apple tree Summary and Overview

Apple Tree, Apple (Heb. tappuach). Mention of the apple tree occurs in the Authorized Version in #So 2:3; 8:5| and Joel 1:12 The fruit of this tree is alluded to in #Pr 25:11| and Song 2:5; 7:8 It is a difficult matter to say what is the specific tree denoted by the Hebrew word tappuach. ("The apple proper is rare in Syria, and its fruit inferior.") Most modern writers maintain that it is either the quince or the citron; (others speak of the apricot, which is abundant and deliciously perfumed.) The quince had some plausible arguments in its favor. Its fragrance was held in high esteem by the ancients. The quince was sacred to Venus. On the other hand Dr Royle says,"The rich color, fragrant odor and handsome appearance of the citron, whether in flower or in fruit, are particularly suited to the passages of scripture mentioned above." But neither the quince nor the citron nor the apple appears fully to answer to all the scriptural allusions. The orange would answer all the demands of the scriptural passages, and orange trees are found in Israel; but there does not appear sufficient evidence that this tree was known in the earlier times to the inhabitants of Israel. The question of identification therefore, must still be left an open one.

THE AP'PLE TREE (Hebrew, breathing forth). Song of Solomon 2:3-5; Song of Solomon 7:8; Song of Solomon 8:5; Joel 1:12. Spoken of in the Scriptures as excellent "among the trees of the wood," of pleasant shadow, with sweet, beautiful, and fragrant fruit. The Hebrew word, by its meaning, is thought to emphasize the latter property. The apple proper is rare in Syria, and its fruit is inferior. Writers have urged the citron, orange, quince, and apricot as the trees meant. The fruit of the latter two alone is specially aromatic, and of these the quince is not sweet in taste. The apricot is everywhere abundant in the Holy Land, and of it Tristram says: "Many times have we pitched our tents in its shade and spread our carpets secure from the rays of the sun." "There can scarcely be a more deliciously-perfumed fruit than the apricot; and what fruit can better fit the epithet of Solomon, 'apples of gold in pictures of silver,' than this golden fruit as its branches bend under the weight in their setting of bright, yet pale, foliage?" The expression of Solomon just referred to, Prov 25:11, is also supposed to compare fruit in silver baskets, or salvers curiously wrought like basket-work, and perhaps representing animals or landscapes, to seasonable advice wisely and courteously administered. Apple of the Eye (Hebrew, little man, or pupil of the eye). Prov 7:2; Zech 2:8. Apple here represents an entirely different word from the word of the preceding topic, meaning the front and most sensitive part of the organ of vision. The same figure is used, Deut 32:10 and Ps 17:8, to denote the most complete protection and security. And in Lam 2:18 the phrase ''apple of thine eye" is figuratively used for tears.