palms, are male or female. (There are now some kinds of figs that produce fruit without pollination.) The fruits are about the size of a hen’s egg and can be green, yellow, purple, or brown depending on the type. They are sweet and soft and difficult to transport. For that reason most farmers dry the fruits before shipping them. The “fruit” of the fig is technically a strangely shaped flower. Noting the absence of a “real” flower, the ancient people of India called it a flowerless tree.
The common fig tree, along with the vine and the olive, is one of the three “top trees” for the Jews. The Bible refers to the fig over 270 times. The image of peace and happiness in Israel was “every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25).
Wild figs are common throughout the tropical world; there are at least eight hundred species of Ficus, thirty-two in southern Africa alone. The banyan, peepul, and bo are all types of fig. The fruits of wild fig trees are not nearly as juicy or sweet as those of the domesticated ones. In many places people eat the fruit when they find it in the wild, but do not market it or cultivate the trees. Translators are urged to use the local word, and, if necessary, use a footnote to indicate the difference between the local one and the biblical one. Where it is not known at all, transliterations from a major language may be used in nonfigurative contexts.
More than forty types of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) are found in dry tropical countries all the way from the Canary Islands, across Africa to India. They probably originated in the Middle East, where they are still found in abundance. In Leviticus 23:40 we read that the branches of date palms were to be used for the Festival of Shelters, and in John 12:13 people welcomed Jesus with date palm leaves. In the latter case there is a legitimate question of where they got the leaves, since Jerusalem is rather too high and cold for date palms. But the same could be asked about the prophetess Deborah’s palm (Judges 4:5), which was located between Ramah and Bethel, scarcely lower than Jerusalem. Jericho was known as the “city of palm trees” (temarim in Hebrew). Date fruits were eaten fresh or dried and pressed into “cakes,” and they were sometimes made into a drink. It is possible that in Deuteronomy 8:8 the Hebrew word devash that we normally take as “honey” refers to a syrup made from dates. The leaves were and are used for mats, baskets, fences, and roofs. Date palms are now cultivated intensively in the Jordan and Aravah valleys, around the Dead Sea, and on the coastal plain of Israel. The word “date” entered English from Latin dactylus via Old Frenchdatil. Latin got it from Greek daktylos, meaning “finger.”
The date palm typically grows to a height of 10-20 meters (33-66 feet) and has a cluster of immense leaves at the top. Each year, old leaves wither and droop, and people who own palms cut the old branches off. The tightly packed bunch of immature leaves is called lulav in Hebrew. Date palms start bearing fruit at around five to eight years of age. The sweet fruits, a little smaller than a human thumb, grow in large bunches. Inside the soft fruit is a very hard seed about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long. Date palm trees are either male or female, and there are places where the trees of one sex grow but no fruit is seen, because they lack pollination. Farmers prefer to propagate them by cultivating the suckers that grow at the base of the tree, rather than from seeds, which would produce too many male trees. The fruit appears on the female tree in the summer (June-August).
In Song of Songs 7:7 we find the palm used as a symbol of elegance and grace. In Psalm 92:12–14 we are told that the righteous will flourish like the palm tree, but Job 15:32 says the wicked will wither like a dry palm branch. In 1 Maccabees 13:37 the palm branch is a symbol of peace, but in 1 Maccabees 13:51 it is a symbol of victory (so also John 12.13; Rev 7.9; 2 Macc 10.7).
Translators living along the West African coast often substitute the oil palm or the coconut palm for the date palm, which is found normally in desert areas. Others are familiar with the fan palm (Borassus, “ruhn palm”) but they should note that the shape of the leaf of the fan palm is quite different from that of the date palm. I am not aware of a non-European language that has a generic word for palm. Since the function of palm branches in the Festival of Shelters is to build rough shelters, the type of palm tree does not make a lot of difference. The same is true for references where the image of the palm is used as a decoration, as in the description of the Temple (see 1 Kings 6:29 et al.). In cases where the fruit is mentioned, a transliteration is recommended, either from the Hebrew word tamar or from a major language.
In locations where oil and coconut palm trees are found, but no date palms, the oil palm is to be preferred. In places where no palms are found, it is still possible that the date fruit is found in markets, particularly in Muslim-dominated areas, where it may be a popular item for breaking the fast during Ramadan. In northern Nigeria, a dwarf species of date palm (Phoenix reclinata) grows in ravines and bears small edible fruits much like the big palm. At least one translation there (Berom) makes use of the local name.
It would seem then that if the date palm is not known at all, the options here are:
1. use the word for oil or coconut palm (and consider writing a footnote that indicates that the Hebrew words tamar and tomer and the Greek word phoinix refer to a similar tree that has a quite different fruit);
2. transliterate from Hebrew (tomera, tamara) and Greek (fonis, fowinik);
3. transliterate from a major language, for example, nakhal/temer (Arabic), dattier (French), datil/palmera (Spanish), mtende (Swahili), khajoor (खजूर) (Hindi), and hǎizǎo (海枣 / 海棗) (Chinese);
4. use a generic phrase appropriate to the context, for example, “beautiful tree.”
In Chichewa, gwalanga, the word for the local fan palm is used for translation. In rural areas people use the leaves for vegetables. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Wild Apple (or Crab Apple) Malus sylvestris is the ancestor of the sweet fruit we know today Malus domestica. The domestication may have occurred in what is now Iran, Armenia, Turkey, or Syria. Apples have grown in Europe, in western Asia, and probably in Turkey and Lebanon, for several thousand years. The question for Bible scholars is whether the puny, rather tart fruit of the wild apple merits the glowing description we find in Proverbs 25:11: “. . . like apples of silver in a set-ting of gold,” and in Song of Songs 2:5: “Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am sick with love.” With that doubt in mind, some scholars have suggested that the tapuach, whose pleasant smell is noted in Song of Songs 7:8, is the apricot. Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) favors the apple on linguistic grounds, citing the Arabic cognate tuffach, which refers to the apple, and Egyptian records from 1298–1235 B.C. that refer to taph (probably the same as tapuach) growing in the Nile Valley. It is possible that improved varieties had already been developed in biblical times. Zohary points out that the apricot appeared in the region much later than the apple.
The apple tree reaches to 5-10 meters (17-33 feet), has a rounded crown, and bears a round fruit about the size of an orange. In the spring the tree is completely covered with pink flowers, which gradually give way to the green of the leaves as they develop. The fruit can be greenish, yellow, or red.
Apples grow well only in temperate climates where the tree is frozen part of the year, so there are no close native relatives in tropical Africa or Asia. However, fruits grown in Europe and South Africa are being shipped to many African countries, and so have become well-known, at least in the cities, usually by a name from a major international language. We recommend transliteration from a well-known language (for example, tufa [Arabic], pom/pomier [French], manzano [Spanish], masa/masiyera [Portuguese], and apel [English]), although translators seeking literary equivalence may wish to find a cultural substitute in the Proverbs and Song of Songs passages.
The almond is one of a group of fruit-bearing trees (Prunus) that also includes plums, cherries, peaches, and apricots. There are fifteen species of wild almond in Iran, two wild species in Israel, and one cultivated one (Prunus dulcis, also called Amygdalus communis). They are plentiful now in the hills of Israel, and probably were so in Bible times, even in the hot, dry Negev.
The almond tree grows to around 4 meters (13 feet) tall. It loses its leaves in winter and then, before the new leaves appear in spring, a profusion of white or pink flowers appears. The flowers are quite flat, with oval petals. The fuzzy fruit, about the size of a date palm fruit, comes about ten weeks later. The seed (“nut” in English) is fifty percent oil, and can be eaten raw but is usually roasted.
Three passages make reference to physical features of the almond tree. In Exodus 25:33f. and 37:19f. 20 we find the Hebrew word meshuqad (“almond-like”) referring to the shape of the almond blossom. The flat almond flower made a reasonable model for the lamp holders at the top of the branches of the lampstand in the Tabernacle.
The writer of Ecclesiastes 12:5 uses the profusion of white blossoms on the almond tree as a symbol of old age. The comparison is of course to the white hair of the elders.
In Jeremiah 1:11 the author makes use of the similarity of the Hebrew name shaqed (“almond”) to the word shoqed (“watching” or “wakeful”) to emphasize that Yahweh is “watching” over Israel (see almond tree / watching). Some commentators add to this that since the almond is the first of the trees to blossom in the spring—even before the leaves emerge — it was “waking up early,” and God, likewise, is an “early help” in time of trouble.
The Prunus family has members in various parts of the world, such as Prunus salicina in China and Prunus munsoniana in eastern North America. However, the branches and fruit of many of these are so different from the true almond that in non-figurative passages local names will not really be usable. In a passage such as Genesis 30:37, a transliteration from a major language is recommended; for example, shaked/lus (Hebrew), lawus (Arabic), amande (French), amendoa (Portuguese), almendra (Spanish), and alimondi. In English the “l” is not pronounced, so “almond” may be transliterated amond. Elsewhere, where the tree is used figuratively, as in Exodus and Ecclesiastes (see below), translators can use a blossom with a similar shape and color.
Almond tree, photo by Gloria SuessAlmond flowers, photo by Ray Pritz
There are two kinds of willow in Palestine, the White Willow Salix alba being the northern one, and the Common Willow Salix acmophylla being the southern, more heat-tolerant one. In the Jordan Valley the willow gives way to the salt-tolerant Euphrates poplar as the river gets close to the Dead Sea. Some confusion of names arises from the fact that the Euphrates poplar has two kinds of leaves. The younger shoots produce a narrow leaf like the willow, and the mature shoots produce a wider, ovate leaf.
The willow is found along streams, where it can grow to a height of 6 meters (20 feet). It has long, narrow leaves which drop during the winter and the tiny green flowers appear around October.
If “willow” is indeed the correct translation of ‘aravah in Leviticus (23:40), then it is one of the four species recommended for use in building shelters for the Festival of Shelters. In Job it is the habitat of the mysterious Behemoth that no man can tame. In Isaiah and Ezekiel it is a metaphor for something that grows luxuriantly.
Over three hundred Salix species are found around the world in temperate regions. They are sometimes known as ossiers or sallows. At least one Salix species (Safsaf Willow Salix subserrata) is found in sub-Saharan Africa in addition to being found in Egypt, Libya, and Israel. Flora of West Tropical Africa lists three other species. People who make round, thatched houses use thin, flexible sticks from a shrub to form the concentric rings that hold the radial sticks (either bamboo or sorghum stalks) in place. Some of these may be willows, and if so, the local word would be appropriate in the biblical context where shelters are being constructed.
In Isaiah 44:4 and Ezekiel 17:5 the willow is symbolic of quick growth and may require an appropriate local equivalent of a thriving plant.
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