Lexical Summary
zayith: Olive, olive tree, olive branch, olive oil
Original Word:זַיִת
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:zayith
Pronunciation:zah'-yeeth
Phonetic Spelling:(zay'-yith)
KJV: olive (tree, -yard), Olivet
NASB:olive, olive tree, olive trees, olive groves, Olives, groves
Word Origin:[probably from an unused root (akin toH2099 (זִו - Ziv))]
1. an olive (as yielding illuminating oil), the tree, the branch or the berry
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
olive tree Olivet
Probably from an unused root (akin toZiv); an olive (as yielding illuminating oil), the tree, the branch or the berry -- olive (tree, -yard), Olivet.
see HEBREWZiv
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originof uncertain derivation
Definitionolive tree, olive
NASB Translationgroves (1), olive (10), olive grove (1), olive groves (5), olive tree (9), olive trees (6), Olives (3), olives (3).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Psalm 52:10 (Late Hebrew
id.; Aramaic
, ; Ethiopic
Arabic
olive-tree, olive,
olive-oil; see Lag
M iii. 215 ff Hom
Aufsätze u. Abh., 1892, 94, 99 ff.; √dubious; Thes and most derive from assumed
be bright, fresh, luxuriant (see below ) + afformative which is. then treated as radical, compare Sta
§ 187 a; but this not certain, compare Ol
§ 119 b, 142 a; according to Lag
Armen. Stud. § 1347 {abbrev} is Armen. loan-word, see also Lag
M 1.c.; BN 219, Anm.); — absolute
Genesis 8:11, construct
Deuteronomy 8:8;
2 Kings 18:32; suffix
Deuteronomy 24:20,
Exodus 23:11;
Deuteronomy 28:40; plural
Deuteronomy 6:11, etc.; —
olive-treeJudges 9:8,9 (personified, in Jotham's fable),Hosea 14:7 (simile of beauty),Job 15:33 = (as casting off its flowers, simile of wicked man); in2 Samuel 15:23 insert (before , read )L Dr; also plural of twoolive-treesZechariah 4:3,11;Psalm 52:10fresh, (thriving)olive-tree (simile of prosperity), soJeremiah 11:16;Genesis 8:11(J)olive-branch, sprig, compareNehemiah 8:15 (here + , etc.); also pluralPsalm 128:3olive-shoots (simile of children);Zechariah 4:12olive-branches (in Zechariah's vision); in representative or collective sense, =olive-trees, groups of growing olive-trees, as property, source of wealth,olive-yardsExodus 23:11 (J E; + ),Judges 15:5 (+id.);Haggai 2:19 (+ ); also in phraseHabakkuk 3:17the bearing, yield, ofolive-trees ("" , compare also and va); specifically ,oil-yielding olive-treesDeuteronomy 8:8 compare2 Kings 18:32;striking orbeating of olive-treesIsaiah 17:6;Isaiah 24:13 (simile of desolation at judgment of ), compareDeuteronomy 24:20; rather more often plural;Amos 4:9 ("" , , ),1 Samuel 8:14 ("" , ), compare alsoDeuteronomy 6:11;Deuteronomy 28:40aJoshua 24:13;2 Kings 5:26;1 Chronicles 27:28;Nehemiah 5:11;Nehemiah 9:25.
,olives:Deuteronomy 28:40b (with );Micah 6:15 ("" ); alsoolive-oilExodus 27:20;Exodus 30:24 (P)Leviticus 24:2 (H).
:2 Samuel 15:30the ascent of the olive-trees ( = Mount of Olives);Zechariah 14:4 (twice in verse) (); the well-known hill east of Jerusalem (NT usually asZechariah 14:4 , e.g. Mark 13:3; compare also1 Kings 11:7;Ezekiel 11:33;Nehemiah 8:15;2 Kings 23:13 compare2 Samuel 15:30;Zechariah 14:4 etc.;Songs 8:5 , and so Talmud etc.)
Topical Lexicon
Agricultural and Economic ImportanceThe olive is one of the triumvirate crops of the land promised to Israel—grain, new wine, and oil (Deuteronomy 8:8). Terraced hillsides were engineered to sustain its slow-growing roots, and families measured wealth by the number of trees inherited (Joshua 24:13;1 Samuel 8:14). Olive oil supplied food (Deuteronomy 12:17), cosmetics (2 Samuel 14:2), medicine (Isaiah 1:6), light for every lamp (Exodus 27:20;Leviticus 24:2), and currency for international trade (1 Kings 5:11;2 Chronicles 2:8). When storehouses overflowed with olives and oil (2 Chronicles 32:28), the text treats it as unmistakable evidence of the Lord’s favor.
Role in Covenant Blessings and Curses
Obedience brought flourishing groves and abundant oil: “He fed him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag” (Deuteronomy 32:13). Disobedience reversed the blessing: “You will have olive trees throughout your territory, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off” (Deuteronomy 28:40). These polar outcomes reinforced the covenant’s moral dimension—prosperity was not merely agricultural know-how but the fruit of covenant fidelity.
Cultic and Ritual Functions
Sanctuary light depended exclusively on pure, beaten olive oil (Exodus 27:20). Anointing oil for priests, tabernacle furnishings, and kings combined olive oil with spices (Exodus 30:24;1 Samuel 16:13). Thus every flicker in the Holy Place and every consecration ceremony traced back to the humble olive.
The Solomonic temple mirrored this priority: inner sanctuary doors, cherubim, jambs, and carvings were fashioned from olive wood (1 Kings 6:23, 31-35). The material was chosen not for scarcity but for symbolic continuity—olive wood, saturated with oil, represented life, light, and the Spirit’s empowering presence.
Symbolic and Theological Themes
1. Faithfulness and fruitfulness. “But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God” (Psalm 52:8). The psalmist contrasts steadfast trust with the eventual uprooting of evildoers.
2. Domestic blessing. “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine… your children like olive shoots around your table” (Psalm 128:3). The image captures generational continuity—young shoots springing from the seasoned trunk.
3. Beauty and glory. Israel is likened to “a thriving olive tree, beautiful in form and fruit” (Jeremiah 11:16); apostasy, however, leads to fiery judgment on that same tree (Jeremiah 11:16-17).
Prophetic and Eschatological Imagery
Prophets used olives to picture both remnant hope and severe thinning. Gleaning only “two or three olives on the topmost branch” (Isaiah 17:6; 24:13) signified the chastened minority who would survive judgment. Conversely, the eschatological planting of the wilderness with olive alongside cedar and myrtle (Isaiah 41:19) forecasts a Spirit-drenched renewal of all creation.
Zechariah’s vision of two olive trees supplying a golden lampstand (Zechariah 4:3, 11-14) merges priestly light and royal anointing, portraying the continual supply of the Spirit to Zerubbabel’s rebuilding work and, ultimately, to Messiah’s kingdom.
Wisdom Literature
Job laments that rebels “cast off the sheaves and drink the wine, yet their olive groves fail” (Job 24:11; cf. 15:33). Habakkuk broadens the lament: “Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food… yet I will rejoice in the Lord” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). Wisdom thus trains the heart to trust God beyond visible provision.
Historical Narratives
Samson used foxes to devastate Philistine grain and olive groves (Judges 15:5), striking at the economic lifeline of the enemy. During Hezekiah’s reign, Assyrian propaganda tempted Judah with promises of every man sitting “under his own vine and fig tree and drinking water from his own cistern” and enjoying “olive trees and honey” (2 Kings 18:31-32). The enemy co-opted covenant blessings to entice capitulation, underscoring how central olives were to Israel’s imagination.
New Testament Reflections
Paul writes, “If the root is holy, so are the branches… you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in” (Romans 11:16-24). He presumes the Old Testament olive metaphor, applying it to Gentile inclusion without displacing the natural branches of Jewish believers. The Mount of Olives, where Jesus taught, wept, and ascended, accents the tree’s redemptive storyline, though the Greek term is distinct.
Practical Ministry Applications
• Stewardship: Ancient Israel was commanded not to beat the boughs a second time; the remainder belonged to the poor (Deuteronomy 24:20). Congregations today can model similar margin for the needy.
• Anointing: Elders “anoint with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). While the New Testament text does not specify olive oil, continuity suggests its use. The symbol remains: the Spirit heals and consecrates.
• Perseverance: Like the olive that takes years before yielding fruit yet lives centuries, ministry often grows slowly but endures when rooted in covenant faithfulness.
Summary
From lampstands in the tabernacle to prophetic visions of Messianic supply, the olive pervades Scripture as a living parable of covenant life, Spirit-filled light, and enduring hope. Its 38 Old Testament occurrences weave agricultural realism with theological depth, inviting God’s people in every generation to cultivate the same steadfast fruitfulness.
Forms and Transliterations
הַזֵּיתִ֗ים הַזֵּיתִ֜ים הַזֵּיתִ֤ים הַזֵּיתִים֙ הַזֵּתִ֜ים הַזַּ֔יִת הַזַּ֖יִת הזית הזיתים הזתים וְזֵיתִ֖ים וְזֵיתִ֛ים וְזֵיתִ֤ים וְזֵיתִים֙ וְזֵיתֵיכֶ֖ם וְזֵיתֵיכֶ֛ם וזיתיכם וזיתים זֵ֤ית זֵ֥ית זֵֽיתְךָ֔ זֵיתִ֑ים זֵיתִ֖ים זֵיתִ֛ים זֵיתֵיהֶ֖ם זֵיתֶֽךָ׃ זַ֔יִת זַ֖יִת זַ֙יִת֙ זַ֤יִת זַ֥יִת זָֽיִת׃ זית זית׃ זיתיהם זיתים זיתך זיתך׃ כְּזַ֣יִת כַּ֝זַּ֗יִת כַזַּ֖יִת כזית לְזֵיתֶֽךָ׃ לַזַּ֖יִת לזית לזיתך׃ chazZayit haz·za·yiṯ haz·zê·ṯîm hazZayit hazzayiṯ hazzeiTim hazzeTim hazzêṯîm kaz·za·yiṯ ḵaz·za·yiṯ kazZayit kazzayiṯ ḵazzayiṯ kə·za·yiṯ keZayit kəzayiṯ laz·za·yiṯ lazZayit lazzayiṯ lə·zê·ṯe·ḵā lezeiTecha ləzêṯeḵā vezeiteiChem vezeiTim wə·zê·ṯê·ḵem wə·zê·ṯîm wəzêṯêḵem wəzêṯîm za·yiṯ zā·yiṯ Zayit zayiṯ zāyiṯ zê·ṯê·hem zê·ṯe·ḵā zê·ṯə·ḵā zê·ṯîm zeit zeiteCha zeiteiHem zeiTim zêṯ zêṯêhem zêṯeḵā zêṯəḵā zêṯîm
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