Ark of the Covenant - Bible History Online
Bible History


Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 

A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M    N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    X    Y    Z   



Myrtle
        

Used (as it is still by the modern Jews) on the return from Babylon to adorn booths for the feast of tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:15). It then grew on the hills about Jerusalem and Olivet, where now there are only the olive and the fig tree. Hereafter about to grow in what was a wilderness (Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 4:18). The myrtle in Zechariah 1:8; Zechariah 1:10-11, symbolizes the Jewish church, not a stately cedar but a lowly though fragrant myrtle. Its depression made the Jews despond; the Angel of Jehovah standing (as in His abiding place, Psalm 132:14) among the myrtles guarantees her safety, lowly though she be. The myrtle was probably imported into Israel from Babylon in the time of Isaiah who first mentions it. It is a native of Persia. Esther received her name Hadassah, "the myrtle," in the Persian court (Esther 2:7). In Samaria and Galilee on the banks of rivers it still abounds. Its starry blossoms amidst dark and odorous leaves, and flexible branches, furnish a beautiful garland, so that in Greece it was held sacred to Venus the goddess of beauty.


Bibliography Information
Fausset, Andrew Robert M.A., D.D., "Definition for 'myrtle' Fausset's Bible Dictionary".
bible-history.com - Fausset's; 1878.

Copyright Information
© Fausset's Bible Dictionary


Fausset's Bible Dictionary Home
Bible History Online Home

 

Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
Online Bible (KJV)
Naves Topical Bible
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Schaff's Bible Dictionary
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
Hitchcock's Bible Dictionary