An acorn-bearing tree noted for its great size. The evergreen Palestinian oak has small leathery leaves edged with tiny thorns. Forests of oak once dominated the biblical landscape in the area of Bashan (Ezek 27:6; Zech 11:2), Gilead and parts of Edom, upper Galilee, and Carmel. The Plain of Sharon was at one time covered with an impenetrable Tabor oak forest, which was compared with the lush forests of Carmel and Lebanon (Isa 33:9; Isa 35:2). In the Bible, the oak is associated with worship (Gen 13:18), sacrificial offerings (Hos 4:13), long life (Isa 6:13), death (the Absalom passage, (2Sam 18:9-10, 2Sam 18:14), and sanctuaries (“the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord” at Shechem, Josh 24:26).
