SECTION III, 

 WOODY TREES. 



THE OAK. 



THE oak being so universally known, renders a particular descrip- 

 tion of it unnecessary ; but as it is thought that our translators have 

 sometimes confounded it with the terebinth, which is not so com- 

 mon, we shall notice the leading features in the character of this 

 tree. Mariti says, the terebinth is an evergreen of moderate size, 

 but having the top and branches large in proportion to the body, the 

 leaves resemble those of the olive, but are of a green color, inter- 

 mixed with red and purple; the twigs that bear them always termi- 

 nate in a single leaf* the flowers are like those of the vine, arid grow 

 in bunches like them ; they are purple, the fruit is of the size of 

 juniper-berries, hanging in clusters, and each containing a single 

 seed of the size of a grape-stone ; they are of a ruddy purple, and 

 remarkably juicy. Another fruit, or rather excrescence, is found on 

 this tree, scattered amongst the leaves, of the size of a chesnut, of a 

 purple color, variegated with green and white. The people of Cy- 

 prus say that it is produced by the puncture of a fly: in opening 

 them they appear full of worms ; the wood is hard and fibrous ; and 

 a resin or gum distils from the trunk. The tree abounds near Je- 

 rusalem, and in Cyprus. 



Tfye terebinth under which Abraham entertained the angels (Gen. 

 xviii. 1, &c.) is famous in antiquity. Josephus says, that six furlongs 

 from Hebron they showed a very large terebinth, which the inhab- 

 itants of the country believed to be as old as the world itself. Eu- 

 sebius assures us that in his time the terebinth of Abraham was still 

 to be seen (!), and was held in great veneration both by Christians 

 and Gentiles, as well from respect to Abraham, as to the heavenly 

 guests he entertained under it. Jerom says, this terebinth was two 

 miles from Hebron. Sozomen places it fifteen stadia from this 

 city. These variations induce a doubt whether the writers speak 

 of the same tree. The terebinth of Jacob, where he buried the 

 gods, brought by his people from Mesopotamia (Gen. xxxv. 4), was 

 behind the city of Shechem, and far from that at which Abraham 

 dwelt, near Hebron ; yet they have been very absurdly confounded 

 together. It is thought to have been under the same terebinth that 

 Joshua renewed the covenant with the Lord ; and that Abimelech, 

 son of Gideon, was proclaimed king by the Shechemites. 

 The prophetic benediction pronounced upon Naphtali (Gen. xlix. 



