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.
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 more senses below
Senses
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;…