OLIVE
OLYMPAS
111
tioal (of. I'" S"- ""'• 5"). The few suspestions of the OT tiju'eahle in 2 Peter (ci/. •J:'"- ""• --) ami 1 Jolin (3'-) are uf the same character ; while the numer- ous reminiscences in Kevelalion, if not distinc- tively ethical, are yet concrete anil imaj;inative, the clotliinj; of the writer's own ilrcams in the majestic symbolism of the OT poets and jjrophets (see art. Quotations).
LiTERATCRE.— A. Tholuck, Das AT im NT", Gotha, 1808 : L. Diestel. (jesrli. As A T in der chrislt. Kirch/:, Jena, 1S(JS, p. 8 IT. ; B. Jowett, ^'^ i'unl's E/'P. to yVicss., (Jal. and iimti., vol. i. ; 'Essays and Dissertations,' London, isni ; C. Clemen, Der Getirauch des AT in deit neutcvt. Schriflcn, Giitersloh, 1895; G. H. Gilbert, Interpretatim of the liilite. New York, 19ns ; A. Harnack, Dc!im>:iHKSchichtt^, Freiburg, 1898, i. 41 ff.; H. St. J. Thackeray, Thu Relation of St. Paul to Coittrnip'^rar;/ /eififfi Thuiiii/it. London, 1900; the New Testament Tlu-olnjrii's of B. Weiss (Kwi. tr., Edinburgh, 1882-83), W. Beyschlag (Eng. tr.. do., ls9,i). H. J. Holtzmann ('-Tubingen, 1911), etc. ; Sanday-Headlam, ICC, 'Uomans,'^ Edinburgh, 19U'2; B. F. Westcott, Uebi-etrs, London, 18S9, p. 4li9ff. ; A. B. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Edinburgh, 1899.
A. R. Gordon.
OLIVE (Aai'a, a-ipifKaio^, (taXXiAaios). — The only Ii.assages in which the olive is referred to in the NT are Ko IP'- =■•, Ja 3>-, Rev 11^ (For Ro 11"- "^ see art. Grafting.) For the proverb in Ja 3'- — ' Can the hg-tree, my brethren, beiir olive berries ? ' — cf. Seneca, Ep. 87, ' non nascitur ex m.alo bonnni non magis ()u.am fieus e.\ olea'; see also Epict. Diss. ii. 20 and Plut. Mur. p. 472. A like simile is found in Mt 7'" 12'^. The reference to the two olive-trees in Rev ll* is after Zee 4-''. In the latter passage the Xvxiia. is I.srael, and the two olive- trees which feecl it are probalily the monarchy and the priesthood as represented by Zerubbabel and Joshua. The writer of Rev II'' has adapted the imagery of Zee 4-'-. In Rev I'-m }ie has likened the seven churches to seven golden \vx''lai. These \i'X>'(ai are kept burning by the oil of the Spirit with which the true members of the Church are imbued (cf. Mt 25^ Ro H"). These stand before the God of tlie earth (Rev 11''). In Ja 5''' reference is made to the early Christian custom of anointing the sick with oil (l\ai.ov).
Of recent years olive-trees have been largely destroyed, cliiefiy with a view to .avoiding taxation, but also in part for the supply of fire-wood. The extent to which the olive was cultivated in Pales- tine in ancient times may be gauged bj' the large number of olive-presses tliat are to be seen all over the country. Many of these presses were cut in the rock before houses were built upon it. They are often found in immediiite association with Troglodyte caves, while a press was actually found inside one cave. In the earliest times the presses were of a simple character and generally consisted of a single circular or rectangular vat with one or two cup-holes in the floor. These appear both on the hill-sides and also on the rock-surface. The olive-presses of a later time show greater elabora- tion, and in Roman times or after, the receiving- vats were sometimes lined with Mosaic tesserje. The fruit was apiiarentl}' crushed on the surface of the press with stones, rollers, or pestles, the jtiice being subsequently expressed by boards placed over the fruit and weighed down with weights. The juice thus extracted was collected in a receiving- vat of greater depth than the press itself. The receiving-vat was sometimes sunk in the press, while sometimes it l.ay outside, and communicated with it by a cliannel. The pressing-surface is nearly always si|uare or rectangular, and never more than from 1 to H ft. deep ; the receiving- vat is generally square but occasionally circular. There were often several receiving-vats to a single press. In the larger presses, the fruit was not crushed by the .aid of movable hand-stones, but by a large, massive stone wheel rotated round a central staple by an ox or horse. One of these wheels that
has been recovered has a diameter of 4 ft. 8 in. The rock in the i)re.ss-surface was usually left bare, but the receivin^-vat was often cemented.
Rut olive-pre.sses of an entirely dillerent char- acter were also in use in all the Semitic periods. They consisted of movable slabs or boulders of stone. They are generally circular in shape and have a diameter of from 4 ft. il in. to 6 ft. 6 in. The rim within which the fruit was crushed is raised, the juice being collected in a cup hollowed out within the rim. Apart from the 'natural use of the olive as a fruit, it supplies the place of butter and is used for cooking. The oil is used for lamps as well as for anointing the body, while the soap of the country is made exclusively from it. The wood is used for cabinet-work. See also art. Guaftino.
Literature.— J. B. Mayor, The Epistle of St. James^, 1913, pp. 125, ITOff. ; Sanday-Headlam, ICC, 'Romans,'' 191)2, p. o26flf. ; H. B. Swete, 77*e Apocaliipse of St. ,/ohifi, 1907, p. 13S ; W. M. Thomson. The Land and the Hook, 3 vols., ed. 1881-86, pat:sivi: ed. 1910, pp. 31-3(1; J. C. Geikie, The Holy Lai\d and the Bible, 1903, p)>. SO-.oa, 74 ; H. B. Tristram, 7'he Natural hislor]/ of the Bible"), 1911, pp. 373, 377 ; SDB, p. C67 ; EBi iii. 3495-3496; UDB iii. 610; and especially R. A. S. Macalister, 'The Excavation o/Gezer, 1912, ii. 48-07.