Apple tree in Biblical History

Bible History

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is an Apple Tree?
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.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'apple tree' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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