Olive, Olive-Tree. 1Ki 6:23. The olive, olea Europæa. It grows plentifully almost everywhere near the shores of the Mediterranean, and is abundant in Palestine. Deu 6:11; Deu 8:8. Olive yards are therefore commonly mentioned as a considerable part of a man’s property. 1Sa 8:14; 1Ch 27:28. This tree flourishes in Syria, in warm and sunny situations, on a rocky soil, at a height not greater than about 3000 feet above the level of the sea. It increases slowly to a moderate altitude of twenty or thirty feet, with a knotty trunk, and numerous extended branches. The leaves grow in pairs, of a pale dusty color, and are not deciduous. The white flowers appear in June; and the fruit is an oblong berry, first green, and, when fully ripe, a blackish-purple. The wood is something like box, but softer, with dark gray veins. The olive tree lives to a great age. With an olive leaf in her mouth the dove returned to Noah when the waters of the flood were abated. Gen 8:11. The high estimation in which the olive tree was held is seen by its being placed first in Jotham’s parable. Jdg 9:8-9. And it is often mentioned as indicating plenty, prosperity, and strength; the allusion taking its force from the products, from the evergreen character, and the protracted existence of the tree, e.g., Psa 52:8, an olive being often planted in the court of a building, Psa 128:3, young shoots springing, from an old trunk; Jer 11:16; Hos 14:6. And various applications of the berries are referred to, Deu 24:20, the oil, Lev 24:2, which was an article of commerce, 1Ki 5:11, and the wood, 6:31-33.
This was the principal source of oil in the East, the trees being extensively cultivated on the sides of the hills, and formed into ’olive yards.’ See OIL. In the temple, within the holy of holies, Solomon made two cherubim of olive wood; the doors into the oracle were also made of the same wood. 1Ki 6:23-33.
Israel in general is called a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit, Jer 11:16; and a good olive tree, with root and fatness; in contrast to the Gentiles who are compared to a wild olive tree. The fact that the wild olive tree needs grafting gives point to the passage in Rom 11:17-24. God’s two Jewish witnesses in a future day are called the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. They will then be the fruit and light bearers on the earth. Zec 4:3; Zec 4:11; Zec 4:14; Rev 11:3-4. The Hebrew is zayith , and the Arabic name is zeitun: it is the Olea Europaea .
The olive is an evergreen tree from semi-tropical regions in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It produces edible fruit. The olive (Olea europaea) was certainly one of the most valuable trees known to the Jewish people. The Bible contains countless references to it and to olive oil, which people used for anointing (the practice of pouring oil on a person's head as part of a religious ceremony to mark them for a special role or blessing).
The tree is quite common in Israel and the surrounding areas. In many places, it is the only tree of any substantial size. The branches of the wild olive are rather stiff and have thorns. The typical cultivated tree has many branches, is evergreen, and grows 6.1 meters (20 feet) tall or more. It has a twisted trunk and smooth, ash-colored bark. The leaves are leathery, and the flowers are small and yellow or white.
The fruits are large and black or violet in color. They ripen in September. The outer fleshy parts of the fruit produce the valuable olive oil sold commercially. Nearly a third (31 percent) of the ripe fruit is oil. People eat both the ripe fruit raw and the green, unripe fruit.
The wood from the trunk and limbs is hard, rich yellow or amber in color, and has a fine grain, often with beautiful patterns. People still use it today for the finest cabinet work and wood turning. The olive tree grows very slowly, but it lives for a very long time.
It is difficult to kill an olive tree by cutting it down. This is because new sprouts grow up from the root and all around the edges of the old stump. These often form a grove of two to five trunks, all from a single root that originally supported only one tree.
See Agriculture; Food and Food Preparation.
Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.