לוז. Arabic, _lauz_. Translated _hazel_, Gen. xxx, 37; שקד,
rendered _almond_, Gen. xliii, 11; Exod. xxv, 33, 34; xxxvii, 19, 20;
Num. xvii, 8; Eccles. xii, 5; and Jer. i, 11. The first name may be that
of the _tree_; the other, that of the _fruit_, or _nut_.
A tree resembling the peach tree in its leaves and blossoms, but the
fruit is longer and more compressed, the outer green coat is thinner and
drier when ripe, and the shell of the stone is not so rugged. This
stone, or nut, contains a kernel, which is the only esculent part. The
whole arrives at maturity in September, when the outer tough cover
splits open and discharges the nut. From the circumstance of its
blossoming the earliest of any of the trees, beginning as soon as the
rigour of winter is past, and before it is in leaf, it has its Hebrew
name _shakad_, which comes from a verb signifying _to make haste_, _to
be in a hurry_, or _to awake early_. To the forwardness of the almond
tree there seems to be a reference in Jeremiah: “The word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod
of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for
I will hasten my word to perform it;” or rather, “I am hastening, or
watching over my word to fulfil it,” Jer. i, 11, 12. In this manner it
is rendered by the Seventy; and by the Vulgate, _Vigilabo ego super
verbum meum_. [I will watch over my word.] This is the first vision with
which the Prophet was honoured; and his attention is roused by a very
significant emblem of that severe correction with which the Most High
was hastening to visit his people for their iniquity; and from the
species of tree to which the rod belonged, he is warned of its near
approach. The idea which the appearance of the almond rod suggested to
his mind, is confirmed by the exposition of God himself: “I am watching
over, or on account of, my word to fulfil it;” and this double mode of
instruction, first by emblem, and then by exposition, was certainly
intended to make a deeper impression on the mind both of Jeremiah and of
the people to whom he was sent.
It is probable that the rods which the princes of Israel bore, were
scions of the almond tree, at once the ensign of their office, and the
emblem of their vigilance. Such, we know from the testimony of
Scripture, was the rod of Aaron; which renders it exceedingly probable,
that the rods of the other chiefs were from the same tree.
The hoary head is beautifully compared by Solomon to the almond tree,
covered in the earliest days of spring with its snow white flowers,
before a single leaf has budded: “The almond tree shall flourish, and
the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail,” Eccl. xii, 5.
Man has existed in this world but a few days, when old age begins to
appear, sheds its snows upon his head, prematurely nips his hopes,
darkens his earthly prospects, and hurries him into the grave.
rendered _almond_, Gen. xliii, 11; Exod. xxv, 33, 34; xxxvii, 19, 20;
Num. xvii, 8; Eccles. xii, 5; and Jer. i, 11. The first name may be that
of the _tree_; the other, that of the _fruit_, or _nut_.
A tree resembling the peach tree in its leaves and blossoms, but the
fruit is longer and more compressed, the outer green coat is thinner and
drier when ripe, and the shell of the stone is not so rugged. This
stone, or nut, contains a kernel, which is the only esculent part. The
whole arrives at maturity in September, when the outer tough cover
splits open and discharges the nut. From the circumstance of its
blossoming the earliest of any of the trees, beginning as soon as the
rigour of winter is past, and before it is in leaf, it has its Hebrew
name _shakad_, which comes from a verb signifying _to make haste_, _to
be in a hurry_, or _to awake early_. To the forwardness of the almond
tree there seems to be a reference in Jeremiah: “The word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod
of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for
I will hasten my word to perform it;” or rather, “I am hastening, or
watching over my word to fulfil it,” Jer. i, 11, 12. In this manner it
is rendered by the Seventy; and by the Vulgate, _Vigilabo ego super
verbum meum_. [I will watch over my word.] This is the first vision with
which the Prophet was honoured; and his attention is roused by a very
significant emblem of that severe correction with which the Most High
was hastening to visit his people for their iniquity; and from the
species of tree to which the rod belonged, he is warned of its near
approach. The idea which the appearance of the almond rod suggested to
his mind, is confirmed by the exposition of God himself: “I am watching
over, or on account of, my word to fulfil it;” and this double mode of
instruction, first by emblem, and then by exposition, was certainly
intended to make a deeper impression on the mind both of Jeremiah and of
the people to whom he was sent.
It is probable that the rods which the princes of Israel bore, were
scions of the almond tree, at once the ensign of their office, and the
emblem of their vigilance. Such, we know from the testimony of
Scripture, was the rod of Aaron; which renders it exceedingly probable,
that the rods of the other chiefs were from the same tree.
The hoary head is beautifully compared by Solomon to the almond tree,
covered in the earliest days of spring with its snow white flowers,
before a single leaf has budded: “The almond tree shall flourish, and
the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail,” Eccl. xii, 5.
Man has existed in this world but a few days, when old age begins to
appear, sheds its snows upon his head, prematurely nips his hopes,
darkens his earthly prospects, and hurries him into the grave.