שקמות, שקמים, 1 Kings x, 27; 1 Chron. xxvii, 28; 2 Chron. i,
15; Psalm lxxviii, 47; Isa. ix, 9; Amos viii, 14; συκομορέα, Luke xix,
4; a large tree, according to the description of Theophrastus,
Dioscorides, and Galen, resembling the mulberry-tree in the leaf, and
the fig in its fruit; hence its name, compounded of συκέη _fig_, and
μόρος, _mulberry_; and some have fancied that it was originally produced
by ingrafting the one tree upon the other. Its fruit is palatable. When
ripe it is soft, watery, somewhat sweet, with a little of an aromatic
taste. The trees are very common in Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt; grow
large, and to a great height; and though their grain is coarse are much
used in building. To change sycamores into cedars, Isa. ix, 10, means,
to render the buildings of cities, and the state of the nation, much
more magnificent than before. Dr. Shaw remarks, that as the grain and
texture of the sycamore is remarkably coarse and spongy, it could
therefore stand in no competition at all with the cedar for beauty and
ornament. We meet with the same opposition of cedars to sycamores in 1
Kings x, 27, where Solomon is said to have made silver as the stones,
and cedars as the sycamores of the vale for abundance. “By this
_mashal_, or figurative and sententious speech,” says Bishop Lowth,
“they boast, in this place of Isaiah, that they shall be easily able to
repair their present losses, suffered, perhaps, by the first Assyrian
invasion under Tiglath-Pileser, and to bring their affairs to a more
flourishing condition than ever.” The wood of this tree is very durable.
“The mummy chests,” says Dr. Shaw, “and whatever figures and instruments
of wood are found in the catacombs, are all of them of sycamore, which,
though spongy and porous to appearance, has, notwithstanding, continued
entire and uncorrupted for at least three thousand years. From its value
in furnishing wood for various uses, from the grateful shade which its
wide-spreading branches afforded, and on account of the fruit which
Mallet says the Egyptians hold in the highest estimation, we perceive
the loss which the ancient inhabitants of Egypt must have felt when
their vines were destroyed with hail, and their sycamore trees with
frost,” Psalm lxxviii, 47. “The sycamore,” says Mr. Norden, “is of the
height of a beech, and bears its fruit in a manner quite different from
other trees; it has them on the trunk itself, which shoots out little
sprigs, in form of grape stalks, at the end of which grow the fruit
close to one another, almost like clusters of grapes. The tree is always
green, and bears fruit several times in the year, without observing any
certain seasons; for I have seen some sycamores that have given fruit
two months after others. The fruit has the figure and smell of real
figs, but is inferior to them in the taste, having a disgustful
sweetness. Its colour is a yellow, inclining to an ochre, shadowed by a
flesh colour. In the inside it resembles the common figs, excepting that
it has a blackish colouring with yellow spots. This sort of tree is
pretty common in Egypt; the people, for the greater part, live upon its
fruit, and think themselves well regaled when they have a piece of
bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a pitcher of water.” There might
be many of these trees in Judea. David appointed a particular officer,
whose sole duty it was to watch over the plantations of sycamore and
olive-trees, 1 Chron. xxviii, 28; and being joined with the olive, the
high estimation in which it was held is intimated; for the olive is
considered as one of the most precious gifts which the God of nature has
bestowed on the oriental nations. There seem to have been great numbers
of them in Solomon’s time, 1 Kings x, 27; and in the Talmud they are
mentioned as growing in the plains of Jericho.
One curious particular in the cultivation of the fruit must not be
passed over. Pliny, Dioscorides, and Theophrastus observe that the fruit
must be cut or scratched, either with the nail or with iron, or it will
not ripen; but four days after this process it will become ripe. To this
same purpose Jerom, on Amos vii, 14, says, that without this management
the figs are excessively bitter. These testimonies, together with the
Septuagint and Vulgate version, are adduced to settle the meaning of the
word בולס, in Amos vii, 14, which must signify scraping, or making
incisions in the sycamore fruit; an employment of Amos before he was
called to the prophetic office: “I was no prophet, neither was I a
prophet’s son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.”
Hasselquist, describing the _ficus sycamorus_, or Scripture sycamore,
says, “It buds the latter end of March, and the fruit ripens in the
beginning of June. At the time when the fruit has arrived to the size of
an inch diameter, the inhabitants pare off a part at the centre point.
They say that without this paring it would not come to maturity.” The
figs thus prematurely ripened are called _djumeis_ _bædri_, that is,
“precocious sycamore figs.” As the sycamore is a large spreading tree,
sometimes shooting up to a considerable height, we see the reason why
Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore tree to get a sight of our Saviour.
This incident also furnishes a proof that the sycamore was still common
in Palestine; for this tree stood to protect the traveller by the side
of the highway.
15; Psalm lxxviii, 47; Isa. ix, 9; Amos viii, 14; συκομορέα, Luke xix,
4; a large tree, according to the description of Theophrastus,
Dioscorides, and Galen, resembling the mulberry-tree in the leaf, and
the fig in its fruit; hence its name, compounded of συκέη _fig_, and
μόρος, _mulberry_; and some have fancied that it was originally produced
by ingrafting the one tree upon the other. Its fruit is palatable. When
ripe it is soft, watery, somewhat sweet, with a little of an aromatic
taste. The trees are very common in Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt; grow
large, and to a great height; and though their grain is coarse are much
used in building. To change sycamores into cedars, Isa. ix, 10, means,
to render the buildings of cities, and the state of the nation, much
more magnificent than before. Dr. Shaw remarks, that as the grain and
texture of the sycamore is remarkably coarse and spongy, it could
therefore stand in no competition at all with the cedar for beauty and
ornament. We meet with the same opposition of cedars to sycamores in 1
Kings x, 27, where Solomon is said to have made silver as the stones,
and cedars as the sycamores of the vale for abundance. “By this
_mashal_, or figurative and sententious speech,” says Bishop Lowth,
“they boast, in this place of Isaiah, that they shall be easily able to
repair their present losses, suffered, perhaps, by the first Assyrian
invasion under Tiglath-Pileser, and to bring their affairs to a more
flourishing condition than ever.” The wood of this tree is very durable.
“The mummy chests,” says Dr. Shaw, “and whatever figures and instruments
of wood are found in the catacombs, are all of them of sycamore, which,
though spongy and porous to appearance, has, notwithstanding, continued
entire and uncorrupted for at least three thousand years. From its value
in furnishing wood for various uses, from the grateful shade which its
wide-spreading branches afforded, and on account of the fruit which
Mallet says the Egyptians hold in the highest estimation, we perceive
the loss which the ancient inhabitants of Egypt must have felt when
their vines were destroyed with hail, and their sycamore trees with
frost,” Psalm lxxviii, 47. “The sycamore,” says Mr. Norden, “is of the
height of a beech, and bears its fruit in a manner quite different from
other trees; it has them on the trunk itself, which shoots out little
sprigs, in form of grape stalks, at the end of which grow the fruit
close to one another, almost like clusters of grapes. The tree is always
green, and bears fruit several times in the year, without observing any
certain seasons; for I have seen some sycamores that have given fruit
two months after others. The fruit has the figure and smell of real
figs, but is inferior to them in the taste, having a disgustful
sweetness. Its colour is a yellow, inclining to an ochre, shadowed by a
flesh colour. In the inside it resembles the common figs, excepting that
it has a blackish colouring with yellow spots. This sort of tree is
pretty common in Egypt; the people, for the greater part, live upon its
fruit, and think themselves well regaled when they have a piece of
bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a pitcher of water.” There might
be many of these trees in Judea. David appointed a particular officer,
whose sole duty it was to watch over the plantations of sycamore and
olive-trees, 1 Chron. xxviii, 28; and being joined with the olive, the
high estimation in which it was held is intimated; for the olive is
considered as one of the most precious gifts which the God of nature has
bestowed on the oriental nations. There seem to have been great numbers
of them in Solomon’s time, 1 Kings x, 27; and in the Talmud they are
mentioned as growing in the plains of Jericho.
One curious particular in the cultivation of the fruit must not be
passed over. Pliny, Dioscorides, and Theophrastus observe that the fruit
must be cut or scratched, either with the nail or with iron, or it will
not ripen; but four days after this process it will become ripe. To this
same purpose Jerom, on Amos vii, 14, says, that without this management
the figs are excessively bitter. These testimonies, together with the
Septuagint and Vulgate version, are adduced to settle the meaning of the
word בולס, in Amos vii, 14, which must signify scraping, or making
incisions in the sycamore fruit; an employment of Amos before he was
called to the prophetic office: “I was no prophet, neither was I a
prophet’s son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.”
Hasselquist, describing the _ficus sycamorus_, or Scripture sycamore,
says, “It buds the latter end of March, and the fruit ripens in the
beginning of June. At the time when the fruit has arrived to the size of
an inch diameter, the inhabitants pare off a part at the centre point.
They say that without this paring it would not come to maturity.” The
figs thus prematurely ripened are called _djumeis_ _bædri_, that is,
“precocious sycamore figs.” As the sycamore is a large spreading tree,
sometimes shooting up to a considerable height, we see the reason why
Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore tree to get a sight of our Saviour.
This incident also furnishes a proof that the sycamore was still common
in Palestine; for this tree stood to protect the traveller by the side
of the highway.