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GARDEN (Heb. gan [lit. ‘enclosure’], gannah, which, like the Persian [mod. Armenian] pardçs [Neh_2:8 etc.], and the Arab [Note: Arabic.] jannah and bustân, may mean a garden of herbs [Deu_11:10, 1Ki_21:2 etc.], a fruit orchard [Jer_29:5; Jer_29:28, Amo_4:9 etc.], or a park-like pleasure-ground [2Ki_25:4, Est_1:5 etc.]).—Flowers were cultivated (Son_6:2), and doubtless, as in modern times, crops of grain or vegetables were grown in the spaces between the trees. In the long dry summer of Palestine the fruitfulness of the garden depends upon abundant water supply (Num_24:6). Perennial fountains fleck the landscape with the luxuriant green and delicious shade of gardens, as e.g. at Jenîn (Son_4:15). Great cisterns and reservoirs collect the water during the rains, and from these, by numerous conduits, it is led at evening to refresh all parts of the garden. Failure of water is soon evident in withered leaves and wilted plants (Isa_58:11; cf. Isa_1:30). The orange and lemon groves of Jaffa and Sidon are famous; and the orchards around Damascus form one of the main attractions of that ‘earthly paradise.’ The cool shade of the trees, the music of the stream, and the delightful variety of fruits in their season, make the gardens a favourite place of resort (Est_7:7, Son_4:16 etc.), especially towards evening; and in the summer months many spend the night there. In the sweet air, under the sheltering boughs, in the gardens of Olivet, Jesus no doubt passed many of the dark hours (Mar_11:19 RV [Note: Revised Version.] , Luk_21:37). From His agony in a garden (Joh_18:1; Joh_18:26) He went to His doom.
The gardens, with their luxuriant foliage and soft obscurities, were greatly resorted to for purposes of idolatry (Isa_56:3, Bar_6:70). There the Moslem may be seen to-day, spreading his cloth or garment under orange, fig, or mulberry, and performing his devotions. The garden furnishes the charms of his heaven (el-jannah, or Firdaus): see artt. Paradise, Eden [Garden of].
Tombs were often cut in the rock between the trees (2Ki_21:18 etc.); in such a tomb the body of Jesus was laid (Joh_19:41).
W. Ewing.