וית, ἐλαία, Matt. xxi, 1; Rom. xi, 17, 24; James iii, 12;
ἀγριέλαιος, _oleaster_, the wild olive, Rom. xi, 17, 24. Tournefort
mentions eighteen kinds of olives; but in the Scripture we only read of
the cultivated and wild olive. The cultivated olive is of a moderate
height, and thrives best in a sunny and warm soil. Its trunk is knotty;
its bark is smooth, and of an ash colour; its wood is solid, and
yellowish; its leaves are oblong, and almost like those of the willow,
of a dark green colour on the upper side, and a whitish below. In the
month of June it puts forth white flowers, growing in bunches, each of
one piece, and widening toward the top, and dividing into four parts.
After this flower succeeds the fruit, which is oblong and plump. It is
first green, then pale, and, when quite ripe, becomes black. Within it
is enclosed a hard stone, filled with oblong seeds. The wild olives were
of a less kind. Canaan much abounded with olives. It seems almost every
proprietor, whether kings or subjects, had their olive yards. The olive
branch was, from most ancient times, used as the symbol of
reconciliation and peace.
ἀγριέλαιος, _oleaster_, the wild olive, Rom. xi, 17, 24. Tournefort
mentions eighteen kinds of olives; but in the Scripture we only read of
the cultivated and wild olive. The cultivated olive is of a moderate
height, and thrives best in a sunny and warm soil. Its trunk is knotty;
its bark is smooth, and of an ash colour; its wood is solid, and
yellowish; its leaves are oblong, and almost like those of the willow,
of a dark green colour on the upper side, and a whitish below. In the
month of June it puts forth white flowers, growing in bunches, each of
one piece, and widening toward the top, and dividing into four parts.
After this flower succeeds the fruit, which is oblong and plump. It is
first green, then pale, and, when quite ripe, becomes black. Within it
is enclosed a hard stone, filled with oblong seeds. The wild olives were
of a less kind. Canaan much abounded with olives. It seems almost every
proprietor, whether kings or subjects, had their olive yards. The olive
branch was, from most ancient times, used as the symbol of
reconciliation and peace.