Evidence #378 | November 16, 2022
Book of Mormon Evidence: Botany and Jacob 5 (Nourishing)
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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 nourishing olive trees.
Age, Ripening, Corruption, and Decay
Zenos compared the house of Israel to a “tame olive tree, which a man took and nourished in his vineyard; and it grew, and waxed old, and began to decay” (Jacob 5:3).5 His allegory also sometimes refers to branches or trees that have become “ripened” or “corrupted.”6 The term “ripened” suggests that a branch or tree has become in some way compromised because of its age or stage of development.7 “Corrupted” appears to be more of a general concept indicating that a branch or tree was in a state of decay or that the fruit thereof was less than ideal.8
While olive trees can live for a remarkably long time, as they grow older the wood may deteriorate, making it hard for nutrients to pass from the roots to the branches. Trees can also decay from “decomposition caused by parasitic or saprophytic microorganisms and macroorganisms.”9 Olive trees therefore need careful tending as they age in order to remain healthy and productive.10
Digging
On several occasions, the allegory mentions digging activities as part of tending olive trees, always with the description of the caretaker “digging about” the tree.11 In soil that is not “naturally well aerated,” digging, plowing, or harrowing will “loosen the soil to make nutrients and moisture available to the roots.”12 This type of care is regularly needed for olive orchards.
Nourishing
The allegory discusses various activities to help “nourish” olive trees.13 This general description may refer to providing sufficient water and nutrients through fertilization.14
Dung
On a few occasions, the text mentions that the olive trees were “dunged” as part of their caretaking and rejuvenation process (Jacob 5:47, 64, 76). Dung, whether from animals or humans, is a natural fertilizer that was used anciently to provide crucial nutrients for plants.15 “The olive yard should be manured at least once every three or four years,” write Hess, et al., “but it is more beneficial to manure moderately every year.”16
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.”17 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.”18
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.19 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.”20
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 that could be extracted 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 extracted 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 the 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 also, Jacob 5:4, 63.
- 6. See Jacob 5:37, 39, 42, 46–48, 58, 75.
- 7. See Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 534: “When branches become excessively long or bent over, they lose their vitality. Stress causes the sap to seek the nearest outlet, usually causing the branches to fade and vigorous suckers to grow at the base of the branches. When the suckers occur at the base of the scaffold branches, it indicates that the branches are dying and rejuvenation pruning is necessary. Also, wood that has born fruit once will not bear again and may be considered as ‘ripened.’”
- 8. See Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 549–550.
- 9. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 533.
- 10. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 531–533.
- 11. See Jacob 5:4–5, 11, 27, 47, 63–64, 76.
- 12. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 520–522.
- 13. See Jacob 5:3–5, 11–12, 20, 22–25, 27–28, 31, 34, 47, 58, 63, 72, 75.
- 14. See Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 503–504, 518–520.
- 15. See Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 521.
- 16. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 521.
- 17. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 552.
- 18. Hess, et al., “Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5,” 505.
- 19. 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.
- 20. Hess, “Botanical Comparisons in the Allegory of the Olive Tree,” 91.