BIG TREES

[Heb., ʼe·lahʹ; ʼe·lohnʹ], MASSIVE TREES [Heb., ʼal·lahʹ, ʼal·lohnʹ].

These Hebrew words are variously rendered oak, elm and teil tree in AV, also terebinth in AS. However, many authorities acknowledge that these words may have been applied in Bible times simply to big trees in general.

At Amos 2:9 the Amorite people were likened to the cedar for height and to “massive trees [ʼal·lohnʹ]” for vigor. These “massive trees” were especially abundant in Bashan in Transjordan and are used in comparisons along with the cedars of Lebanon. (Isa. 2:13; Zech. 11:1, 2) Oars were fashioned from their wood. (Ezek. 27:6) Deborah was buried under such a tree at Bethel, resulting in the name Allon-bacuth, which means “Big tree of weeping.” (Gen. 35:8) The location of such trees on hills and high places made them popular places of shade under which false worshipers could engage in idolatrous practices.—Hos. 4:13.

Doubtless the massive trees of Bashan included the oak. Renowned for their sturdiness and strength, oak trees live to a very great age. Several kinds of oaks continue to grow in Bashan as well as in the lofty parts of the Hauran, Gilead, Galilee and Lebanon, some of them evergreens; while others are deciduous (that is, losing their leaves each fall). Their fruit, the acorn, is set in a cup and is rich in tannin. It is believed that the color for the “coccus scarlet” material used in the sanctuary (Ex. 25:4; 26:1) was obtained from a scale insect that infects the branches of a species of oak.—See DYES, DYEING.

Another tree considered likely to be among the “big trees” of the Bible is the terebinth or turpentine tree. It is a common tree in Palestine, has a thick trunk and widespreading branches and may attain to heights of as much as fifty feet (15.2 meters), providing excellent shade. By making incisions in the bark a perfumed resin is obtained, from which turpentine is produced.