OINTMENT

that it was some kind of pine— the ' oil ' or ' lat ' being the resin — is as lilcely as any.

E. W. G. Mabterman.

OINTMENT. — With two exceptions, 'ointment' in our EV is the rendering, in OT, of the ordinary word for 'oil,' and in some passages the ointment may have consisted of oil only. In most of the references, however, perfumed oil is undoubtedly meant. The two are distinguished in Lk 7" ' My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she hath anointed my feet with ointment (myron).' The extensive use of myron in NT in the sense of ' ointment ' shows that myrrh was then the favourite perfume. The dead body, as well as the living subject, was anointed with this ointment (Lk 23"). Another 'very costly' unguent Is described as 'ointment of spikenard' (Mk 14', Jn 12'), for which see Spikenard. These much-prized unguents were kept in pots of alabaster, as in Egypt, where they are said to retain their fragrance for 'several hundred years' (Wilkinson, Anc. Egyp. 1. 426, with illust.). .

In the Priests' Code there is repeated reference to a specially rich unguent, 'the holy anointing oil,' the composition of which is minutely laid down in Ex 3C-®. The ingredients, in addition to a basis of olive oil, are rendered in RV as 'flowing myrrh,' sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia. The penalty for the un-authorized manufacture and sacrilegious use of this sacred chrism was excommunication.

A. R. S. Kennedy.

OLAMUS (1 Es 9'°) =UesliuUam of Ezr 10^° and MosoUamus of 1 Es 8" 9".

OLD GATE.— See Jerusalem, II. § 4.

OLD LATIN VERSIONS.— See Text (OT and NT).

OLD TESTAMENT.— See Bible, Canon of OT, Text of OT.

OLIVE (zayilh, cf . Arab, zeil 'oil,' and zeitUn ' olive tree'). — This tree (OZeo europea) is the first-named 'king of the trees' (Jg 9'- '), and is, in Palestine at any rate, by far the most important. "The scantily covered terraced hillsides, the long rainless summer of blazing sunshine, and the heavy night moisture of late summer, afford climatic conditions which appear in a very special degree favourable to the olive. This has been so in all history: the children of Israel were to inherit 'oUve-yards' which they planted not (Jos 241', Dt 6"), and the wide-spread remains of ruined terraces and olive-presses in every part of the land witness to the extent of olive culture that existed in the past. A large pro-portion of the fuel consumed to-day consists of the roots of ancient olive trees. In recent years this cultiva-tion has been largely revived, and extensive groves of oUves may be found in many parts, notably near Beit Jala on the Bethlehem road, and near NSblus. The peculiar grey-green foliage with its silver sheen, and the wonderful twisted and often hoUow trunks of the tree, are very characteristic of Palestine scenery. The OT writers admired the beauty of the olive (see Hos 14», Ps 52* 128' Jer 11"). In some parts, notably at NaUus, a large proportion of the trees are invaded by parasitic mistletoe. The cultivation of the olive re-quires patience, and presupposes a certain degree of settlement and peace: perhaps for this reason it was the emblem of peace. Destruction of a harvest of cereals is a temporary loss, but when the vines and, still more, the olives are destroyed, the loss takes many years to make good (Rev. &■ ').

The olive tree, grown from a slip taken from below the grafted branches of a selected fruitful olive, has to be grafted when three years old, but it does not bear fruit for some three or four years more, and not plentifully until it is about seventeen or eighteen years old ; it may then, when well cared for, continue bearing for many years. The soil, however, must be carefully ploughed and manured every spring, and on the hill-sides the water of the early rains must be conducted

OLIVES, MOUNT OF

to the very roots bycarefuUy arranged channels. When, after some years, the stem becomes too hollow from rotting of the wood, and the crop fails, it is sometimes cut sharp off at the root, and new shoots are allowed to spring up, which, after re-grafting, become a fruitful tree. It has been stated by Prof. Ramsay (.Expositor, Jan. and Feb. 1905) that it is a custom in Syria to graft a branch of wild olive into the stem of a cultivated tree (cf. Ro 11"-M). How this can be of any benefit to the tree it is difficult to see. Nor can the present writer, after careful inquiries all over Palestine, find any knowl-edge of such a custom. Cf. art. Grafting.

The wild olive is a kind of reversion to the primitive plant — such as occurs also with the fig and the almond — ^and it takes place whenever the growth of the olive is neglected. Thus the little shoots which grow around the main trunk (perhaps the origin of Ps 128a) are of the wild variety, and also those growing from the self- sown drupe. According to the fellahln of Gahlee, the drupe germinates in the soil only after passing through the alimentary canal of the hooded crow.

In most neglected olive groves numerous little bushes of the 'wild oUve' may be seen, which, though very unlike the cultivated tree — having a shorter, smaller, and greener leaf and a stiffer, more prickly stem — are nevertheless derived from it. As a rule the wild olive is but a shrub, but it may grow into a tree and have small but useless ' berries.' Where groves of wild ohves are found in Palestine, they are probably always the descendants of cultivated trees long ago destroyed.

The young wild olive trees, scattered over the moun-tains in Galilee, are gathered by the fellahin and sold for olive plantations. Such plants are grafted three years after transplantation, and always in the late spring or early summer.

The 'olive berries' (Ja 3« AV) ripen in the autumn, and are harvested in November or December. They are beaten from the trees with a long pole (Dt 24^") and collected in baskets. Olives are eaten pickled in brine, either when green and unripe or when soft and black. They are universally eaten by the fellahin with bread — sometimes the oil is eaten instead, much as butter is used in our home lands. The oil is also used extensively for making soup, for frying meat, and for illumination. See Oil, E. W. G. Mabterman,

OLIVES, MOUNT OP.— The range of hiUs east of Jerusalem, separated from the Temple mountain by the Kidron Valley. It is scarcely mentioned in the OT. David crossed it when fieeing from Absalom (2 S 15'°). Here branches were cut to make booths for the Feast of Tabernacles (NeKS"). Ezekiel (11») and Zechariah (14«) make it the scene of ideal theophanies: the literal interpretation of the latter prophecy has given rise to many curious and unprofitable speculations.

The chief interest of the mountain, however, is its connexion with the closing years of our Lord's life. Over this He rode on His triumphal entry to Jerusalem; and wept over the city as it came into view (Lk ig'") ; and during the days when He lodged in Bethany and visited Jerusalem He must necessarily have passed over it daily (Lk 21"). The fig-tree which He cursed (Mt 21") was most probably on the mountain slopes; and in one of these daily pilgrimages He delivered to His disciples the great eschatological discourse(Mt 24. 25) . On the side of the mountain was Gethsemane, where took place the first scene of the final tragedy.

The ridge is formed of hard cretaceous limestone, surmounted by softer deposits of the same material. It is divided, by gentle undulations and one comparatively deep cleft, into a series of summits. There is no reason to apply the name Olivet (Ac l'^, 2 S 15'» [AV only]) exclusively to any one of these summits. The southern-most, which is separated from the rest by the cleft just mentioned, on the slope of which stands the village of Siloam {Silwan), is traditionally known (by the

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