Bible Dictionary: Apple-tree

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

APPLE; APPLE-TREE

ap'-l ap'-l tre, (tappuach): A fruit tree and fruit mentioned chiefly in Cant, concerning the true nature of which there has been much dispute.

Songs 2:3 says: "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight"; Songs 8:5: "Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: there thy mother was in travail with thee, there was she in travail that brought thee forth." Of the fruit it is said, Songs 2:3: "His fruit was sweet to my taste"; Songs 2:5: "Stay ye me with raisins, refresh me with apples"; Songs 7:8: "the smell of thy breath (Hebrew "nose") like apples."

In all the above references the true apple, Pyrus malus, suits the conditions satisfactorily. The apple tree affords good shade, the fruit is sweet, the perfume is a very special favorite with the people of the East. Sick persons in Palestine delight to hold an apple in their hands, simply for the smell. (Compare Arabian Nights, "Prince Hassan and the Paribanou.") Further the Arabic for apple tuffah is without doubt identical with the Hebrew tappuach. The apple was well known, too, in ancient times; it was, for example, extensively cultivated by the Romans.

The one serious objection is that apples do not easily reach perfection in Palestine; the climate is too dry and hot; farther north in the Lebanon they flourish. At the same time it is possible to exaggerate this objection, for with careful grafting and cultivation exceedingly good apples may be produced in the mountain regions. Apple trees there need special care and renewal of the grafts, but there is no impossibility that at the time of the writing of Canticles skilled gardeners should have been able to produce sweet and perfumed apples in Palestine. Small but very sweet and fragrant apples are now grown at Gaza. Good apples are now plentiful in the market at Jerusalem, but they are chiefly importations from the North.

On account of the above difficulty three other fruits have been suggested by various writers. Two doubtless have been brought forward with a view to Proverbs 25:11: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in network of silver," but the reference would certainly seem to be to some silver filigree work ornamented with gold modeled to look like fruit rather than to any actual fruit. The citron and the apricot (Tristram) have both been suggested as the true tappuach. The former, which is a native of Persia, does not appear to have been introduced into Palestine until well into the Christian era and the apricot, though an attractive substitute for the apple and today one of the most beautiful and productive of fruit trees, can hardly have been established in Palestine at the time of the scriptural references. It is a native of China and is said to have first begun to find its way westward at the time of Alexander the Great.

The third of the fruits is the quince, Cydonia vulgaris (Natural Order Rosaceae), and this had more serious claims. It flourishes in Palestine and has been long indigenous there. Indeed it is probable that even if tappuach was a name for apple, it originally included also the closely allied quince. The greatest difficulty is its harsh and bitter taste. Further the Mishna distinguishes the tappuach from the quince, which is called parish, and from the crab apple or chazor (Kohler in Jewish Encyclopedia, II, 23). The quince along with the apple was sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

On the whole there does not appear to be any sufficient reason for rejecting the translation of the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American); the Biblical references suit it; the identity of the Hebrew and Arabic words favor it and there is no insuperable objection on scientific grounds. The word tappuach appears in two place names, BETH-TAPPUAH and TAPPUAH (which see).

E. W. G. Masterman

Strong's Hebrew

8598. tappuach -- apple tree, apple
... 8597, 8598. tappuach. 8599 . apple tree, apple. Transliteration: tappuach Phonetic
Spelling: (tap-poo'-akh) Short Definition: tree. ... apple tree. ...
/hebrew/8598.htm - 6k

5887. En Tappuach -- "place of an apple tree," a city in Ephraim
... En Tappuach. 5888 . "place of an apple tree," a city in Ephraim. Transliteration:
En Tappuach Phonetic Spelling: (ane tap-poo'-akh) Short Definition: En-tappuah ...
/hebrew/5887.htm - 6k

Library

As the Appletree among the Trees of the Wood, So is My Beloved ...
... CHAPTER II. 3. As the appletree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved
among the sons. I sat down under the shadow of him ...
/.../guyon/song of songs of solomon/3 as the appletree among.htm

Under the Apple Tree. "I Sat Down under his Shadow with Great ...
... UNDER THE APPLE TREE."I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit
was sweet to my taste.""Song of Solomon ii. 3. UNDER THE APPLE TREE. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/till he come/under the apple tree i sat.htm

Who is this that Cometh up from the Wilderness, Replete with ...
... I raised thee up under the appletree; there thy mother was corrupted, there was
she deflowered that brought thee forth. ... I raised thee up under the appletree. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/guyon/song of songs of solomon/5 who is this that.htm

"Ye are the Branches"
... If I want good apples, I must have a good apple tree; and if I care for the health
of the apple tree, the apple tree will give me good apples. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/murray/absolute surrender/ye are the branches.htm

A Look into the Hebrew Bible.
... The old apple-tree growing in my garden is the witness to me of some transcendent
truths, the shrine of mysteries that I cannot unravel. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/gladden/who wrote the bible/chapter i a look into.htm

Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work
... Bearing fruit unto every good work.' The words, suggest again the great thought,
that as an apple-tree or a vine is planted solely for its fruit, so the great ...
//christianbookshelf.org/murray/working for god/xii bearing fruit in every.htm

Blighted Blossoms
... TALK FIVE. BLIGHTED BLOSSOMS. In our yard, a few feet from the door, stands an
apple-tree. In the early spring I watched its swelling buds from day to day. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/naylor/heart talks/talk five blighted blossoms.htm

Chapter ii.
... 2. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.2. As the lily among
thorns, so is my love among the daughters.3. As the appletree among the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/guyon/song of songs of solomon/chapter ii.htm

Chapter viii.
... I raised thee up under the appletree; there thy mother brought thee forth; there
she brought thee forth that bare thee.5. Who is this that cometh up from the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/guyon/song of songs of solomon/chapter viii.htm

Under his Shadow.
... Our second picture, that of the tree, is to be found in the Song of Solomon ii.3:
"As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/till he come/under his shadow.htm

Thesaurus

Appletree
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia APPLE; APPLE-TREE. ... Songs 2:3 says: "As the
apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. ...
/a/appletree.htm - 10k

Apple-tree (3 Occurrences)
Apple-tree. Appletree, Apple-tree. Application . Int. ... (ASV BBE DBY JPS WBS
YLT). Appletree, Apple-tree. Application . Reference Bible.
/a/apple-tree.htm - 11k

Apple (8 Occurrences)
... zones. 2. (n.) Any tree genus Pyrus which has the stalk sunken into the base
of the fruit; an appletree. 3 ... Walker. APPLE; APPLE-TREE. ap ...
/a/apple.htm - 17k

Pomegranate (11 Occurrences)
... In the lamentation in Joel 1:11, 12 we have the pomegranate, the palm tree and the
appletree represented as withered, "for joy is withered away from the sons ...
/p/pomegranate.htm - 15k

Application (2 Occurrences)

/a/application.htm - 8k

Apples (11 Occurrences)

/a/apples.htm - 11k

Lover (55 Occurrences)
... is leafy. (See NIV). Song of Songs 2:3 As an apple-tree among the trees of
the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. Under its shadow ...
/l/lover.htm - 24k

Leaning (11 Occurrences)
... Song of Songs 8:5 Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?
Under the appletree I aroused you. There your mother conceived you. ...
/l/leaning.htm - 10k

Languish (13 Occurrences)
... Joel 1:12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree,
the palm tree also, and the appletree, even all the trees of the field ...
/l/languish.htm - 11k

Languishes (11 Occurrences)
... Joel 1:12 The vine hath been dried up, And the fig-tree doth languish, Pomegranate,
also palm, and apple-tree, All trees of the field have withered, For dried ...
/l/languishes.htm - 9k

Bible Concordance

Apple-tree (3 Occurrences)

Song of Songs 2:3 As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
(ASV BBE DBY JPS WBS)

Song of Songs 8:5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth.
(ASV BBE DBY JPS WBS)

Joel 1:12 The vine is withered, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: for joy is withered away from the sons of men.
(ASV BBE DBY JPS WBS YLT)

Subtopics

Apple-Tree

Apple-Trees

Related Terms

Apple-tree (3 Occurrences)

Apple (8 Occurrences)

Pomegranate (11 Occurrences)

Application (2 Occurrences)

Apples (11 Occurrences)

Lover (55 Occurrences)

Leaning (11 Occurrences)

Languish (13 Occurrences)