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Topic:
Thoughts And Things Of The Bible -- Apple
(Heb. tappuah, meaning "fragrance"). In the scripture,
probably the apricot or quince is intended by the word, as Palestine was
too hot for the growth of apples proper. It is enumerated among the most
valuable trees of Palestine (Joel 1:12), and frequently referred to in
Canticles, and noted for its beauty (2:3, 5; 8:5). There is nothing to
show that it was the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
Dr. Tristram has suggested that the apricot has better claims than any
other fruit-tree to be the apple of Scripture. It grows to a height of
30 feet, has a roundish mass of glossy leaves, and bears an orange
coloured fruit that gives out a delicious perfume. The "apple of
the eye" is the Heb. ishon , meaning manikin, i.e., the pupil of
the eye (Prov. 7:2). (Comp. the promise, Zech. 2:8; the prayer, Ps.
17:8; and its fulfilment, Deut. 32:10.) The so-called "apple of
Sodom" some have supposed to be the Solanum sanctum (Heb. hedek),
rendered "brier" (q.v.) in Micah 7:4, a thorny plant bearing
fruit like the potato-apple. This shrub abounds in the Jordan valley.
Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible Dictionaries
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