Hebrew word · H437

אַלּוֹן

'alon

plain

Oak, probably including the evergreen and deciduous oaks of the Levant. It is related to ʾēlāh/ʾēlôn (terebinth, large tree). These trees were known for strength, size and age, and some served as landmarks or sacred sites (Gen 35:8).

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

oak, great tree

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 27:6

Range of meaning

Oak, probably including the evergreen and deciduous oaks of the Levant. It is related to ʾēlāh/ʾēlôn (terebinth, large tree). These trees were known for strength, size and age, and some served as landmarks or sacred sites (Gen 35:8).

Against the English

"Oaks" is accurate in all major versions. The supplied lexical gloss "plain" comes from an old confusion with ʾēlôn (KJV "plain of Mamre"). It has nothing to do with this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

"Oaks of Bashan" appear as symbols of lofty pride brought low in Isa 2:13 and Zech 11:2 ("Wail, oaks of Bashan"). Bashan's cattle and rams are proverbial for strength and fatness (Deut 32:14; Ps 22:12; Amos 4:1).

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 35:8 הָֽאַלּ֑וֹן the oak

    Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 2:13 אַלּוֹנֵ֥י [the] oaks of

    against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan,

  2. Isaiah 6:13 וְכָאַלּ֗וֹן and like <the> oak

    And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”

    Here: "And like the oak": paired with the terebinth as the two great trees of the land, a stock pair in Hebrew (Hos 4:13). The supplied gloss "plain" is a mistake (see textual notes); the word means oak.

  3. Isaiah 44:14 וְאַלּ֔וֹן and an oak

    He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 27:6 אַלּוֹנִים֙ oaks

    Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.

    Here: Large, hard-wooded oaks. The word comes first in the sentence for emphasis: the material is the point. Oak is dense and tough, so it suits oars, which must take heavy strain.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 4:13 אַלּ֧וֹן oak

    They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

    Here: A large oak, one of the great landmark trees of the hill country. Such trees marked burial sites and holy places in Israel's own stories (Genesis 35:8).

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 2:9 כָּֽאַלּוֹנִ֑ים like <the> oaks

    Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.

    Here: Oaks, the classic picture of a hard, long-lived, immovable tree. Elsewhere oaks are linked with Bashan (Isa 2:13), the land of the Amorite king Og. (The supplied gloss "plain" is a lexical mix-up; see textual notes.)

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 11:2 אַלּוֹנֵ֣י O oaks of

    Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!

    Here: 'Oaks of…'. These are the great hardwood oaks, symbols of strength and endurance (Amos 2:9). (The supplied gloss 'plain' belongs to a different word; see textual notes.)

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.