THE OAK. • 3 



It is here worthy of notice that in Genesis xii. 6, the 

 passage, which is in our version rendered " The plain of 

 Moreh," is in the 8eptuagint rendered "The high Oak." ^ 

 It is not, therefore, improbable that this Oak, or grove of 

 Oaks, was first consecrated to God by the priestly worship 

 of Abraham, and retained its sacred character until at 

 least the time of Abimelech.^ It must not be objected 

 that the period is too long (nearly six hundred years) to 

 assign as the duration of one tree ; for, as we shall see 

 hereafter, there is evidence of Oak-trees actually existing 

 which have obtained nearly double that age. 



In European countries the Oak was an important tree 

 at a very early age, being valued for its fruit. In Asia 

 the estimation in which it was held appears to have had 

 some other origin, for, although we read in the Sacred 

 Volume of " dates, almonds," &c. heing used as articles 

 of food, no such mention is made of acorns ; nor is it 

 probable that they were ever eaten hy men in a country 

 naturally affording fruits so much more palatable. But 

 in Greece and Italy, before agriculture was invented or 

 introduced, acorns held an important place among the 

 more savoury viands of the inhabitants. The traditions 

 of the poets tell us that strawberries, blackberries, cornels 

 and acorns were the homely fare of the first inhabitants 

 of these countries ; of which, acorns must have been the 

 most valuable, for being of a less perishable nature than 

 the rest, they would bear being stored away for winter use. 

 For this reason, perhaps, it was that the Greeks believed 

 that of all the trees with which they were acquainted the 

 Oak was the first created. We need not, then, wonder 

 that, holding this belief in its antiquity and extreme use- 

 fulness, they regarded it with veneration, and, in their 

 ignorance of Divine Eevelation, entertained the, to us, 

 extravagant notion that the Deity chose it as a medium 

 for making known His will to man. At the same time it 

 is much to be wondered at that the Israelites, who had not 



1 Trju Sf)vv rrjv ui|/r)Arjj'. s Jixcjges ix. 6, marginal reading. 



b2 



