palm tree Summary and Overview

(Heb. tamar), the date-palm characteristic of Israel. It is described as "flourishing" (Ps. 92:12), tall (Cant. 7:7), "upright" (Jer. 10:5). Its branches are a symbol of victory (Rev. 7:9). "Rising with slender stem 40 or 50, at times even 80, feet aloft, its only branches, the feathery, snow-like, pale-green fronds from 6 to 12 feet long, bending from its top, the palm attracts the eye wherever it is seen." The whole land of Israel was called by the Greeks and Romans Phoenicia, i.e., "the land of palms." Tadmor in the desert was called by the Greeks and Romans Palmyra, i.e., "the city of palms." The finest specimens of this tree grew at Jericho (Deut. 34:3) and Engedi and along the banks of the Jordan. Branches of the palm tree were carried at the feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:40). At our Lord's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem the crowds took palm branches, and went forth to meet him, crying, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matt. 21:8; John 12:13). (See DATE T0000979.)

(Heb. tamar). Under this generic term many species are botanically included; but we have here only to do with the date palm, the Phoenix dactylifera of Linnaeus. While this tree was abundant generally in the Levant, it was regarded by the ancients as peculiarly characteristic of Israel and the neighboring regions, though now it is rare. ("The palm tree frequently attains a height of eighty feet, but more commonly forty to fifty. It begins to bear fruit after it has been planted six or eight years, and continues to be productive for a century. Its trunk is straight, tall and unbroken, terminating in a crown of emerald-green plumes, like a diadem of gigantic ostrich-feathers; these leaves are frequently twenty feet in length, droop slightly at the ends, and whisper musically in the breeze. The palm is, in truth, a beautiful and most useful tree. Its fruit is the daily food of millions; its sap furnishes an agreeable wine; the fibres of the base of its leaves are woven into ropes and rigging; its tall stem supplies a valuable timber; its leaves are manufactured into brushes, mats, bags, couches and baskets. This one tree supplies almost all the wants of the Arab or Egyptian." --Bible Plants.) Many places are mentioned in the Bible as having connection with palm trees; Elim, where grew three score and ten palm trees, #Ex 15:27| and Elath. #De 2:8| Jericho was the city of "palm trees." #De 31:3| Hazezon-tamar, "the felling of the palm tree," is clear in its derivation. There is also Tamar, "the palm." #Eze 47:19| Bethany means the "house of dates." The word Phoenicia, which occurs twice in the New Testament -- #Ac 11:19; 15:3| --is in all probability derived from the Greek word for a palm. The, striking appearance of the tree, its uprightness and beauty, would naturally suggest the giving of Its name occasionally to women. #Ge 38:6; 2Sa 13:1; 14:27| There is in the Psalms, #Ps 92:12| the familiar comparison, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." which suggests a world of illustration whether respect be had to the orderly and regular aspect of the tree, its fruitfulness, the perpetual greenness of its foliage, or the height at which the foliage grows, as far as possible from earth and as near as possible to heaven. Perhaps no point is more worthy of mention, we wish to pursue the comparison, than the elasticity of the fibre of the palm and its determined growth upward even when loaded with weights. The passage in #Re 7:9| where the glorified of all nations are described as "clothed with white robes and palms in their hands," might seem to us a purely classical image; but palm branches were used by the Jews in token of victory and peace. (To these points of comparison may be added, its principle of growth: it is an endogen, and grows from within; its usefulness; the Syrians enumerating 360 different uses to which it may be put; and the statement that it bears its best fruit in old age. --ED.) It is curious that this tree, once so abundant in Judea, is now comparatively rare, except in the Philistine plain and in the old Phoenicia about Beyrout.

PALM TREE . The date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is found from the Indus to the Nile, through most of Northern Africa, and upon all the warmer shores of the Mediterranean, but it is now rare in Palestine. Yet in ancient times, when the land was peopled with many industrious inhabitants, it was very common. Lev 23:40; Deut 34:3; Judg 1:16; Joel 3:13; 1 Chr 4:5. Ancient historians corroborate this statement, and inform us that the region of the Dead Sea was noted for the palm, of which there were groves twelve miles in extent. The general figure and appearance of this tree is familiar to our minds from pictures and descriptions. It grows in sandy soils, in hot and dry climates, but flourishes best in the vicinity of streams and where it can be watered, and in valleys and plains, especially where the water is moderately salt or brackish. It is always green and grows to a great height - from 60 to 100 feet. Its straight and slender trunk rises very high before it puts forth any leaves, and its foliage is in one mass at the top. Song 7:7; Jer 10:5. This ever green and stately tree is the emblem of the righteous. Ps 1:3 and Ps 92:12. The columns of costly edifices were sometimes hewn in imitation of its trunk, as may be observed in some of the ruins of Egypt. Palm trees were carved upon the doors of the temple. 1 Kgs 6:32; comp. Eze 41:19. It is a peculiarity of palms and similar endogenous trees that the diameter of the trunk is as great as it ever becomes when the tree first rises above the ground, as seen in the cut of young palms. Hence there is growth yet completeness almost from the first. Strictly speaking, the palm has no branches, but at the summit from forty to eighty leaf-stalks spring forth, which are intended in Neh 8:15. These are set around the trunk in circles of about six. The lower row is of great length, and the vast leaves, often 12 feet in length, bend themselves in a curve toward the earth; as the circles ascend the leaves are shorter. In the month of February there sprout from between the junctures of the lower stalks and the trunk little scales, which develop a kind of bud, the germ of the coming fruit. These germs are contained in a thick and tough skin not unlike leather. Date-Palm. (After Photograph) According to the account of a modern traveller, a single tree in Barbary and Egypt bears from fifteen to twenty large clusters of dates, weighing from fifteen to twenty pounds each. The palm tree lives more than two hundred years, and is most productive from the thirtieth until the eightieth year. The Arabs speak of three hundred and sixty uses to which the different parts of the palm tree are applied. The inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia depend much on the fruit of the palm tree for their subsistence. Camels feed on the seed, and the leaves, branches, fibres, and sap are all very valuable. When the dates are ripe they are plucked by the hand or shaken into a net, which is held below. The person who ascends the lofty trunk is assisted by the ragged processes or scales with which the body of the tree is armed. The dates ripen at different times, so that a tree is commonly ascended two or three times in a season. When gathered they are spread upon mats in the open air, and after a few days begin to be used. Some are eaten fresh, and some are laid aside for future use. Others yield a rich syrup; which being expressed, the remaining mass is steeped in hot water, and after being macerated and cleansed affords a pleasant drink. These different kinds of syrups are the celebrated date-wine, which was greatly prized in ancient times by the Orientals. Some suppose it to be the "strong drink" often named in the Scriptures; but this term rather designates all intoxicating liquors except wine. See Wine. The shoots, which are annually cut away from the bottom of the tree, and the leaves themselves, are used for making ropes, baskets, sacks, mats, fans, hats, and sandals. The Hebrews were accustomed to carry the leaves, which they called "branches," in the solemn festivities of the feast of tabernacles, and to strew them in the way of triumphal processions. Thus branches were spread in the way of Christ upon his entry into Jerusalem. John 12:13. They were anciently used as a symbol of victory, and carried before the conqueror in triumphal processions. Hence the force and beauty of the figure in Rev 7:9. The former abundance of the palm and the estimation in which the Hebrews held it are seen from many Bible names and references. Phoenicia and Phoenice came from the Greek name of the palm; Elim and Elath, or "trees," refer evidently to this species; Hazezontamar, "the filling of the palm trees," is identified with En-gedi, Gen 14:7; 2 Chr 20:2, whose palm trees are mentioned by Josephus and Pliny; Tamar, "a palm," occurs twice in Ezekiel for a place, and, referring to the tree as tall, straight, and graceful, was a favorite female name among the Hebrews; Baaltamar, "the sanctuary of the palm," occurs; Bethany is "the house of dates;" and Jericho is often called "the city of palm trees." This tree is found upon ancient Hebrew coins as the symbol of Judaea, and Roman coins struck after the conquest of Judaea have a palm with an inscription commemorating the event.