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
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great (oak) tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron. He built an altar to Jehovah there.
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. He was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. They were Abram's allies.
Jehovah appeared again to Abraham by the oak grove of Mamre. He was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.
Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree).
Are they not across the Jordan toward the setting sun? Are they in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks (big trees) of Moreh?
Joshua wrote these commands in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in Jehovah's sanctuary.
The angel of Jehovah came to the village of Ophrah. He sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was secretly threshing wheat in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him.
The angel of Jehovah came to the village of Ophrah. He sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was secretly threshing wheat in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him.
So Gideon went into his house and cooked a young goat and used a bushel of flour to make bread without any yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them to Jehovah's angel under the oak tree, and gave them to him.
So Gideon went into his house and cooked a young goat and used a bushel of flour to make bread without any yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them to Jehovah's angel under the oak tree, and gave them to him.
All the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.
All the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.
It will also be against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan,
Even if one out of ten people are left it will be destroyed (burned) again. When a strong tree or an oak is cut down, a stump is left. The holy seed is the stump.
He cut down cedars, or cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
Before them I destroyed the Amorite. His height was like the height of the cedars. He was strong like the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath!
Wail, You fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the majestic ones are destroyed. Wail you oaks of Bashan, for the strong 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
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great (oak) tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness.
So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.
So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.
Joshua wrote these commands in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in Jehovah's sanctuary.
Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent at the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
All the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.
Absalom happened to come face to face with some of David's men. He was riding on a mule. The mule went under the tangled branches of a large tree. Absalom's head became caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair when the mule under him ran away.
You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship. You will be embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods. You will be like an oak whose leaves wither and like a garden without water.
It will also be against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan,
Even if one out of ten people are left it will be destroyed (burned) again. When a strong tree or an oak is cut down, a stump is left. The holy seed is the stump.
Are you inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
to present a garland, instead of ashes, to those who mourn in Zion, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. They will be called oaks of righteousness. They are the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.
Of oaks from Bashan they have made your oars. With ivory they have inlaid your deck with cypress wood from the coastlands of Cyprus.
The tree grew and became strong. Its height reached to heaven. It could be seen from distant parts of the earth.
He cried aloud: 'Chop down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches.
The tree that you saw, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached to heaven, and was seen in the distant parts of 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
Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron. He built an altar to Jehovah there.
Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree).
Joshua wrote these commands in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in Jehovah's sanctuary.
They buried the bones under a small tree in Jabesh. Then for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.
You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship. You will be embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods.
You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship. You will be embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods.
It will also be against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan,
Even if one out of ten people are left it will be destroyed (burned) again. When a strong tree or an oak is cut down, a stump is left. The holy seed is the stump.
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains! They burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars (storax) and the strong tree, because it has good shade. Your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.
Hastings
OAK
(1) '
See Verses Found in Dictionary
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent. Bethel was on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Jehovah and called on the name of Jehovah.
Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron. He built an altar to Jehovah there.
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. He was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. They were Abram's allies.
Jehovah appeared again to Abraham by the oak grove of Mamre. He was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.
Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree).
Are they not across the Jordan toward the setting sun? Are they in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks (big trees) of Moreh?
Their boundary was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, and Adami, Nekeb, and Jabneel, to Lakum; and it ended at Jordan.
Joshua wrote these commands in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in Jehovah's sanctuary.
Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent at the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
The angel of Jehovah came to the village of Ophrah. He sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was secretly threshing wheat in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him.
So Gideon went into his house and cooked a young goat and used a bushel of flour to make bread without any yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them to Jehovah's angel under the oak tree, and gave them to him.
All the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.
Gaal responded: Do you see? There are men coming down from the top of the mountain. Some are coming along the road from the big tree of Meonenim (big tree of magic)!
Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah. They drew up in battle array against the Philistines.
King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.
The high priest answered: The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Elah Valley, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the priestly ephod. Take it if you want. There is no other weapon here. David said: There is none like it. Let me have the sword.
I will not waste any more time with you, Joab said. He took three spears and plunged them into Absalom's chest while he was still alive and hanging in the oak tree.
You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship. You will be embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods. You will be like an oak whose leaves wither and like a garden without water.
It will also be against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan,
Even if one out of ten people are left it will be destroyed (burned) again. When a strong tree or an oak is cut down, a stump is left. The holy seed is the stump.
Even if one out of ten people are left it will be destroyed (burned) again. When a strong tree or an oak is cut down, a stump is left. The holy seed is the stump.
He cut down cedars, or cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
Are you inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
to present a garland, instead of ashes, to those who mourn in Zion, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. They will be called oaks of righteousness. They are the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.
Then you will know that I am Jehovah. Those who are killed will lie beside the idols around their altars. They will lie on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every large tree and every leafy oak. These are the places where they made offerings to their disgusting idols.
The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers. Your wise men, O Tyre, were aboard. They were your pilots.
so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.'
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains! They burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars (storax) and the strong tree, because it has good shade. Your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains! They burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars (storax) and the strong tree, because it has good shade. Your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.
Before them I destroyed the Amorite. His height was like the height of the cedars. He was strong like the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath!
Wail, You fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the majestic ones are destroyed. Wail you oaks of Bashan, for the strong 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
So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.
Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree).
Joshua wrote these commands in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in Jehovah's sanctuary.
The angel of Jehovah came to the village of Ophrah. He sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was secretly threshing wheat in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him.
So Gideon went into his house and cooked a young goat and used a bushel of flour to make bread without any yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them to Jehovah's angel under the oak tree, and gave them to him.
You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship. You will be embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods. You will be like an oak whose leaves wither and like a garden without water.
It will also be against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan,
Then you will know that I am Jehovah. Those who are killed will lie beside the idols around their altars. They will lie on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every large tree and every leafy oak. These are the places where they made offerings to their disgusting idols.
Of oaks from Bashan they have made your oars. With ivory they have inlaid your deck with cypress wood from the coastlands of Cyprus.
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains! They burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars (storax) and the strong tree, because it has good shade. Your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.
Before them I destroyed the Amorite. His height was like the height of the cedars. He was strong like the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath!
Wail, You fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the majestic ones are destroyed. Wail you oaks of Bashan, for the strong 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
Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron. He built an altar to Jehovah there.
So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.
Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree).
Joshua wrote these commands in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in Jehovah's sanctuary.
The angel of Jehovah came to the village of Ophrah. He sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was secretly threshing wheat in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him.
All the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.
all their fighting men took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh. Then they fasted seven days.
You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship. You will be embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods.
He cut down cedars, or cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
Are you inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains! They burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars (storax) and the strong tree, because it has good shade. Your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.