Grafted Biblical Concept · Concept

Olive Tree

ἐλαία · elaía · G1636

The olive tree is an important biblical agricultural image.

4 Scripture references3 lexical sources3 supporting resources

Primary Study

Grafted Bible Dictionary

Definition

The olive tree is an important biblical agricultural image. In Romans 11 Yeshua whose mission focuses especially on proclaiming the gospel among Gentiles.">Paul uses a cultivated olive tree to explain the relationship between Israel, unbelieving Israelites, believing Israelites, and Gentile believers.

Tanakh Background

Israel is compared with an olive tree in passages such as:
• Jeremiah 11:16
• Hosea 14:6
Yeshua whose mission focuses especially on proclaiming the gospel among Gentiles.">Paul therefore uses imagery already associated with Israel's covenantal identity.
Romans 11
Paul describes:
• a cultivated olive tree
• natural branches
• branches broken off through unbelief
• wild branches grafted in
• natural branches capable of being grafted in again
• a root supporting the branches
Gentile believers are explicitly warned:
"It is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you."

Grafted Perspective

The metaphor challenges two opposite errors.
First, Jewish ancestry alone does not eliminate the need for faith.
Second, Gentile faith does not justify boasting against Jewish people.
nations or peoples outside Israel.">Gentiles participate by grace.
The tree was not uprooted and replaced by a newly planted Gentile tree.

Interpretive Question

Scholars differ over precisely what the "root" represents.
Suggestions include:
• Abraham
• the patriarchs
• the covenantal promises
• Messiah
• some combination of these covenantal realities
Romans 11:28–29 strongly connects Yeshua whose mission focuses especially on proclaiming the gospel among Gentiles.">Paul's reasoning with the patriarchs and God's irrevocable calling.

Hebrew and Greek Word Study

Greek Word Study

ἐλαία

elaía · G1636

Original Word: ἐλαία
Transliteration: elaía
Strong’s: G1636
Part of Speech: G:N-F

Unified Lexical Definition

ἐλαία (Attic, ἐλάα), -ας, ἡ [in LXX for זַיִת ;] __1. an olive tree: Rom.11:17, 24, Rev.11:4; τ. ὄρος τῶν ἐ. (זַיִת הַר, Zec.14:4), the Mount of Olives: Mat.21:1 24:3 26:30, Mrk.11:1 13:3 14:26, Luk.19:37 22:39; τὸ καλούμενον ἐ. (T, ἐλαιών, which see), Luk.19:29 21:37. __2. an olive (Aristoph.): Jas.3:12.† (AS) an olive tree, Mat. 21.1; 24.3, et al.; an olive, fruit of the olive tree, Ja. 3.12: whence

Related Words

Lexical Sources

TBESGSTEPBible TBESG (based primarily on Abbott-Smith)

Lemma: ἐλαία
Meaning: olive tree

View original lexicon entry

{
    "type": "abbott-smith",
    "slug": "g1636",
    "title": "ἐλαία",
    "source": "STEPBible TBESG (based primarily on Abbott-Smith)",
    "strong": "G1636",
    "language": "greek",
    "lemma": "ἐλαία",
    "transliteration": "elaia",
    "pronunciation": "",
    "part_of_speech": "G:N-F",
    "meaning": "",
    "description": "",
    "definition": "ἐλαία (Attic, ἐλάα), -ας, ἡ [in LXX for זַיִת ;] __1. an olive tree: Rom.11:17, 24, Rev.11:4; τ. ὄρος τῶν ἐ. (זַיִת הַר, Zec.14:4), the Mount of Olives: Mat.21:1 24:3 26:30, Mrk.11:1 13:3 14:26, Luk.19:37 22:39; τὸ καλούμενον ἐ. (T, ἐλαιών, which see), Luk.19:29 21:37. __2. an olive (Aristoph.): Jas.3:12.† (AS)",
    "glosses": [
        "olive tree",
        "olive (berry, tree)"
    ],
    "lexical_summary": [],
    "exhaustive_concordance": [],
    "brown_driver_briggs": [],
    "topical_lexicon": [],
    "occurrences": [],
    "references": [
        {
            "osis": "Rom.11.17, 24",
            "display": "Rom.11:17, 24"
        },
        {
            "osis": "Rev.11.4",
            "display": "Rev.11:4"
        },
        {
            "osis": "Zec.14.4",
            "display": "Zec.14:4"
        },
        {
            "osis": "Mat.21.1; 24.3; 26.30",
            "display": "Mat.21:1 24:3 26:30"
        },
        {
            "osis": "Mrk.11.1; 13.3; 14.26",
            "display": "Mrk.11:1 13:3 14:26"
        },
        {
            "osis": "Luk.19.37; 22.39",
            "display": "Luk.19:37 22:39"
        },
        {
            "osis": "Luk.19.29; 21.37",
            "display": "Luk.19:29 21:37"
        },
        {
            "osis": "Jas.3.12.",
            "display": "Jas.3:12."
        }
    ],
    "occurrence_count": 4,
    "url": "bible/greek/g1636",
    "source_url": "https://github.com/openscriptures/strongs",
    "source_license": "CC BY-SA"
}

A GREEK-ENGLISH LEXICOA Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament

an olive tree, Mat. 21.1; 24.3, et al.; an olive, fruit of the olive tree, Ja. 3.12: whence

View original lexicon entry

{
    "type": "greenfield",
    "slug": "greenfield-c4f32b4d7ad7",
    "title": "Ἐλαία",
    "source": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament",
    "strong": "G1636",
    "language": "greek",
    "lemma": "Ἐλαία",
    "transliteration": "elaía",
    "pronunciation": "",
    "part_of_speech": "",
    "meaning": "",
    "description": "",
    "definition": "an olive tree, Mat. 21.1; 24.3, et al.; an olive, fruit of the olive tree, Ja. 3.12: whence",
    "glosses": [
        "olive (berry, tree)"
    ],
    "lexical_summary": [],
    "exhaustive_concordance": [],
    "brown_driver_briggs": [],
    "topical_lexicon": [],
    "occurrences": [],
    "references": [],
    "occurrence_count": 4,
    "url": "bible/greenfield/greenfield-c4f32b4d7ad7",
    "source_url": "https://github.com/openscriptures/strongs",
    "source_license": "CC BY-SA"
}

STRONG'SStrong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

an olive (the tree or the fruit)

View original lexicon entry

{
    "strongs": "G1636",
    "language": "greek",
    "lemma": "ἐλαία",
    "transliteration": "elaía",
    "pronunciation": "",
    "part_of_speech": "",
    "glosses": [
        "olive (berry, tree)"
    ],
    "definitions": [
        "an olive (the tree or the fruit)"
    ],
    "administrator_commentary": "",
    "source": {
        "dataset": "Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon",
        "provider": "Open Scriptures",
        "url": "https://github.com/openscriptures/strongs",
        "license": "CC BY-SA"
    },
    "version": 1,
    "updated_at": "2026-08-05T10:41:55-05:00",
    "strong": "G1636"
}

New Testament Usage

4 occurrences

First listed reference: Rom.11.17, 24

View All Greek Occurrences

Biblical Usage

Concordance and Scripture Usage

4Exact Lemma40Conceptual Relationship

Epistles · 3

Romans 11:17Exact Lemma Romans 11:24Exact Lemma James 3:12Exact Lemma

Revelation · 1

Revelation 11:4Exact Lemma

Reference Works

Bible Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Names

Unified Dictionary Summary

The olive tree is an important biblical agricultural image.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

Is frequently mentioned in Scripture. The dove from the ark brought an olive-branch to Noah (Gen. 8:11). It is mentioned among the most notable trees of Palestine, where it was cultivated long before the time of the Hebrews (Deut. 6:11; 8:8). It is mentioned in the first Old Testament parable, that of Jotham (Judg. 9:9), and is named among the blessings of the "good land," and is at the present day the one characteristic tree of Palestine. The oldest olive-trees in the country are those which are enclosed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is referred to as an emblem of prosperity and beauty and religious privilege (Ps. 52:8; Jer. 11:16; Hos. 14:6). The two "witnesses" mentioned in Rev. 11:4 are spoken of as "two olive trees standing before the God of the earth." (Comp. Zech. 4:3, 11-14.) The "olive-tree, wild by nature" (Rom. 11:24), is the shoot or cutting of the good olive-tree which, left ungrafted, grows up to be a "wild olive." In Rom. 11:17 Paul refers to the practice of grafting shoots of the wild olive into a "good" olive which has become unfruitful. By such a process the sap of the good olive, by pervading the branch which is "graffed in," makes it a good branch, bearing good olives. Thus the Gentiles, being a "wild olive," but now "graffed in," yield fruit, but only through the sap of the tree into which they have been graffed. This is a process "contrary to nature" (11:24).

Sources: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

A Biblical and Theological Dictionary

וית, ἐλαία, Matt. xxi, 1; Rom. xi, 17, 24; James iii, 12; ἀγριέλαιος, _oleaster_, the wild olive, Rom. xi, 17, 24. Tournefort mentions eighteen kinds of olives; but in the Scripture we only read of the cultivated and wild olive. The cultivated olive is of a moderate height, and thrives best in a sunny and warm soil. Its trunk is knotty; its bark is smooth, and of an ash colour; its wood is solid, and yellowish; its leaves are oblong, and almost like those of the willow, of a dark green colour on the upper side, and a whitish below. In the month of June it puts forth white flowers, growing in bunches, each of one piece, and widening toward the top, and dividing into four parts. After this flower succeeds the fruit, which is oblong and plump. It is first green, then pale, and, when quite ripe, becomes black. Within it is enclosed a hard stone, filled with oblong seeds. The wild olives were of a less kind. Canaan much abounded with olives. It seems almost every proprietor, whether kings or subjects, had their olive yards. The olive branch was, from most ancient times, used as the symbol of reconciliation and peace.

Sources: A Biblical and Theological Dictionary

Connections

Cross References

Prophets

Jeremiah 11:16Jeremiah's green olive tree image provides important covenant background for Romans 11.

Definition

Tanakh Background

Grafted Perspective

Interpretive Question

Hebrew and Greek Word Study

Unified Lexical Definition

Related Words

Lexical Sources

New Testament Usage

Unified Dictionary Summary

Prophets

Grafting

Israel

Gentiles

Remnant

Abrahamic Covenant

Covenant

Menorah

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