Mature olives in October, Kufur Sumei, Israel.
VENERABLE, UTILITARIAN, AND an integral part of Middle East culture, olive, Olea europaea, still plays a role in today’s rural society that is similar to its importance in ancient times. The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean region, but most of its relatives are currently found in Africa (Zohary and Hopf 2000).
The olive is considered a divine provision in both the Quran and the Bible: “Let man reflect on the food he eats: how We pour down the rain in torrents and cleave the earth asunder; how We bring forth the corn, the grapes and the fresh vegetation; the olive and the palm, the thickets, the fruit-trees and the green pasture, for you and for your cattle to delight in” (Sura 80:24–32, Dawood; referred to similarly in Deuteronomy 8:8). The Quran has three references to olive.
The Bible has about 25 references to the olive tree and more than 160 references to the oil of the olive. Olive oil had five main uses in Bible days: food, illumination, ointment, soap, and leather and metal preservative. It is safe to assume that any oil mentioned in the Bible is olive oil. Interestingly, there is no record in the Bible of olives being eaten, although that does not mean they were not a food item. On the other hand, the Quran records olives as a condiment: “And a tree that grows out of Mount Sinai which produces oil and a condiment for those who eat” (Sura 23:20, Dawood; Ali translates as “seasoning” rather than condiment).
Well-formed, solitary olive tree in the dry season near the village of Kufur Sumei, northern Galilee, Israel
Olive flowers in May, showing the characteristic four petals and two stamens. Masses of olive flowers have a pleasant though weak fragrance. Antakya (biblical Antioch), Turkey.
The concept of a holy olive tree that provides illumination for God’s servants is included in both sacred books. Zerubbabel is told that the oil-producing trees are the anointed of the Lord. An angel said “Also two olive trees by it [a lamp stand], one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left,” and to Zerubbabel’s question “What are these, my lord?” the angel answered, “Do you not know what these are? … This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’” (Zechariah 4:3–6, NASB).
In the Quran, we read of a blessed olive tree that produces oil that gives light to mankind: “God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The semblance of His light is that of a niche in which is a lamp, the flame within a glass, the glass a glittering star as it were, lit with the oil of a blessed tree, the olive, neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil appears to light up even though fire touches it not—light upon light. God guides to His light whom He will. So does God advance precepts of wisdom for men, for God has knowledge of every thing” (Sura 24:35, Ali). Both of these references show the role that olive oil had in illumination in ancient times.
Oil was a daily commodity for the people of the holy books, and this importance is reflected in several verses. Disobedience to God would result in a loss of the olive crop: “You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off” (Deuteronomy 28:40, NASB). In the wonderful botany lecture on Mount Gerazim where a disgruntled politician, Jotham, likens men to trees, we are reminded of the value of the olive tree: “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honoured, to hold sway over the trees?’” (Judges 9:9, NIV). Olive oil was a component of the anointing oil of the high priest (Exodus 30:24).
Large supplies of olive oil were a sign of prosperity. Excess oil can be stored for up to six years, and such stores were of national concern. For example, in the days of King David, Joash was given the important charge of oil supplies (I Chronicles 27:28b). In addition to lighting, olive oil was used as an ointment for the skin, important in an arid climate: “He [God] makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth; wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart” (Psalm 104:14–15, NIV). Lesser known uses were for soap (Jeremiah 2:22; Malachi 3:2) and as a preservative for shields perhaps constructed of wood and overlain with leather as noted in David’s lament for Saul: “O mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, nor fields that yield offerings of grain for there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil” (II Samuel 1:21, NIV).
The olive tree is one of the most familiar and characteristic trees in the entire Middle East. Olive oil is prized by Arabs, who use it almost daily. A simple breakfast is just bread and olive oil, the bread often dipped first into a savory mixture of herbs and salt. Large areas are planted in olives; they thrive on the steep and rocky slopes (Deuteronomy 32:13) in carefully maintained terraces.
These venerable trees are attractive: “His [the restored Israel] branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon” (Hosea 14:6, KJV); and, “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table” (Psalm 128:3, KJV). In the dry season, the olive tree, with its refreshing green leaves, presents a distinctive contrast against the dry, brown hills. Leaves are evergreen, dark gray-green above and gray beneath. With a slight breeze, the trees appear silver, and in the dry season the wind makes the hillsides glisten. The undersurface of the leaf is covered with microscopic, overlapping scales.
The remarkable root system of the olive tree is the secret of its survival in its dry, rocky habitat. To produce a good crop, however, the trees need care throughout the year—careful pruning, cultivating, and fertilizing. The olive tree produces sprouts at its base. Today, olives are often grown on grafted stock; a rapidly growing rootstock is selected and a good-quality scion is put in it. But in Bible days, olives were often grown directly from the sprouts. The olive farmer would select sprouts from his best trees, carefully remove them, and plant them where they would be tended. Psalm 128:3 may be a reference to this practice: “Your sons will be like olive shoots round your table.”
The olive tree does not become very tall and lives for up to 1000 years, producing fruit throughout its long life. Trunks often become gnarled, bent, and hollow inside, yet the tree continues to produce fruit. Because of this growth pattern, the wood is unsuitable for building, but it is hard, with an attractive grain, so it is used today for the manufacture of small items.
Olive wood is mentioned only in I Kings 6:32 (NIV) for the construction of several articles in the temple, especially a door. It would be difficult to find a piece of olive wood large enough to make a door. The I Kings reference could be to sandalwood (Santalum album), which is not native to Israel but imported from India. Possibly the doors were made from a composite of many small pieces of olive. The identity of this wood remains unknown.
About the first of May, the olive begins to flower. The flowers are white, small, and only slightly scented. They come and go scarcely without notice, largely obscured by the evergreen leaves. Olive is from a family of plants well known for fragrance, including lilac and jasmine, and therefore it is a modest member of an otherwise showy family.
In the autumn, the olive bears fruit. Olives today are harvested in villages as in Bible times by carefully beating the trees with sticks and then picking up the olives from the ground. This process may appear to damage the olive tree, but as for other trees like walnut, beating the tree for the fruits stimulates additional bud production.
When ripe, the olive is jet black and attractive. If you enjoy olives, you would be tempted to eat one right off the tree, but a fresh olive is bitter and unpalatable. To be used, olives are soaked in brine to remove the bitter component in the aqueous part of the fruit. The olive must be crushed to express the oil. Until recently, in villages olives were crushed between giant stones driven by draft animals, as in ancient times. Today hydraulic presses are used. For oil, the olives are harvested while green. Only a few are allowed to fully mature, and they are used for condiments.
The “wild olive tree” is mentioned in the Bible: “Now suppose that some branches were broken off, and you are wild olive, grafted among the rest to share with the others the rich sap of the olive tree; then it is not for you to consider yourself superior to the other branches; and if you start feeling proud, think: it is not you that sustain the root, but the root that sustains you” (Romans 11:17–18, NJB; a reference in Nehemiah 8:15 is likely not a wild olive.) But the only New Testament reference, in Romans, undoubtedly refers to a wild or at least uncultivated olive. Farmers have referred to trees that spontaneously come up in their olive groves as “wild olives.” These trees have a different aspect from the carefully cultivated olives but they probably only represent sports from the larger population. These are the forms Green (2002) refers to as “feral olives”; he designates them as Olea europaea var. sylvestris.
