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20-Pack of Bookmark Leaflets, Large Print, 12-Point Type
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Many of the allusions and expressions of Scripture can be explained only by the aid of knowledge of natural history.
In Psalm 92:12, for example, it is said that "the righteous shall flourish like the palm," and the habits of this tree beautifully illustrate the character of the righteous. The palm grows not in the depths of the forest, or in a fertile loam, but in the desert. Its verdure often apparently springs from the scorching dust. “It is in this respect,” says Laborde, “as a friendly lighthouse, guiding the traveler to the spot where water is to be found.”
The tree is remarkable for its beauty, its erect aspiring growth, its leafy canopy, and its waving plumes—the emblem of praise in all ages. Its very foliage is the symbol of joy and exultation. It never fades, and the dust never settles upon it. It was therefore twisted into the booths of the feast of tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40), was borne aloft by the multitude that accompanied the Messiah to Jerusalem (John 12:13), and it is represented as in the hands of the redeemed in heaven (Revelation 7:9).
For usefulness, the tree is unrivalled. Gibbon says that the natives of Syria speak of 360 uses to which the palm is applied. Its shade refreshes the traveler. Its fruit restores his strength. When his soul fails for thirst, it announces water. Its seeds are ground into food for his camels. Its leaves are made into couches, its boughs into fences and walls, and its fibers into ropes or rigging. Its best fruit, moreover, is borne in old age; the finest dates being often gathered when the tree has reached a hundred years. It sends, too, from the same root a large number of suckers, which, in time, form a forest by their growth (Judges 4:5). What an emblem of the righteous in the desert of a guilty world! It is not uninstructive to add that this tree, once the symbol of Palestine, is now [1860] rarely seen in that country.
From The Bible Hand Book: An Introduction to the Study of Sacred Scripture (circa 1860), by Joseph Angus