1. Find your previous notes or textbook on integrated science and list the physical properties of water, paying attention to properties not included in this unit.
2. With reference to Jacob’s Well, examine the roles of wells in Biblical Israel.
3. Comment on the concept of Jesus as Living Water/Water of Life.
Faniran, A. 2001, Nature in the Bible: A Commentary on God’s Revelation in His Creation. Sacred Earth Ministry Monograph Series 2. MANASC, Ibadan, Chapter 5.
Heline, T. 1980, The Dead Sea Scroll: The Essenian Forerunners of Christ. De Vorss. Co. Marina del Rey, CA.
The Holy Bible – several versions.
ISRAEL/BIBLE LAND CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction 2.0 Objectives 3.0 Main Content
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Trees and Shrubs in Nature
3.3 Trees and Shrubs of Israel/Bible Land 3.3.1 Introduction
3.3.2 Trees in the Garden of Eden 3.3.3 The Tamarisk tree
3.3.4 The Rotean and the Salt Plant 3.3.5 The Seneh (Burning Bush) 3.3.6 The Caper
3.3.7 The Yetarim (Hebrew Yitran) 3.3.8 The Olive, Fig, Grape and Atad 3.3.9 Olives and Sycomores
3.4 Discussion 4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment 7.0 References/Further Readings 1.0 INTRODUCTION
So far, in this module, we have been discussing essentially lifeless in non- organic or living substances of the earth’s surface and near surface. In Module 2 Unit 1, we discussed the land and landscapes, including rocks and mineral of various types, all being part of the lithosphere. In unit 2, we treated water or the hydrospheric component, leaving us with two spheres, namely, the biosphere, or the world of plants and animals and the atmosphere or air and the celestial space.
While the biosphere contains the living component, including humans, the atmosphere, like the lithosphere and hydrosphere, is essentially lifeless, except in microscopic forms. In this unit, we will take on the plant component of the biosphere while unit 9 will deal with the animal component, minus humans. The last unit in this module will be on the atmosphere and the outer space or celestial space.
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
discuss the place of plants (trees, shrubs and grasses) in nature identify the trees planted in the Garden of Eden
discuss the typical trees, shrubs, grasses, fruits, seeds and flowers of Israel (Bible land).
analyse the more figurative/spiritual meaning and uses of the various examples.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 Introduction
As noted above, trees, shrubs and grasses, with landforms (hills, mountains, plains and valleys) form the major components of the landscape of an area, Israel/Bible land inclusive. Therefore, it is not surprising that they occupy a very crucial place and play very significant roles in passing the Biblical message across to humans.
Chamber’s Encyclopedia (1969:787), has this to say about the flora of present – day Israel:
The Flora, owing to the variety of climate, is remarkably rich. In the northern hills, tracts of maguis survive from the ancient forests; the commonest growth is evergreen oak, but many other bushes, such as hawthorn, terrebinth, buckthorn and storax, are found. The contrast is marked between the arid appearance of the mountains during the greater part of the year and their brilliant colouring during the brief spring, which they are carpeted with anemones, poppies, tulips and asphoitel. The banks of R. Jordan, lined with thick growth of poplar, tamarisk and oleander, contrast with the arid plain on either side, where the saline soil supports only such plants as saltwort. Only steppe and desert plants can survive in the Negev; e.g. the prickly pear (Sabra).
Around the Dead Sea grow such tropical shrubs as the apple of Sodom and the Indian mallow (p. 92)
The above description essentially reflects human influence after several millennia of occupation and destruction, rather than the natural/original vegetation. Fortunately, however, as in the cases of settlements and wells, the Bible has proved to be a most reliable ‘museum’, for the trees and shrubs, especially, of the area. The Bible is, therefore, a veritable living evidence (mirror) of what humans have done to nature generally and vegetation in particular in Israel/Bible land.
More than this, the Bible is the only source of information on the very
one hand, and, one the other hand, God’s message to humans. Haveureni (1969: 14-15) is quoted on p. 93 of your textbook as follows:
… a major reason… for involvement with nature was the fact that the landscapes of Israel and its phenomena of nature have been deeply intertwined with the entire field of Jewish tradition throughout all generations … they have always raised in the imagination of particular aspect of individual or national life, whether as metaphor, parable, or symbol, whether in the Pentateuch, in the words of the prophets, or in the oral law, or in the writtings.
Giving the dozens of plants (trees, shrubs and grasses) encountered in the Bible, each of which is significant in its own right, for the divine message conveyed, only a few examples can be included here. Interested readers are encouraged to consult the references as well as other sources, including publications of the Neot Kedumin Organization on The Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel. In the meantime, we review for you in the next section, as it is our practice, the roles of plants in nature generally, as a prelude to entering the spiritual realm of the Bible.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1. Give one reason why the Bible is a reliable ‘museum’ for the trees and shrubs of Israel/Bible land
2. Give one reason for studying the trees and shrubs of Biblical Israel