ALMOND

[Heb., sha·qedhʹ].

The almond or Amygdalus communis is a tree native to Palestine, Lebanon and some areas of Mesopotamia. A member of the peach family, it grew both wild and as a cultivated fruit tree. Interestingly, the Hebrew name means, literally, “the waker,” and this is quite fitting since the almond is one of the earliest trees to bloom following the winter rest, blossoming as early as late January or early February. Note the play on words at Jeremiah 1:11, 12, where the word “almond” [sha·qedhʹ] is followed by the expression “keeping awake” [sho·qedhʹ]. The tree may grow up to sixteen feet (4.87 meters) in height and, when blossoming, is covered with lovely pink and sometimes white flowers arranged in pairs. At Ecclesiastes 12:5 the blossoming almond tree is used to picture the white-headedness of old age. The leaves are oval-shaped and serrated on the edges. The almond fruit has an oblong shape rounded on one end and pointed on the other. It has always been considered a delicacy and was used by Jacob as part of a gift sent to Egypt with his returning sons. (Gen. 43:11) The kernel is a source of desirable oil, a hundred pounds (45.4 kilograms) of the fruit producing some forty-five pounds (20.4 kilograms) of oil.

Doubtless due to their delicate beauty, the flowers of the almond were used as a pattern for the cups on the branches of the tabernacle lampstand. (Ex. 25:33, 34; 37:19, 20) Aaron’s rod was also an almond branch and miraculously budded overnight, producing ripe almonds as proof of God’s approval on him as anointed high priest.—Num. 17:8.

At Genesis 30:37 the Hebrew word luz occurs and is translated “almond” in later translations. (The same word in Arabic means “almond tree.”)

[Picture on page 55]

Almond branches—one in bloom, the other bearing fruit