Evidence #380 | November 22, 2022
Book of Mormon Evidence: Botany and Jacob 5 (Grafting)
Post contributed by
Scripture Central
Abstract
The allegory of the olive tree, recorded in Jacob 5, contains many details that are consistent with known botanical principles and horticultural practices.Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree recorded in Jacob 5 contains, by far, the most extensive discussion of olive horticulture found anywhere in scripture. While some of its olive-related details can also be found in biblical texts, many others couldn’t have been derived from any biblical source or combination of sources.1 This provides a unique opportunity to test the Book of Mormon’s content, in this case on botanical grounds.
In 1990, Wilford M. Hess, a professor of botany, compared Zenos’s allegory with known facts and principles pertaining to the cultivation of olive trees.2 Several years later, Hess, along with additional researchers, significantly expanded upon his original work.3 They concluded that “Nearly all of the allegory in Jacob 5 corresponds exceptionally well with both ancient and modern botanical principles and horticultural practices.”4 The following sections present just a sampling of such correspondences, most of which relate to the principle of grafting.
Wild and Tame Trees
Most modern translations of Paul’s statements in Romans 11:24 contrast a “wild” olive tree with a “cultivated” olive tree.5 While this dichotomy is somewhat obscured in the King James Bible,6 it is presented throughout Jacob 5,7 in which the “wild” olive tree is paired in opposition to a “tame” olive tree.8 These descriptions correlate well with known species of olive trees. According to Hess, et al., “When branches of a wild olive tree are grafted onto a tame olive tree (Jacob 5:10), we assume that this is analogous to grafting a wild species (O. oleaster) onto a domesticated species (O. europaea).”9
Young and Tender Branches
The Lord of the vineyard hoped that his efforts to care for his decaying tame tree would cause it to “shoot forth young and tender branches” so that it would “perish not” (Jacob 5:4). These tender branches most likely correspond to what are called suckers in modern vernacular, which grow from the roots or lower portions of a trunk of an existing tree. Importantly, the proliferation of these new shoots tends to be accelerated by extensive pruning, as was carried out by the Lord of the vineyard to save his tame tree.10 As explained by Hess, et al.,
Old trees that are apparently dying, if properly tended, can become vigorous, high-yielding, renewed trees with only elementary care (cf. Jacob 5:8). When the lower portion of a tree has some vitality left, only the diseased, decayed, or dead portions are removed (see Jacob 5:7). New growth starts again at varying speeds. In favorable circumstances, new shoots form a new framework within a few years and trees will resume normal fruiting after four to five years.11
Grafting Young and Tender Branches
Concerning the “young and tender branches” beginning to grow on the tame tree, the Lord of the vineyard stated, “I take away many of these … and I will graft them whithersoever I will; and it mattereth not that if it so be that the root of this tree will perish, I may preserve the fruit thereof unto myself” (Jacob 5:8).
Grafting involves taking material from one plant (a branch, twig, or bud) and inserting it into a portion of another plant and then binding them in some manner. This allows their tissues to fuse together over time, so that a branch of one variety of plant may be stabilized by the trunk and nourished by the root system of another. Importantly, “Each cell of any branch will remain genetically the same as the parent tree from which it was cut.”12 This helps explain what the Lord meant by saying that he would “preserve the fruit” of his tame olive tree by grafting its shoots into other plants. Any fruit grown on such grafts would be genetically identical (and therefore visibly and constitutionally similar) to the tame tree from which they were taken.
Grafting Wild Branches
After removing the “young and tender branches” from the tame tree and grafting them elsewhere, the Lord of the vineyard said to his servant, “Take thou the branches of the wild olive tree, and graft them in, in the stead thereof” to “preserve the roots thereof that they perish not” (Jacob 5:9, 11).
Although it would … have been unusual for an olive grower to graft wild branches onto a tame tree, circumstances exist when it makes good sense to do so. Due to the vigor and disease resistance of certain wild species, grafting wild stock onto a tame tree can strengthen and revitalize a distressed plant …. Zenos’s allegory portrays the Lord of the vineyard as somewhat exasperated, trying all available options to revive his old, beloved tree, including the extraordinary step of experimenting to see if any good might come by grafting wild stock onto the branches of the natural tree.13
Grafting/Planting Olive Branches
Concerning the branches from the tame olive tree, the Lord initially stated his intention to “graft them whithersoever I will” (Jacob 5:8). Yet, later the text repeatedly speaks of these branches being planted, as in verse 25: “Behold, this have I planted in a good spot of ground.”14These descriptions of both grafting and planting olive branches are botanically accurate.
The ancients relied principally upon propagation by slips, which is accomplished by taking stem pieces or cuttings of roots and burying them in an inclined position in trenches four inches deep. They normally sprout within a year. The olive is one of the few fruit trees that can be propagated by taking a branch of a tree and burying it in the ground. … Olive shoots can be cut off, placed in soil, and indeed they will root.15
This helps illuminate the following statement made by the Lord of the vineyard: “And, behold, the roots of the natural branches of the tree which I planted whithersoever I would are yet alive” (Jacob 5:25).
Conclusion
“In this single chapter of the Book of Mormon,” write Hess and his associates, “there are many detailed horticultural practices and procedures that were not likely known by an untrained person, and may not have been fully appreciated by professional botanists or horticulturalists at the time the Book of Mormon was translated.”16 Thus it is “hard to imagine” that whoever wrote Jacob 5 “was not personally familiar with the minute details and practices involved in raising good olives in a Mediterranean climate.”17
As an ancient Israelite prophet, Zenos would be a plausible candidate for the text’s authorship, seeing that olives were such an important crop in Israel.18 It is harder to ascribe the contents of this allegory to Joseph Smith, who “probably had little knowledge of olive trees in New York, as they will not grow in the northeastern United States.”19
Wilford M. Hess, “Recent Notes About Olives in Antiquity,” BYU Studies Quarterly 39, no. 4 (2000): 115–126.
Wilford M. Hess, Daniel J. Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Diggs, “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” in The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1994), 484–561.
Wilford M. Hess, “Botanical Comparisons in the Allegory of the Olive Tree,” in The Book of Mormon: Jacob Through Words of Mormon, To Learn With Joy, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 1990), 87–102.
The following chart contains botanical and cultural details derived from various scriptural passages. Its main purpose is to identify what olive-related information in the Book of Mormon could have reasonably been extracted from the Bible. It shows which details are unique to the Bible, which are unique to the Book of Mormon, and where there is some overlap between the two texts. Note that this data is based on a straightforward interpretation of scriptural passages and not on scholarly exegesis informed by linguistic and cultural knowledge of the ancient world. This is because the chart is meant to determine what someone in Joseph Smith’s situation might have gathered about olive culture from a fairly rudimentary reading of biblical texts.
As should be clear, the Book of Mormon features many statements about the cultivation of olive trees that couldn’t have been derived from any biblical text or combination of texts. It should also be noted that this compilation of data was facilitated by computer search engines. Without such aids, a layman’s understanding of olive culture in the Bible would likely be far less comprehensive. Finally, many references to the primary study cited throughout this evidence summary (“Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5”) have been given in the right column. This is provided for the sake of convenience, so that readers can correlate the scriptural data with the relevant scholarly information.
Botanical/Cultural Details | Bible | Book of Mormon |
An olive leaf may be a symbol of life and salvation. | Genesis 8:11 |
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Olive oil can be “beaten” in some manner. | Exodus 27:20; Leviticus 24:1–2 |
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Olive oil can be used for light. | Exodus 27:20; Leviticus 24:1–2 |
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Olive oil was used in connection with the ordinances of the Israelite tabernacle. | Exodus 30:22–33 |
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Olive oil can be combined with other spices and used as an ointment. | Exodus 30:22–33; Micah 6:15 |
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Olive oil can symbolically make things holy. | Exodus 30:22–33; Deuteronomy 28:40 |
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Olive trees are planted. | Deuteronomy 6:10–11 |
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Olives appear to be extracted from trees by beating or shaking tree boughs (presumably causing the olives to fall to the ground). | Deuteronomy 24:20 |
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Some olives will likely remain after the first attempt to harvest them. | Deuteronomy 24:20 |
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Olives were useful for strangers, the fatherless, and widows. | Deuteronomy 24:20 |
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Olive trees were prevalent throughout the land of Israel. | Deuteronomy 28:40 |
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Olives can fall from trees without human intervention (presumably before they are ready to harvest). | Deuteronomy 28:40 |
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The olive tree can be associated with fatness and kingship (or at least the refusal of kingship). | Judges 9:7–21 |
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Olives are associated with other key crops and goods in ancient Israel/Palestine. | Judges 15:5; Habakkuk 3:17 |
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Large cherubic statues in Solomon’s temple were made of olive wood. | 1 Kings 6:23 |
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Various doors in Solomon’s temple were made from olive wood. | 1 Kings 6:31–33 |
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Olive oil is listed alongside other goods of a prosperous land. | 2 Kings 18:32 |
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Olive oil can be stored in “cellars.” | 1 Chronicles 27:28 |
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Olive branches were used alongside branches of other trees in the creation of booths for a festival. | Nehemiah 8:15 |
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The “flower” of an olive tree can fall to the ground prematurely. | Job 15:33 |
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The olive tree is connected with the “house of God” and with praise of God. | Psalm 52:8–9 |
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There will be leftover “berries” on an olive tree after it has been shaken. | Isaiah 17:4–6 |
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Impending desolation is compared to the shaking of an olive tree. | Isaiah 24:13 |
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Olive trees are a symbol of beauty. | Hosea 14:6 |
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God compares himself to various plants, including the olive tree, which give shade and revitalization to Israel. | Hosea 14:6 |
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The “palmerworm” can harm olive trees. | Amos 4:9 |
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Olive oil can be produced by treading upon olives. | Micah 6:15 |
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Israel’s punishment is connected to not being able to use the olive oil they have produced. | Micah 6:15 |
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Israel’s olive trees will fail to be productive. | Habakkuk 3:17 |
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Olive trees and branches signify anointed individuals. | Zechariah 4:3, 11–12
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The relationship between the root and the wild branches of an olive tree (meaning which supports which) depends on the meekness of the Gentiles. | Romans 11:13–24 |
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If God didn’t spare the natural branches, he would be willing to also remove grafted wild branches. | Romans 11:21 |
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Branches of the good olive tree which have been separated from that tree can be grafted back into it more easily than wild branches could be. | Romans 11:24 |
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Fig trees and olive trees are established as distinct trees which can’t bear each other’s fruit. | James 3:12 |
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Olive trees are associated with candlesticks and witnesses in an apocalyptic vision. | Revelation 11:4 (cf. Zechariah 4:3, 11–12) |
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The olive tree can symbolically represent an individual or class of individuals in a parable, vision, or allegory. | Judges 9:7–21; Psalm 128:3; Isaiah 17:4–6; 24:13; Jeremiah 11:16–17; Hosea 14:6; Zechariah 4:3, 11–12; Romans 11:13, 16–17; Revelation 11:4 | 1 Nephi 10:12–13; 15:12; Jacob 5:3; 6:1 |
The care of olive trees is overseen by an individual. | 1 Chronicles 27:28 | Jacob 5:3–4 |
Imagery of good and evil is given in relation to olive trees. | Jeremiah 11:16–17; Romans 11:22, 24 | Jacob 5:17, 20, 25–27, 32–38, 40, 42–43, 45–46, 48, 54, 59–61, 65–66, 75, 77; 6:7–8 |
The Lord is the one who planted the olive tree(s). | Jeremiah 11:16–17 | Jacob 5:21, 23–25, 43–44, 52, 54 |
The Lord will burn his olive tree(s) or the branches thereof. | Jeremiah 11:16–17 | Jacob 5:7, 9, 26, 37, 42, 45–47, 49, 58, 66, 77 |
Branches of the olive tree will be “broken” off. | Jeremiah 11:16–17; Romans 11:17 | 1 Nephi 10:12; 15:12; Jacob 5:30 |
The cultivation of olives sometimes requires waiting for periods of time before harvest. | Haggai 2:19 | Jacob 5:15, 29 |
Emphasis is placed on “hearing” the word of the Lord. | Romans 10:14, 17–18 | Jacob 6:6 |
The concepts of “heart” and “salvation” are connected together. | Romans 10:8–10 | Jacob 6:4–5 |
Isaiah’s statements about the Lord reaching out “all the day long” are quoted. | Romans 10:21 (cf. Isaiah 65:2) | Jacob 6:4 |
The concept of people being “cast away” is evoked. | Romans 11:1, 2, 15 | Jacob 5:69, 73–75, 77; 6:3 |
The concept of there being a “remnant” of faithful Israelites is evoked. | Romans 11:5 | 1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13–14 |
Israel won’t be ablet to obtain that which they seek. | Romans 11:7 | Jacob 5:14 |
The concept that God’s people will “stumble” is evoked. | Romans 11:9–11 | Jacob 4:14–15, 18 |
The concepts of “fulness” and “Gentiles” are connected together. | Romans 11:12, 25 | 1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13 |
The Gentiles are compared to a “wild” olive tree. | Romans 11:17 | 1 Nephi 10:11–12, 14; 15:13, 17; Jacob 5:7, 9–10, 17–18, 25, 30, 34, 36–37, 40, 45–46, 55–57, 73 Botanical Aspects, 508–509 |
The concept of “grafting” branches is evoked. | Romans 11:17, 19, 23–24 | 1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13, 16; Jacob 5:8–10, 17–18, 30, 34, 52, 54–57, 60, 63–65, 67–68 Botanical Aspects, 535–537 |
Grafted branches can receive nourishment from the root of the tree into which they have been grafted. | Romans 11:17 | Jacob 5:18 |
Support or nourishment between roots and branches can go in both directions. | Romans 11:18 | Jacob 5:18, 34, 48, 53–54, 59–60 |
Branches of Israel have been broken off because of “unbelief.” | Romans 11:20, 23 | 1 Nephi 10:11 |
The idea of God sparing (or not sparing) trees/branches is evoked. | Romans 11:21 | Jacob 5:50–51 |
The idea of “natural branches” is evoked. | Romans 11:21 | 1 Nephi 10:14 |
A reciprocal relationship with God is described. | Romans 11:22 (“but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness”) Romans 12:9 (“cleave to that which is good”) | Jacob 6:5 (“and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you”) |
The need to “continue” in goodness or righteousness is mentioned. | Romans 11:22 | Jacob 6:11 |
The natural branches of Israel can be grafted back into the olive tree. | Romans 11:23 | Jacob 5:52–56, 60, 63 |
Olive tree symbolism is associated with a “mystery.” | Romans 11:25 | 1 Nephi 10:19; Jacob 4:18 |
Olive tree symbolism is associated with the “blindness” of Israel. | Romans 11:25 | Jacob 4:14 |
Olive tree branches that have been broken off will be “scattered” throughout the vineyard (or world). |
| 1 Nephi 10:12–14; 15:17, 20; Jacob 5:8, 13–14, 52 Botanical Aspects, 512–513 |
Olive branches that have been scattered will eventually be gathered again. |
| 1 Nephi 10:14; 15:16, 19–20; Jacob 5:56, 63 |
The scattered natural branches of the olive tree are directly identified with the “remnants of the house of Israel.” |
| 1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13–14 |
The gathering of scattered branches is associated with the remnants of Israel coming to a knowledge of the true Messiah and the fullness of his gospel. |
| 1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13–15 |
The gathering of Israel will take place in the latter days after the gospel is had among the Gentiles. |
| 1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13, 18–19 |
An olive tree allegory is attributed to a prophet named Zenos. |
| Jacob 5:1; 6:1 |
Israel is compared to a “tame” olive tree. |
| Jacob 5:3, 14, 18, 25 Botanical Aspects, 508 |
An olive tree can begin to “decay” as it gets older. |
| Jacob 5:3–4 Botanical Aspects, 531–532–533 |
Olive trees can be “pruned” as part of their care. |
| Jacob 5:4–5, 11, 27, 47, 62, 64, 69, 76 Botanical Aspects 522–523 |
Olive tees can be “digged about” as part of their care. |
| Jacob 5:4–5, 11, 27, 47, 63–64, 76 Botanical Aspects, 520–521 |
Olive trees should be “nourished” as part of their care. |
| Jacob 5:3–5, 11–12, 20, 22–25, 27–28, 31, 34, 47, 58, 63, 72, 75–75 Botanical Aspects, 518–520 |
As an olive tree recovers from decay, it can “put forth somewhat a little, young and tender branches.” |
| Jacob 5:4, 6 Botanical Aspects, 510, 530–531 |
An olive tree’s “main top” can begin to perish even if other parts of it are healthier or beginning to grow again. |
| Jacob 5:6 Botanical Aspects, 532 |
Entire branches from trees can be “plucked,” or in some cases the branches simply need to be “trimmed.” |
| Jacob 5:7, 58 Botanical Aspects, 527 |
Grafting in wild olive branches can be done to save a tame olive tree. |
| Jacob 5:7–9 Botanical Aspects, 516, 534–535 |
The “young and tender branches” from a tame olive tree can be grafted into wild olive trees so that the “fruit” and “natural branches” of the tame tree can be “preserved.” |
| Jacob 5:8, 13, 20, 22–25 Botanical Aspects, 510, 530–531, 541 |
The “root” of an olive tree may perish. |
| Jacob 5:8 Botanical Aspects, 497, 502–503, 514–517 |
The wild olive branches can be grafted into the general location (“in the stead thereof”) where the young and tender branches from the tame olive tree were removed. |
| Jacob 5:9 Botanical Aspects, 535–537 |
Main branches which are withered can be plucked off the tree and then cast into a fire so that they don’t “cumber” the ground of the vineyard. |
| Jacob 5:7, 9, 37, 42, 47, 58, 66 Botanical Aspects, 550 |
The grafting in of wild olive branches is specifically described as helping to preserve the “root” of the tame olive tree. |
| Jacob 5:11 Botanical Aspects 526 |
The Lord of a vineyard may strategically plant or graft in branches at a different location in a vineyard. |
| Jacob 5:13 Botanical Aspects, 115–516, 529–320, 538–540 |
Concerning an olive vineyard, the Lord “may lay up fruit thereof against the season, unto myself.” |
| Jacob 5:13, 19, 20, 27, 29, 31, 46, 71, 76 Botanical Aspects, 547–548 |
Olive trees can apparently be left unattended for fairly long periods of time. It also may suggest that it might take time for the fruit to be produced after grafting branches. |
| Jacob 5:15, 29 Botanical Aspects 517, 543–544 |
When wild olive branches are grafted into a tame olive tree, they can produce fruit “like unto the natural fruit” of the tame tree. This is caused by the wild branches taking “hold of the moisture of the root” which gives it “much strength.” |
| Jacob 5:17–18 Botanical Aspects, 511–512, 544–545 |
An olive tree in a poor spot of ground can produce good fruit. |
| Jacob 5:21–22 Botanical Aspects, 514–515 |
An olive tree may produce both tame and wild fruit, even though it was situated on a “good spot of ground.” |
| Jacob 5:24–25 Botanical Aspects, 544–545 |
An olive tree can produce “all kinds of bad fruit.” |
| Jacob 5:30–31 Botanical Aspects, 540, 544–545 |
Grafting wild branches into a tame tree may nourish roots and keep them alive, even if the fruit that results is bad. |
| Jacob 5:34–35 Botanical Aspects, 535–537 |
Wild branches can grow to such an extent that they “overrun the roots” of a tame tree into which they have been grafted. |
| Jacob 5:37, 48 Botanical Aspects, 524 |
Trees and branches can become “ripened” so that they produce evil (i.e., bad) fruit. |
| Jacob 5:37, 58 Botanical Aspects, 534 |
An olive tree may be “overcome” by wild fruit. |
| Jacob 5:40 Botanical Aspects, 510–511 |
When a tree has become “corrupted” it may be “good for nothing save it be hewn down and cast into the fire.” |
| Jacob 5:42, 46 Botanical Aspects, 549–550 |
Fruit from the natural branches of a tame olive tree can “become like unto the wild olive tree.” |
| Jacob 46 Botanical Aspects, 509–510 |
The master of the vineyard “dunged” his trees as part of the caretaking process. |
| Jacob 5:47, 64, 76 Botanical Aspects 521–522 |
The assortment of fruit on some trees may be due to someone secretly corrupting the vineyard. Hence the Lord of the vineyard asks, “Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?” |
| Jacob 5:47 Botanical Aspects, 545 |
The “loftiness” of a vineyard—presumably meaning the large size of its trees—can makes it so that its branches can “overcome the roots thereof.” |
| Jacob 5:48 Botanical Aspects, 527, 534 |
If olive trees become sufficiently corrupted, it may be necessary to burn the entire vineyard. |
| Jacob 5:49, 77 Botanical Aspects, 551 |
Tame branches that have been grafted into other trees or planted as other trees can be regrafted into the original tame tree to help preserve the tree and roots of the tame tree and to help it again produce good fruit. |
| Jacob 5:52–53, 60 Botanical Aspects, 515, 538, |
After a period of time, the tame trees all became wild. Through a reciprocal grafting process, and through the careful trimming of wild branches, the roots and branches of all the trees are preserved, allowing some good fruit to again be produced. |
| Jacob 5:52–60 Botanical Aspects, 516–517, 537–538 |
The concept of “bitter” olives is evoked, with undesirable olives being the “most bitter.” |
| Jacob 5:52, 57, 65 Botanical Aspects, 548–549 |
The concept of a “mother tree” is evoked. |
| Jacob 5:54, 60 Botanical Aspects, 535 |
Only the branches with the “most bitter” fruit are plucked out so that natural branches could be grafted back in. |
| Jacob 5:57 Botanical Aspects, 542 |
A “change of the branches” can affect the roots of an olive tree. |
| Jacob 5:59 Botanical Aspects, 524 |
Additional servants are called to help with the final tending of trees and harvest. They do so, even though they are few in number. |
| Jacob 5:61, 70, 75 Botanical Aspects, 527–529 |
The idea of first/last and then last/first is evoked. |
| Jacob 5:63 |
Branches with bitter fruit should be cleared away “according to the strength of the good and the size thereof.” |
| Jacob 5:65 Botanical Aspects, 526 |
The roots of a tree may become “too strong for the graft” if the branches with bitter fruit are cleared away too quickly. |
| Jacob 5:65 Botanical Aspects, 526–527 |
For ideal growth, it is important that “the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad.” |
| Jacob 5:66, 73 Botanical Aspects, 525–526 |
At the final harvest, the laborers will have “joy” with the Lord because of the fruit of his vineyard, indicating some type of payment or reward for their work. |
| Jacob 5:71, 75 Botanical Aspects, 529 |
An additional final harvest is predicted to take place after a long time of gathering good fruit. |
| Jacob 5:77 |
- 1. See Appendix.
- 2. See Wilford M. Hess, “Botanical Comparisons in the Allegory of the Olive Tree,” in The Book of Mormon: Jacob Through Words of Mormon, To Learn With Joy, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 1990), 87–102.
- 3. See Wilford M. Hess, Daniel J. Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Diggs, “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” in The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1994), 484–562.
- 4. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 505.
- 5. See https://biblehub.com/romans/11-24.htm.
- 6. The KJV of Romans 11:24 speaks only of a “wild” olive tree and a “good” olive tree. This “good” tree is the closest the King James Bible ever comes to designating any olive tree as tame or domesticated. Of course, even without an awareness of the underlying Greek text, one might reasonably infer that “good” in the KJV of Roman’s 11:24 means “tame,” and some authors close to Joseph Smith’s day concluded that very thing. See, for instance, Rt. Rev. Bishop Chase “Baptismal Regeneration,” The Episcopal Watchman 2, no. 33, (October 1828): 241; Samuel Jones Cassels, Lectures on Paedobaptism (New York: Leavitt, Lord, & Co., 1834), 155. Still, it isn’t necessarily a given that Joseph Smith himself would have made that connection, assuming he was even familiar with Romans 11:24 in 1829.
- 7. See Jacob 5: 3, 7, 9, 10, 17–18, 25, 30, 34, 36–37, 40, 45–46.
- 8. In botanical contexts, “tame” and “cultivated” are close synonyms.
- 9. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 506. Terms for wild and tame olive species show up in various cultures throughout time. See Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 548–487.
- 10. See Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 531.
- 11. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 532–533.
- 12. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 511.
- 13. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 507. For further discussion of the possible benefits of these wild grafts, see p. 537: “Possibly they could supply carbon products from photosynthesis more rapidly to support the roots, because of their vigor. Without carbon compounds produced in the aboveground portion, roots will perish. If a strongly growing scion cultivar is grafted on a weak rootstock, the growth of the rootstock will be stimulated and become larger than if it were left ungrafted. … One other possibility is that the foliage from the mother tree had become infected with insect, virus, fungal, bacterial, or other parasites, and the ‘wild’ shoots were used because they were resistant to the disease-causing organisms.”
- 14. See also, Jacob 5:21, 23–25, 43–44, 52, 54.
- 15. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 530.
- 16. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 552.
- 17. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 505.
- 18. For insight into the prominence of olive cultivation in Israel, see Wilford M. Hess, “Recent Notes About Olives in Antiquity,” BYU Studies Quarterly 39, no. 4 (2000): 115–126.
- 19. Hess, “Botanical Comparisons in the Allegory of the Olive Tree,” 91.