almond

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 Suess
Almond flowers, photo by Ray Pritz

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 25:34 - 25:35

And on the lampstand itself refers to the “central stem” (Translator’s Old Testament), or “shaft” (Good News Translation), of verse 31, although the word menorah is used here. Four cups made like almonds is literally “four cups almond-blossom-shaped” (see verse 33). With their capitals and flowers refers to the “calyxes and petals” (New Revised Standard Version), as explained at verse 31. The pronoun there is really the singular “its,” meaning that each the four cups was to have its own capitals and flowers, or “buds and petals” (Good News Translation). Another way of expressing this is “Make four flowers shaped like almond blossoms along with their buds and petals on the shaft [or, stem] of the lampstand.”

And a capital of one piece with it means that “there shall be a calyx” (New Revised Standard Version) formed as part of the “shaft,” or central stem of the lampstand. Under each pair of the six branches condenses three identical phrases into one. Literally the phrase “and a calyx under two of the branches from it” is repeated three times. This means that, just below the joint where each of the three pairs of branches go out from the “shaft,” there is to be a cup that is a part of the “shaft.” (See the illustration, page 601.) The fourth cup evidently was to be at the top end of the central stem as the seventh lamp-holder. (See verse 33.)

Going out from the lampstand is literally “for six of the branches going out from the menorah.” But since Revised Standard Version condenses the three repeated phrases into one, it is already clear that “There is to be one bud below each of the three pairs of branches” (Good News Translation). Since New Revised Standard Version translates the three identical phrases literally, the final phrase is also quite literal: “so for the six branches that go out of the lampstand.” Contemporary English Version has a good model: “There must also be a blossom where each pair of branches comes out from the stem.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .