In Sir 18° God is said to govern the world with the palm of His hand (ἐν σπιθαμῇ χειρὸς αὐτοῦ, lit. ‘with the span of his hand,’ οἵ. Is 40"). The Geneva and Bishops’ Bibles have ‘with the power of his hand’; other VSS, including RV, omit, following a better text.
The palm of the hand is thrice mentioned in NT. In Mt 26” it is said that ‘others smote him with the palms of their hands’; the Gr. is simply οἱ δὲ ἐρράπισαν (edd. ἐράπισαν). The only other occurrence of ῥαπίζειν in NT is Mt 5° ὅστις ce ace els τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα [σου], ‘whosoever shall smite thee (RV ‘smiteth thee’) on thy right cheek,’ where the smiting is clearly with the palm of the hand. And, as Swete (on Mk 14*) points out, in two at least of the three LXX instances of ῥαπίξειν, the reference is to a blow on the face by the hand of another (Hos 11‘, 1 Es 4%). Field (Otiwm Norv.? on Jn 183) quotes, further, a clear example from Josephus (Ant. Vill. xy. 4), who represents Zede- kiah as saying, before he struck Micaiah on the cheek, ‘If he a true prophet, as soon as he is struck by me, let him disable my hand’ (εὐθὺς ῥαπισθεὶς ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ βλαψάτω μου τὴν χεῖρα); and he decides, after examining the use of the word in classical writers, that ῥαπίζειν (though from pdms, a rod) is not used as equivalent to ῥαβδίζευ, ‘to strike with a rod,’ later than Herodotus. RV therefore need scarcely have repeated the AV margin ‘or with rods.’ In Mk 145 (ῥαπίσμασιν αὐτὸν ἔβαλλον [but edd. after best MSS ἔλαβον, on which see Swete, in Joc.]) and in Jn 18% (ἔδωκε ῥάπισμα τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ) we have the subst. ῥάπισμα, of which the meaning is determined by the meaning of ῥαπίζω : it means a stroke with the palm of the hand. RV has in Mk ‘received him with blows of their hands,’ with marg. ‘ or strokes of rods’ ; and in Jn ‘struck Jesus with his hand,’ with marg. ‘or with a rod.’ The margins are to be rejected on the ground of congruity as well as the use of the word.
J. HASTINGS.
PALM TREE (35 tamar, in Jg 45 and Jer 10° 1h; φοίνιξ, palma).—The palm is indigenous in tropical and subtropical climates. It is the tree par excellence ot Egypt and Nubia. It flourishes, however, in the maritime pea of Pal. and Syria, as far north as Beirft and Tripoli. Beyond this it exists, even as far as Smyrna. It grew formerly in abundance in the Jordan Valley, and would do so now if planted. Although a few trees grow in ea places on the lower mountains, they do not usually bear fruit at an altitude above 1000 ft. The palm of Scripture is Phenix dactylifera, L., of the Order Palmex. It is an endogenous tree; the trunk, composed of interlacing fibres, is ve light, but exceedingly flexible and strong. palm tree sways to and fro in the wind with inexpressible gracefulness, but seldom breaks, even in the fiercest gales. Its trunk grows by additions from above, not increasing in thickness after it has once become fairly established. Indeed, by the wearing off of the stumps of the leaves, it omes more slender ag it increases in
PALM TREE
height. This tall, slender, flexible trunk springs from an immense tuber, a little below the surface of the ground. From the lower surface of this tuber descend cord-like white roots, which spread laterally about as much as the diameter of the head of leaves, and downward for 6-8 ft. or more. These give off coarse fibres, which absorb the moisture from the soil. From the upper aspect of the tuber, and the lower part of the trunk, sprin true branches. If not cut off, they will grow an Ῥτρῦπορ the effect of a clump of several trees. uch clumps are the usual form of growth in the desert, or in neglected places. But branches very seldom grow at any considerable height above the ground. The palm ‘branches’ (called technically nippy in Ly 23 [see Driver’s note in PB], ‘palms’ 198 the hand], from their shape [cf. 152 Is 914 19", _ Job 1532) do not refer to these, but to the fronds, _ which form a hemispherical or nearly spherical dome, which waves and tosses often at a height of 60-100 ft. The fronds themselves are 6-12 ft. or more in length, with a stiff midrib, and pinne half folded lengthwise, ending in a prickly tip. The lowermost of these fronds are deflexed, the middle horizontal, and the uppermost erect. From the terminal bud arise the spathes, which enclose the flowers. The staminate flowers are on one tree and the pistillate on another. As soon as they have sh their pollen, the staminate flowers wither and drop off. But the clusters of dates on the fertile tree grow more beautiful as they curve more and more outward and downward on their long yellow or red stalks, and the ripening dates turn from green to yellow or red, and sometimes to a rich maroon colour or almost black. The fruit is gathered by a man who climbs the tall slender trunk, cuts the great clusters, places them in a basket, and lowers them to the ground.
The Scripture allusions to the palm tree are numerous. Its evergreen foliage and wealth of delicious fruit are compared with the righteous (Ps 92"), its tall, graceful stature and mien with the loveliest of women (Ca 7’). Immediately after the latter allusion there is another to the mode of gathering the fruit: ‘I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof’ (v.°). The boughs here are the graceful stalks of the date clusters, often 4-6 ft. ong, loaded with their tempting fruit, under the dome of leaves. The upright port of the palm is noticed (Jer 10°). The withering of this tree is mentioned with that of the vine, fig, pomegranate, apple, and other trees, as a sign of the desolation of the land (Jl 113). Sculptured and carved palm trees were used for architectural decoration (1 K 6%, Ezk 41" etc.). Fronds were used for booths (Lv 23"), They were also used in token of triumph (Jn 1218, Rev 7°).