H2132 H2132
Olive tree, olive fruit; also used in the toponym 'Mount of Olives'
One of the signature plants of the biblical landscape, the zayit appears from Noah's dove returning with an olive leaf (Gen 8:11) to Zechariah's eschatological vision of the Mount of Olives splitting in two (Zech 14:4). Hebrew uses the same word for the tree and its fruit, but translators often distinguish them -- Spanish separates 'olivo' (tree) from 'aceituna' (fruit), while Arabic 'zaytun' (borrowed from the same Semitic root) covers both. The olive's evergreen resilience made it a natural figure for the righteous: 'I am like a green olive tree in the house of God' (Ps 52:8). Its oil lit the tabernacle (Exod 27:20) and anointed kings, binding agricultural and sacred life in a single word.
Senses
1. olive tree — The olive tree itself -- cultivated Olea europaea in orchards, fields, and figurative speech. Genesis 8:11 introduces the olive branch; Deuteronomy 8:8 lists it among the promised land's seven species; Psalm 52:8 compares the righteous to a flourishing olive tree. Spanish 'olivo,' French 'olivier,' and German 'Oelbaum' designate the tree specifically. 34×
AR["الزَّيْتُونُ", "الزَّيْتُونِ", "زَيتونٍ", "زَيْتونٍ", "زَيْتُونٍ", "كَ-الزَّيْتُونَةِ", "كَ-زَيْتُونَةٍ", "كَالزَّيتونِ", "وَ-زَيْتِيمَ", "وَزَيْتُونًا"]·ben["এবং-জলপাই-গাছ", "এবং-জলপাইগাছ", "জলপাই", "জলপাই-গাছ", "জলপাই-গাছের", "জলপাইগাছের", "জলপাইয়ের", "জলপাইয়ের-মতো", "জলপাইের", "জলপাইের,", "ন্যায়-জলপাই-গাছ"]·DE["Oelbaeume", "Oelbaum", "[זית]", "[כזית]", "der-Oelbaeume", "der-Oelbaum", "eines-Ölbaums", "olive", "olive-trees", "und-olive-Baeume", "und-olives", "wie-ein-Olive-Baum"]·EN["and-olive-trees", "and-olives", "like-an-olive-tree", "like-olive", "like-the-olive-tree", "of-olive-tree", "olive", "olive-tree", "olive-trees", "the-olive", "the-olive-trees"]·FR["[זית]", "comme-olivier", "et-olive-arbres", "et-olives", "et-olivier-arbres", "olive", "olivier", "כזית"]·heb["ה-זית", "ה-זיתים", "ו-זיתים", "זית", "זיתים", "כ-זית"]·HI["और-जैतून", "जईतून-का", "जैतून", "जैतून-का", "जैतून-की", "जैतून-की-तरह", "जैतून-की-सी", "जैतून-के", "जैतून-के-पेड़", "जैतून-के-समान", "जैतून-को"]·ID["dan-pohon-pohon-zaitun", "dan-pohon-zaitun", "pohon-zaitun", "seperti-pohon-zaitun", "zaitun", "zaitun,"]·IT["[זית]", "come-il-like-olive", "e-olive-alberi", "e-olives", "olive", "olivo", "ulivo"]·jav["badhé-ningali", "kados-zaitun", "lan-pakebonan-zaitun", "lan-wit-zaitun", "wit-zaitun", "zaitun"]·KO["감람-의", "감람나무-같이", "감람나무-의", "감람나무가", "감람나무들", "감람나무를", "감람나무의", "감람의", "같으니라-감람나무에", "그-감람나무는", "그-감람나무의", "그리고-감람나무들을", "그리고-올리브나무들을", "그리고-올리브들", "올리브", "올리브-의", "올리브의"]·PT["a-oliveira", "como-a-oliveira", "como-oliveira", "e-oliveiras", "oliveira", "oliveiras"]·RU["-маслин", "-маслины", "и-маслины", "и-масличные-сады", "как-маслина", "маслины", "оливкового", "оливковое"]·ES["como-el-olivo", "como-olivo", "el-olivo", "los-olivos", "oliva", "olivo", "olivos", "y-olivares", "y-olivos"]·SW["kama-mzeituni", "kwa-mzeituni", "mizeituni", "mzeituni", "na-mizeituni", "na-zeituni", "ya-mzeituni", "ya-zeituni"]·TR["ve-zeytin-agaclari", "ve-zeytin-ağaçları", "ve-zeytinler", "zeytin", "zeytin-agacinin", "zeytin-ağacı-", "zeytin-ağacının", "zeytin-gibi", "zeytini", "zeytinin-", "zeytinler-", "zeytinlerin", "zeytinlerin-"]·urd["اور-زیتون", "اور-زیتون-کے", "اور-زیتون-کے-درخت", "زیتون", "زیتون-کا", "زیتون-کو", "زیتون-کی", "زیتون-کی-طرح", "زیتون-کے", "زیتون-کے-درخت"]
Gen 8:11, Exod 23:11, Exod 27:20, Exod 30:24, Lev 24:2, Deut 6:11, Deut 8:8, Deut 24:20, Deut 28:40, Deut 28:40, Josh 24:13, Judg 9:8 (+22 more)
2. Olives (in Mount of Olives) — The toponym 'Mount of Olives' (har ha-zetim), where the plural functions as part of a proper place name for the ridge east of Jerusalem. David ascends it weeping in 2 Samuel 15:30; Zechariah 14:4 envisions it splitting at the Lord's coming. Spanish 'los Olivos' and German 'der Oelbaeume' preserve the definite plural as a landmark name. 3×
AR["الزَّيتونِ", "الزَّيْتُونِ"]·ben["জয়তুনের", "জলপাইয়ের"]·DE["[הזתים]", "der-Oelbaeume", "der-Olives"]·EN["the-Olives"]·FR["le-Olives", "olivier"]·heb["ה-זיתים"]·HI["जैतून-का", "जैतून-के", "जैतूनों-के"]·ID["Bukit-Zaitun", "Zaitun"]·IT["il-Olives", "ulivo"]·jav["Zaitun", "sang-Zaitun"]·KO["감람산의", "감람의"]·PT["Oliveiras", "as-oliveiras"]·RU["-Масличной-горы", "маслин"]·ES["los-Olivos"]·SW["Mizeituni", "wa-Mizeituni"]·TR["Zeytinlerin", "zeytinlerin"]·urd["زیتون-کا", "زیتون-کی", "زیتون-کے"]
3. olive fruit — The olive as fruit or agricultural product, distinguished in some languages from the tree. Micah 6:15 speaks of treading olives but not anointing with oil -- a judgment oracle where the harvest fails at the fruit stage. Spanish 'aceituna' (the edible olive) separates this cleanly from 'olivo' (the tree), revealing a semantic distinction that Hebrew leaves implicit. 1×
AR["زَيْتُونَ"]·ben["জলপাই"]·DE["Oelbaum"]·EN["olive"]·FR["olivier"]·heb["זית"]·HI["जैतून"]·ID["zaitun"]·IT["ulivo"]·jav["zaitun"]·KO["올리브-를"]·PT["azeitona"]·RU["маслины"]·ES["aceituna"]·SW["zeituni"]·TR["zeytin-o"]·urd["زیتون"]
Related Senses
H3754 1. vineyard, cultivated grape plot (92×)H0730 1. cedar tree or wood (73×)H1612 1. vine, grapevine (55×)H3293a 1. forest, wood, thicket (55×)H5560 1. fine flour (53×)H5193 1. plant vegetation (48×)H2232 1. sow seed, plant crops (41×)H1715 1. grain, cereal crop (40×)H7114b 1. reap, harvest grain (36×)H8184 1. barley (34×)H2406 1. wheat (grain crop) (30×)H7070 1. reed, cane (plant) (30×)H7848 1. acacia (28×)H8328 1. root of a plant (28×)H8384 1. fig tree (25×)H5488 1. reeds, rushes (in 'Sea of Reeds') (24×)G0290 1. a vineyard (23×)G2325 1. reap, harvest a crop (21×)G4687 1. sow seed, plant (21×)G0837 1. grow, increase (intransitive) (20×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† זַ֫יִת n.m. ψ 52:10 olive-tree, olive (NH id.; Aramaic ܙܰܝܬܳܐ, זֵיתָא; Ethiopic ዘይት Arabic زَيْتُونٌ olive-tree, olive, زَيْتٌ olive-oil; v. LagM iii. 215 ff. HomAufsätze. u. Abh., 1892, 94, 99 ff.; √ dub.; Thes and most der. from assumed זהה be bright, fresh, luxuriant (v. sub זִו) + ת afformat. which is then treated as radical, cf. Sta§ 187 a; but this not certain, cf. Ol§ 119 b. 142 a;…