A medium-sized tree with gray-green leaves and produces fruit used for food and oil.
About Olive Tree
The olive is an evergreen tree from semi-tropical regions in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It produces edible fruit. The olive (Olea europaea) was certainly one of the most valuable trees known to the Jewish people. The Bible contains countless references to it and to olive oil, which people used for anointing (the practice of pouring oil on a person's head as part of a religious ceremony to mark them for a special role or blessing).
The tree is quite common in Israel and the surrounding areas. In many places, it is the only tree of any substantial size. The branches of the wild olive are rather stiff and have thorns. The typical cultivated tree has many branches, is evergreen, and grows 6.1 meters (20 feet) tall or more. It has a twisted trunk and smooth, ash-colored bark. The leaves are leathery, and the flowers are small and yellow or white.
Key References
And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;
For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
All Scripture References (81)
Genesis (1)
And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
Exodus (3)
but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.
And you are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil.
Leviticus (1)
“Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
Numbers (1)
I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.
Deuteronomy (10)
with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,
He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.
a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;
then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.
Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock.
When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.
They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.
Joshua (1)
So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities that you did not build, and now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’
Judges (3)
One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’
Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.
1 Samuel (1)
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his servants.
2 Samuel (1)
But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
1 Kings (4)
In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.
For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.
The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.
In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.
2 Kings (2)
But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?
until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’
1 Chronicles (1)
Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in the foothills. Joash was in charge of the stores of olive oil.
2 Chronicles (2)
As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously provided the firstfruits of the grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in an abundance—a tithe of everything.
He also made storehouses for the harvest of grain and new wine and oil, stalls for all kinds of livestock, and pens for the flocks.
Nehemiah (7)
Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.”
and that they should proclaim this message and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
A priest of Aaron’s line is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of these tithes to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.
and had prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the temple articles, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.
and all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil into the storerooms.
Job (1)
He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
Psalms (2)
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
Isaiah (3)
Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,
Jeremiah (2)
The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.
Hosea (3)
And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.
They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
Joel (3)
The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
And the LORD answered His people: “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and by them you will be satisfied. I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
Amos (1)
“I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
Micah (1)
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
Habakkuk (1)
Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,
Haggai (2)
I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.”
Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”
Zechariah (5)
There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”
Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”
And I questioned him further, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oil pours?”
So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”
On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south.
Matthew (4)
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples,
While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
Mark (5)
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of His disciples
While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then they came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus told His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”
Luke (4)
As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent out two of His disciples,
And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:
Every day Jesus taught at the temple, but every evening He went out to spend the night on the Mount of Olives.
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him.
John (1)
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Acts (1)
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
Romans (2)
Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
James (1)
My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Revelation (1)
These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.