“Keeping Awake”

◆ The Hebrew name for the almond tree (shaqéd) literally means “the waker.” This is quite fitting since the almond is one of the earliest trees to bloom following the winter rest, blossoming as early as late January or early February in Palestine. In the Bible, at Jeremiah 1:11, 12, there is a play on words where the word “almond” (shaqéd) is followed by the expression “keeping awake” (shoqed): “The word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: ‘What are you seeing, Jeremiah?’ So I said: ‘An offshoot of an almond tree is what I am seeing.’ And Jehovah went on to say to me: ‘You have seen well, for I am keeping awake concerning my word in order to carry it out.’”