Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Oak
Subjects in this Topic:
OAK
(1) ’çlâh, Gen_35:4, Jdg_6:11; Jdg_6:19, 2Sa_18:9 f., 2Sa_18:14, 1Ki_13:14, 1Ch_10:12, Isa_1:30, Eze_6:13, Hos_4:13; (Vale of) Elah’ [RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘terebinth’], 1Sa_17:2; 1Sa_17:19; 1Sa_21:9, Isa_6:13 [AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘teil tree’]; ’çlâh elsewhere always tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘oak’ [RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘terebinth’]; ’allâh, a slight variant, Jos_24:26.
2. ’çlîrn, perhaps pi. of çlâh, Isa_1:29, ‘oaks’ [RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘terebinths’] Isa_57:5 [AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘idols,’ mg. ‘oaks,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘oaks’] Isa_61:3 ‘trees.’ The meaning of ’çlîm in Eze_31:14 is obscure, if the text be correct. These words, ’çlâh, ’allâh, and ’çlîm, all apparently refer to the terebinth (wh. see).
3. ’allôn, cannot be the same as ’çlâh, because it occurs with it in Isa_6:13, Hos_4:13; see also Gen_35:8, Isa_44:14, Amo_2:9. In Isa_2:13, Eze_27:8, Zec_11:2 the ‘allônîm (‘oaks’) of Bashan are mentioned. In Jos_19:33 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) ’allôn is treated as a proper name.
4. ’çlôn, probably merely a variation of ’allôn, is in Gen_12:8; Gen_13:18; Gen_14:13; Gen_18:1, Deu_11:30, Jdg_4:11; Jdg_9:6; Jdg_9:37, 1Sa_10:3 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘plain’ or ‘plains,’ but in RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘oak’ or oaks,’ mg. ‘terebinth’ or ‘terebinths.’ ‘allôn and ’çlôn apparently refer to the oak.
Oaks have always been relatively plentiful in Palestine-Even to-day, in spite of the most reckless destruction, groves of oaks survive on Carmel, Tabor, around Banias, and in ancient Bashan; while whole miles of country are covered with shrub-like oaks produced from the roots of trees destroyed every few years for fuel. Among the nine recognized varieties of oak in Syria, the evergreen Quercus coccifera or ‘holm oak’ is the finest—it is often 30 to 35 feet high. Its preservation is usually due to its being situated at some sacred wely. ‘Abraham’s oak’ at Hebron is of this kind. Other common oaks are the Valonia oak (Q. Ægilops), which has large acorns with prickly cups, much valued for dyeing; and the Oriental gall oak (Q. cerris), a comparatively insignificant tree, especially noticeable for the variety of galls which grow on it. Both these latter are deciduous, the leaves falling from late autumn to early spring. Oak wood is used for tanning skin bottles and also as fuel, while the acorn cups of the Valonia oak and the galls of the various oak trees are both important articles of commerce in N. Syria.
E. W. G. Masterman.