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Bible Dictionaries
Myrtle
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or חדס , Nehemiah 8:15; Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 55:13 :
Zechariah 1:8-10; a shrub, sometimes growing to a small tree, very common in Judea. It has a hard woody root that sends forth a great number of small flexible branches, furnished with leaves like those of box, but much less, and more pointed: they are soft to the touch, shining, smooth, of a beautiful green, and have a sweet smell. The flowers grow among the leaves, and consist of five white petals disposed in the form of a rose: they have an agreeable perfume, and ornamental appearance. Savary, describing a scene at the end of the forest of Platanea, says, "Myrtles, intermixed with laurel roses, grow in the valleys to the height of ten feet. Their snow-white flowers, bordered with a purple edging, appear to peculiar advantage under the verdant foliage. Each myrtle is loaded with them, and they emit perfumes more exquisite than those of the rose itself. They enchant every one, and the soul is filled with the softest sensations." The myrtle is mentioned in Scripture among lofty trees, not as comparing with them in size, but as contributing with them to the beauty and richness of the scenery. Thus Isaiah 41:19 , intending to describe a scene of varied excellence: "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree;" that is, I will adorn the dreary and barren waste with trees famed for their stature and the grandeur of their appearance, the beauty of their form, and also the fragrance of their odour. The apocryphal Baruch, 5:8, speaking of the return from Babylon, expresses the protection afforded by God to the people by the same image: "Even the woods and every sweet-smelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God."
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Myrtle'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/m/myrtle.html. 1831-2.
