Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, December 22nd, 2024
the Fourth Week of Advent
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Goodly Trees
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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( פרי עץ הדר , perı̄ ‛ēc hādhār , "the fruit (the King James Version "boughs") of goodly (= beautiful or noble) trees"): One of the four species of plants used in the Feast of Tabernacles ( Leviticus 23:40 ). In the Talmud (Ṣukkāh 35a ) this is explained to be the citron (Citrus medica ) known in Hebrew as 'ethrōgh ̌ . This tradition is ancient, at least as old as the Maccabees. Josephus (Ant. , XIII , xiii, 5) records that Alexander Janneus, while serving at the altar during this feast, was pelted by the infuriated Jews with citrons. This fruit also figures on coins of this period. It is probable that the citron tree (Malum Persica ) was imported from Babylon by Jews returning from the captivity. A citron is now carried in the synagogue by every orthodox Jew in one hand, and the lūlābh (of myrtle, willow, and palm branch) in the other, on each day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Originally the "goodly trees" had a much more generic sense, and the term is so interpreted by the Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible , 390-405 ad) See FEASTS AND FASTS; BOOTH .
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Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Goodly Trees'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/isb/g/goodly-trees.html. 1915.
