H8598 H8598
Apple tree or its fruit; a fragrant tree used in poetic imagery for love, beauty, and refreshment.
Refers to a sweet, fragrant fruit tree and its fruit, traditionally identified as the apple, though some scholars have proposed the apricot, citron, or quince. In Song of Songs, the beloved is compared to this tree among the forest trees (Song 2:3), and its fruit refreshes the lovesick (Song 2:5). The multilingual evidence is remarkably consistent — English 'apple,' Spanish 'manzano/manzanas,' and French 'pommier/pommes' all converge on the apple identification. Proverbs 25:11 uses the golden fruit as a figure for a word fitly spoken, showing that the image carried connotations of beauty and perfection.
Senses
1. apple tree, apple (fruit) — A fragrant fruit tree and its fruit, traditionally the apple (Malus domestica), used both literally and figuratively. The tree appears as a symbol of the beloved's shade and sweetness (Song 2:3; 8:5), while the fruit conveys refreshment and delight (Song 2:5). Cross-lingual glosses — Spanish 'manzano,' French 'pommier,' German cognates — uniformly point to the apple, though the broader aromatic sense behind the Hebrew root (related to breathing out fragrance) leaves room for citrus or apricot identifications favored by some botanists. 6×
AR["بَ-تَفُّوحِيم", "تُفَّاحُ", "شَجَرَةِ-التُّفَّاحِ", "كَالتُّفَّاحِ", "كِ-تَفُّوحَ", "وَ-التُّفّاحُ"]·ben["-আপেল-গাছের", "-আপেল-গাছের-মতো", "-আপেলে", "-আপেলের-মতো।", "আপেল", "এবং-আপেল"]·DE["[בתפוחים]", "[כתפוח]", "[כתפוחים]", "[תפוחי]", "der-Apfelbaum", "und-Apfelbaum"]·EN["and-apple-tree", "apples-of", "like-an-apple-tree", "like-the-apples", "the-apple-tree", "with-apples"]·FR["Comme-un-pommier", "avec-des-pommes,", "comme-les-pommes.", "et-pomme", "le-pommier", "pomme"]·heb["ב-תפוחים", "ה-תפוח", "ו-תפוח", "כ-תפוח", "כ-תפוחים", "תפוחי"]·HI["और-सेब", "जैसे-सेब", "सेब", "सेब-के-पेड़-के", "सेबों-के-समान", "सेबों-से"]·ID["-pohon-apel", "Apel", "Seperti-pohon-apel", "dan-pohon-apel,", "dengan-apel-apel", "seperti-apel"]·IT["[ותפוח]", "come-il-melo", "come-melo", "il-melo", "melo", "nel-melo"]·jav["Kados-wit-apel", "kados-apel", "kanthi-apel", "lan-apel", "wit-apel", "woh-apel"]·KO["그-사과나무", "그리고-사과나무-와", "사과나무-처럼", "사과들", "사과들-로", "사과들-처럼"]·PT["Como-uma-maçã", "Maçãs-de", "a-maçã", "com-maçãs", "como-maçãs", "e-macieira"]·RU["Как-яблоня", "и-яблоня", "как-яблоки.", "яблоками", "яблоки", "яблоней"]·ES["Como-manzano", "Manzanas-de", "como-las-manzanas", "con-manzanas", "el-manzano", "y-manzano"]·SW["kama-matofaa", "kama-mtofaa", "kwa-matofaa", "matunda-ya-dhahabu", "mtofaa", "na-tofaa"]·TR["elma-agaci-gibi", "elma-agacinin", "elmalar", "elmalar-gibi", "elmalarla", "ve-elma"]·urd["اور-سیب", "سیب", "سیب-کے-درخت-کی-طرح", "سیب-کے-درخت-کے", "سیبوں-سے", "سیبوں-کی-طرح"]
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×)H2132 1. olive tree (34×)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×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. תַּפּוּחַ n.[m.] apple-tree, apple (from aromatic scent (breath), Thes Lag BN 111, 129 Post (v. infr.); Arabic تُفّاحٌ is loan-wd. Frä 140; on meaning apple v. Löw No. 109 RSJPhl. xiii. 65 f. Post Hast Dict. Bib. Apple) v. also HomA. u. A 100, 106, 107; TristrNHB 334 f. thinks ת׳ = apricot (so Id.Smith DB (2) apple); M’Lean-DyerEB apple makes ת׳ = quince.v. also HomA. u. A 100, 106, 107;…