Metaphors/People are Plants
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Summary
Cultural Background
- Cold winters and hot summers (planting must be timed carefully)
- Dry climate (water supply is critical)
- Full article on Agriculture in Ancient Israel
Mappings (overview)
| Plants | People | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Tree | Person | Ps. 1:3; 74:5; 96:12; 104:16; 105:33; 148:9 |
| Water | Provisions | Ps. 1 |
| Fruit | Successful deeds, children | Ps. 1 |
| No withered leaves | Health, long life | Ps. 1 |
Entailments
- Plants never outgrow the water for growth and fruitfulness → people need something to nourish them in order to thrive [Psalm 1]
- Land needs to be cleared and prepared for a plant to grow well → God ‘prepares’ the environment for his people to grow (clearing the ground in Psalm 80, making irrigation channels in Psalm 1?)
Main meaning foci
- Fruitfulness
- Endurance (trees > longevity; grass/flowers > transience)
Instances
- grass (Psalm 90:5-6 [people], 92:7 [the wicked], 102:4 [my heart], 103:15 [life of mortals], 129:6 [all who hate Zion])
- branches (Psalm 80:10-11 [of Israel])
- leaves (Psalm 1:3 [of the blessed one])
- fruit (Psalm 1:3 [of the blessed one], 72:3 [of righteousness], 80:12 [of Israel], 92:14 [of the righteous], 105:24 [of the Lord’s people], 36 [of their manhood], 128:3 [of your wife] )
- flowers (Psalm 37:20 [the Lord’s enemies], 103:15 [life of mortals])
- shoots (Psalm 80:11 [of Israel], 128:3 [children])
- vine (Psalm 52:8 [David], 80:8 [Israel], 80:14 [Israel], 128:3 [your wife])
- tree (Psalm 1:3 [blessed one], 92:12 [righteous])
- roots/rootedness/uprooted (Psalm 9:6 [enemy cities], 52:5 [disgraced hero], 80:15 [Israel])
- seasons (Psalm 1:3 [blessed one bears fruit in])
- irrigation (Psalm 1:3 [blessed one planted by water], 11:6 [rain coals, sulphur/scorching wind on wicked], 68:9 [from God for his weary inheritance], 78:24 [rained down manna for his people])
- soil (Psalm 80:9 [cleared by God for the vine Israel)
- fertility (Psalm 128:3 [your wife])
- barrenness (Psalm 11:6 [lot of the wicked])
- propagation/reproduction (Psalm 105:36 [children of Egyptians], 128:3 [children])
- plant refuse (Psalm 1:4 [wicked], 9:6 [enemy cities], 35:5 [enemies of David], 52:5 [disgraced hero], 80:16 [Israel], 83:13 [enemies of the Lord], 102:10 [afflicted person], 118:12 [enemy nations])
- planting (Psalm 1:3 [blessed one planted by water], 80:8 [God transplanted the vine of Israel], 92:13 [righteous planted in the house of the lord])
- ephemeral (37:2 [evildoers], 90:5-6 [people], 92:7 [the wicked], 103:15 [life of mortals], 129:6 [all who hate Zion])
- Flourishing (Psalm 1:3 [blessed one], 37:19 [blameless], 52:8 [David] 72:7 [the righteous], 92:7 [evildoers who will perish], 92:12 [the righteous], 92:14 [the righteous] 144:12 [our sons]
- withering/damaged (37:2 [evildoers], 80:10 [Israel], 80:13 [Israel], 90:6 [people], 102:4 [my heart], 129:6 [all who hate Zion])
Connected Metaphors
Metaphors/Israel is a Vineyard
Conventional Mappings
| Plants | People |
|---|---|
| Participants | |
| Individual plant | Person |
| Gardener | God (maybe others in other contexts?) |
| Planted garden (collection of plants) | Nation / community |
| Categories of plants (e.g. trees, grass, flowers) | Categories of people (righteous, wicked...) |
| Stump | Lineage that has lost prominence/prestige |
| Parts | |
| Fruit | Beneficial impact on life |
| Planting location | Life habits? |
| Size of plant | Impact of human/communal life |
| Lifetime of plant | Useful life of person |
Key Words
The noun עֵץ, occurring 330 times in the Hebrew Bible and 6 times in the Psalms, may refer to a “tree” (sg) or collectively to “trees” (pl), or to the material that comes from trees, namely, “wood.” When referring to a “tree” or to “trees,” עֵץ “emphasizes only the genus, while individual species of trees (e.g., אֶרָז ‘cedar,’ אֵצֶל ‘tamerisk,’ בְּרוֹשׁ ‘cypress,’ גֶּפֶן ‘grapevine,’ זַיִת ‘olive tree,’ לוּז ‘almond tree,’ שִׁקְמָה ‘sycamore,’ תְּאֵנָה ‘fig tree,’ תָּמָר ‘date palm’) or tree shapes (e.g., סְבַךְ/סְבֹךְ ‘bush’ or the word group אַלָּה/אַלּוֹן אֵלָה/אֵלוֹן ‘large tree,’ usually understood as ‘oak/terebinth’) acquire specific designations.”[1]
| Word | Gloss | Psalms |
|---|---|---|
| עֵץ | "tree, trees, wood" | Ps. 1:3; 74:5; 96:12; 104:16; 105:33; 148:9 |
| אֶרֶז | "cedar" | Ps. 29:5; 80:11; 92:13, 104:16; 148:9 |
| גֶּפֶן | "grape vine" | Ps. 78:47; 80:9, 15; 105:33; 128:3 |
| זַיִת | "olive tree" | Ps. 52:10; 128:3 |
| תְּאֵנָה | "fig tree" | Ps. 105:33 |
| תָּמָר | "palm tree" | Ps. 92:13 |
| שִׁקְמָה | "sycamore" | Ps. 78:47 |
- ↑ J.A Soggins, “עֵץ,” in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997).