Property: Knowledge
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
This is a property of type Text.
P
A leafy olive tree is a positive image when associated with the house of God +
A plant that has roots may regrow even if cut down, but if the roots are taken out it is gone forever +
A vine can regrow from a root that is carefully transplanted +
Cedar trees are strong but grow slowly +
Chaff is light and cannot be used (apart from animal feed). It is often used to symbolise the worthless. +
Grass (חציר) and green leafy plants )ירק דשׁא) quickly wither away +
Grass (חציר) sprouts in the morning and dries by the evening (ie. life cycle of one day?) +
Green vegetation (עשב) is susceptible to being ‘struck’ and ‘drying out’ (common occurrence in arid climate?) +
Green vegetation is short-lived and weak and spreads rampantly and widely +
Green vegetation is susceptible to drying out / withering +
Palm trees are difficult to cut down but very productive (oil, nuts, etc.) +
Plants in the courtyards of the house of Yahweh are fruitful and leafy for many years [however, the conceptual blend is complex here to what extent does the reader infer a plant or a person in the courtyard of Yahweh? See Brown 2002 for iconographic associations between palms and temples, eg. the relief from palace at Mari - so perhaps there were actual palms associated with the temple. Also note the conclusion p.73-74: ‘trees in proximity to the sanctuary held an ambivalent place in ancient Israelite faith and cultic practice’. Note also the ‘leafy tree’ here is a positive image because of association to Yahweh, as opposed to the more general condemnation of leafy trees in unorthodox cultic practice elsewhere in the Bible] +
Seasonal fruitfulness for a tree relies on being planted near a suitable water supply +
Some worthless parts of plants (מֹץ) are blown away by the wind +
Some worthless parts of plants (מֹץ) are blown away by the wind +
The leaves of a tree by water will not dry up +
Vine roots can be dug up and transplanted to new locations +
Vines and olive trees produce useful, good tasting food (is it part of the point of the similes here that vines and olive branches produce food that is ‘beyond the basics’ - the nice things? Or…?) +
Vines are at risk from wild boars, insects, people who pass by and pick fruit +
Vineyards require skilled gardeners, prepared soil, protected space (walls) +