Reference: Oak
American
As many as six varieties of the oak are found in Palestine. Dr. Robinson speaks of one at Hebron which had a trunk twenty-two and a half feet in circumference; and saw the crests and sides of the hills beyond the Jordan still clothed, as in ancient times, with magnificent oaks, Isa 2:13; Zec 11:2. The oak is often referred to in Scripture, Ge 35:8; Isa 44:14; Am 2:9. There is, however, a second Hebrew word often translated "oak," which is supposed to denote the terebinth or turpentine-tree, called butm by the Arabs, Ge 35:4; Jg 6:11,19; 2Sa 18:9,14. It is translated "elm" in Ho 4.13, and "teil-tree" in Isa 6:13, in which passages the true oak is also mentioned. In many passages where "plain" or "plains" occurs, we should probably understand "terebinth" or "a grove of terebinths," Ge 12:6; 13:18; 14:13; 18:1; De 11:30; Jg 9:6. This tree was found in all countries around the Mediterranean, and in Palestine grew to a large size. It was very long-lived. For many ages after Christ, a tree of this kind near Heron was superstitiously venerated as one of those under which Abraham dwelt at Mamre. Under the welcome shade of oaks and other large trees many public affairs were transacted; sacrifices were offered, courts were held, and kings were crowned, Jos 24:26; Jg 6:11,19; 9:6. See GROVE.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, unto the Oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
And Abram moved his tent and came and lived in the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron. And he built an altar to Jehovah there.
And there came one who had escaped. And he told Abram the Hebrew, for he lived in the plains of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. And these had a covenant with Abram.
And Jehovah appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat at the tent door in the heat of the day.
And they gave all the strange gods which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel, under an oak. And the name of it was called Oak of Weeping.
Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way of the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites, who dwell in the plain across from Gilgal beside the plains of Moreh?
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
And Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. He put the flesh in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to Him to the oak, and offered it.
And Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. He put the flesh in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to Him to the oak, and offered it.
And all the leaders of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo. And they came and made Abimelech king beside the plain of the pillar in Shechem.
And all the leaders of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo. And they came and made Abimelech king beside the plain of the pillar in Shechem.
And it shall be on all the high and lifted up cedars of Lebanon, and on all the oaks of Bashan,
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and be consumed like the terebinth and like the oak being felled, yet has its stump; the holy seed is its stump.
He cuts down cedars, and takes cypress and oak, which he makes the trees of the forest strong for him; he plants a tree, and the rain makes it grow.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from below.
Howl, juniper; for the cedar has fallen; because the majestic trees are devastated. Howl, O oaks of Bashan; for the inaccessible forest has come down.
Easton
There are six Hebrew words rendered "oak."
(1.) 'El occurs only in the word El-paran (Ge 14:6). The LXX. renders by "terebinth." In the plural form this word occurs in Isa 1:29; 57:5 (A.V. marg. and R.V., "among the oaks"); Isa 61:3 ("trees"). The word properly means strongly, mighty, and hence a strong tree.
(2.) 'Elah, Ge 35:4, "under the oak which was by Shechem" (R.V. marg., "terebinth"). Isa 6:13, A.V., "teil-tree;" R.V., "terebinth." Isa 1:30, R.V. marg., "terebinth." Absalom in his flight was caught in the branches of a "great oak" (2Sa 18:9; R.V. marg., "terebinth").
(3.) 'Elon, Jg 4:11; 9:6 (R.V., "oak;" A.V., following the Targum, "plain") properly the deciduous species of oak shedding its foliage in autumn.
(4.) 'Elan, only in Da 4:11,14,20, rendered "tree" in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Probably some species of the oak is intended.
(5.) 'Allah, Jos 24:26. The place here referred to is called Allon-moreh ("the oak of Moreh," as in R.V.) in Ge 12:6; 35:4.
(6.) 'Allon, always rendered "oak." Probably the evergreen oak (called also ilex and holm oak) is intended. The oak woods of Bashan are frequently alluded to (Isa 2:13; Eze 27:6). Three species of oaks are found in Palestine, of which the "prickly evergreen oak" (Quercus coccifera) is the most abundant. "It covers the rocky hills of Palestine with a dense brushwood of trees from 8 to 12 feet high, branching from the base, thickly covered with small evergreen rigid leaves, and bearing acorns copiously." The so-called Abraham's oak at Hebron is of this species. Tristram says that this oak near Hebron "has for several centuries taken the place of the once renowned terebinth which marked the site of Mamre on the other side of the city. The terebinth existed at Mamre in the time of Vespasian, and under it the captive Jews were sold as slaves. It disappeared about A.D. 330, and no tree now marks the grove of Mamre. The present oak is the noblest tree in Southern Palestine, being 23 feet in girth, and the diameter of the foliage, which is unsymmetrical, being about 90 feet." (See Hebron; Teil tree.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, unto the Oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as the oak of Paran, which is by the wilderness.
And they gave all the strange gods which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
And they gave all the strange gods which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
And Heber the Kenite, of the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent toward the plain of Zaanaim, near Kedesh.
And all the leaders of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo. And they came and made Abimelech king beside the plain of the pillar in Shechem.
And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode on a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak. And his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heavens and the earth. And the mule under him went away.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be ashamed for the gardens which you have chosen. For you shall be like an oak whose leaf fades, and like a garden that has no water.
And it shall be on all the high and lifted up cedars of Lebanon, and on all the oaks of Bashan,
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and be consumed like the terebinth and like the oak being felled, yet has its stump; the holy seed is its stump.
being inflamed with idols under every green tree, killing the little sons in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?
to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness; so that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that He might be glorified.
They have made the oaks of Bashan your oars; the daughter of Assyria has made your deck of ivory from the coasts of Kittim.
The tree grew and was strong, and its height reached to the heavens; and the sight of it reached to the end of all the earth.
He cried aloud and said this, Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches; shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals get away from under it, and the birds from its branches.
The tree that you saw, which became great and strong, whose height reached to the heaven, and the sight of it to all the earth;
Fausets
eeyl, from uwl "strong," as the Latin robur. The terebinth or turpentine tree. Eloth, Elim, etc., take their name hence; so for "teil tree" (Isa 6:13; 1:29), and for "elms" (Ho 4:13), eelah; allon is the "oaks"; also eelon is "the oak." The Quercus psedo-coccifera is the most abundant in Palestine, covering Carmel with dense brushwood eight to twelve feet high. Its roots are dug up as fuel in the valleys S. of Lebanon, where the living tree is no longer to be seen. Abram's oak near Hebron is of this species, still flourishing in the midst of a field, the stock 23 ft. in girth, and the branch spreading over a circle 90 ft. in diameter.
It is probably sprung from some far back offshoot of the original grove under which he pitched his tent (Ge 13:18), "Abram dwelt at the oaks of Mamre in Hebron." The Quercus aegilops, or "prickly cupped Valonia oak", is found on the hills E. of Nazareth and Tabor. The Quercus infectoria or "dyeing oak" is seldom higher than 30 ft., growing on the eastern sides of Lebanon and the hills of Galilee; its gall-nuts, formed by the puncture of an insect, contain tannin and gallic acid used for dyeing and ink. Dr. Hooker conjectures the two aegilops to represent the "oaks of Bashan" (Isa 2:13). Deborah was buried under an oak (Ge 35:8). So Saul (1Sa 31:13). Idolaters sacrificed under oaks (Isa 1:29). Under one Joshua set up a pillar at Shechem to commemorate the nation's covenant with God (Jos 24:26). The "tree" in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 4) is 'ilan, any "strong tree".
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Abram moved his tent and came and lived in the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron. And he built an altar to Jehovah there.
But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel, under an oak. And the name of it was called Oak of Weeping.
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh. And they fasted seven days.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be ashamed for the gardens which you have chosen.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be ashamed for the gardens which you have chosen.
And it shall be on all the high and lifted up cedars of Lebanon, and on all the oaks of Bashan,
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and be consumed like the terebinth and like the oak being felled, yet has its stump; the holy seed is its stump.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shade is good. So your daughters shall be harlots, and your brides shall commit adultery.
Hastings
OAK
(1) '
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And he moved from there to a mountain on the east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent with Bethel toward the sea and Hai on the east. And he built an altar there to Jehovah, and called upon the name of Jehovah.
And Abram moved his tent and came and lived in the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron. And he built an altar to Jehovah there.
And there came one who had escaped. And he told Abram the Hebrew, for he lived in the plains of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. And these had a covenant with Abram.
And Jehovah appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat at the tent door in the heat of the day.
And they gave all the strange gods which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel, under an oak. And the name of it was called Oak of Weeping.
Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way of the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites, who dwell in the plain across from Gilgal beside the plains of Moreh?
And their border was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, and Adami, Nekeb, and Jabneel, to Lakum. And its boundaries were at Jordan.
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
And Heber the Kenite, of the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent toward the plain of Zaanaim, near Kedesh.
And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
And Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. He put the flesh in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to Him to the oak, and offered it.
And all the leaders of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo. And they came and made Abimelech king beside the plain of the pillar in Shechem.
And Gaal spoke again and said, See, people are coming by the middle of the land, and another company coming along by way of the Sorcerers' Oak.
And Saul and the men of Israel had gathered and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in order against the Philistines.
And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.
And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth under the ephod, if you will take, take it for yourself, for there is no other here except that one. And David said, There is none like that. Give it to me.
And Joab said, I cannot stay here with you this way! And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the midst of the oak.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be ashamed for the gardens which you have chosen. For you shall be like an oak whose leaf fades, and like a garden that has no water.
And it shall be on all the high and lifted up cedars of Lebanon, and on all the oaks of Bashan,
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and be consumed like the terebinth and like the oak being felled, yet has its stump; the holy seed is its stump.
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and be consumed like the terebinth and like the oak being felled, yet has its stump; the holy seed is its stump.
He cuts down cedars, and takes cypress and oak, which he makes the trees of the forest strong for him; he plants a tree, and the rain makes it grow.
being inflamed with idols under every green tree, killing the little sons in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?
to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness; so that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that He might be glorified.
Then you shall know that I am Jehovah, when their dead shall be among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, the place where they offered sweet aroma to all their idols.
The residents of Sidon and Arvad were your seamen. Your wise ones, O Tyre, were in you, they were your sailors.
to the end that none of all the trees by the waters shall be exalted in their height, nor give their top among the thick boughs, nor should their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water. For all of them are given to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the sons of men, with those who go down into the Pit.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shade is good. So your daughters shall be harlots, and your brides shall commit adultery.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shade is good. So your daughters shall be harlots, and your brides shall commit adultery.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from below.
Howl, juniper; for the cedar has fallen; because the majestic trees are devastated. Howl, O oaks of Bashan; for the inaccessible forest has come down.
Morish
There are four Hebrew words so translated, but they are all apparently from the same root, signifying 'strong, hardy,' and are mostly applied to the oak, which lives to a great age. Three species of the Quercus are known in Palestine, the pseudo-coccifera, aegilops, and infectoria. It is symbolical of strength, and affords shade from the heat of the sun. Ge 35:8; Jos 24:26; Isa 1:29; 2:13; Eze 27:6; Ho 4:13; Am 2:9; Zec 11:2. The word elah is judged to refer to the terebinth (pistacia terebinthus), though generally translated oak. Ge 35:4; Jg 6:11,19; 2Sa 18:9-14; 1Ki 13:14; 1Ch 10:12; Isa 1:30; Eze 6:13.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And they gave all the strange gods which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel, under an oak. And the name of it was called Oak of Weeping.
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
And Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. He put the flesh in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to Him to the oak, and offered it.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be ashamed for the gardens which you have chosen. For you shall be like an oak whose leaf fades, and like a garden that has no water.
And it shall be on all the high and lifted up cedars of Lebanon, and on all the oaks of Bashan,
Then you shall know that I am Jehovah, when their dead shall be among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, the place where they offered sweet aroma to all their idols.
They have made the oaks of Bashan your oars; the daughter of Assyria has made your deck of ivory from the coasts of Kittim.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shade is good. So your daughters shall be harlots, and your brides shall commit adultery.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from below.
Howl, juniper; for the cedar has fallen; because the majestic trees are devastated. Howl, O oaks of Bashan; for the inaccessible forest has come down.
Smith
(Heb. strong). There is much difficulty in determining the exact meanings of the several varieties of the term mentioned above. Sometimes, evidently, the terebinth or elm is intended and at others the oak. There are a number of varieties of oak in Palestine. (Dr. Robinson contends that the oak is generally intended, and that it is a very common tree in the East. Oaks grow to a large size, reach an old age and are every way worthy the venerable associations connected with the tree. --ED.) Two oaks, Quercus pseudo-coccifera and Q. aegilops, are well worthy of the name of mighty trees; though it is equally true that over a greater part of the country the oaks of Palestine are at present merely bushes.
Watsons
OAK. The religious veneration paid to this tree by the original natives of our island in the time of the Druids, is well known to every reader of British history. We have reason to think that this veneration was brought from the east; and that the Druids did no more than transfer the sentiments their progenitors had received in oriental countries. It should appear that the Patriarch Abraham resided under an oak, or a grove of oaks, which our translators render the plain of Mamre; and that he planted a grove of this tree, Ge 13:18. In fact, since in hot countries nothing is more desirable than shade, nothing more refreshing than the shade of a tree, we may easily suppose the inhabitants would resort for such enjoyment to
Where'er the oak's thick branches spread A deeper, darker shade.
Oaks, and groves of oaks, were esteemed proper places for religious services; altars were set up under them, Jos 24:26; and, probably, in the east as well as in the west, appointments to meet at conspicuous oaks were made, and many affairs were transacted or treated of under their shade, as we read in Homer, Theocritus, and other poets. It was common among the Hebrews to sit under oaks, Jg 6:11; 1Ki 13:14. Jacob buried idolatrous images under an oak, Ge 35:4; and Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, was buried under one of these trees, Ge 35:8. See 1Ch 10:12. Abimelech was made king under an oak, Jg 9:6. Idolatry was practised under oaks, Isa 1:29; 57:5; Ho 4:13. Idols were made of oaks, Isa 44:14.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Abram moved his tent and came and lived in the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron. And he built an altar to Jehovah there.
And they gave all the strange gods which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel, under an oak. And the name of it was called Oak of Weeping.
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
And all the leaders of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo. And they came and made Abimelech king beside the plain of the pillar in Shechem.
And all the mighty men arose and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be ashamed for the gardens which you have chosen.
He cuts down cedars, and takes cypress and oak, which he makes the trees of the forest strong for him; he plants a tree, and the rain makes it grow.
being inflamed with idols under every green tree, killing the little sons in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shade is good. So your daughters shall be harlots, and your brides shall commit adultery.