Topic
Pomegranate
25 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Exodus 28:33Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave Figures of the fruits of, were embroidered on the ephod
¶ And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
- 1 Kings 7:20Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave Carved on the pillars of the temple
And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
- Exodus 28:34Easton · Smith · Nave Figures of the fruits of, were embroidered on the ephod
A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.
- Numbers 20:5Easton · Smith · ISBE
And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
- 1 Kings 7:18Smith · ISBE · Nave Carved on the pillars of the temple
And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter.
- Song of Songs 8:2Smith · ISBE · Nave Wine made of
I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
- Numbers 13:23ISBE · Nave Brought by the spies to show the fruitfulness of the land of Canaan
And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
- Deuteronomy 8:8Easton · ISBE
A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
- 1 Samuel 14:2ISBE · Nave Abounded in the land of Canaan
And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;
- Song of Songs 4:3Easton · ISBE
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
- Song of Songs 4:13Easton · ISBE
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
- Joel 1:12Easton · ISBE
The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
Show 13 more
- Exodus 39:24–26 ISBE
- Exodus 39:24 Nave Figures of the fruits of, were embroidered on the ephod
- 1 Kings 7:42 Nave Carved on the pillars of the temple
- 2 Kings 25:17 ISBE
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 ISBE
- 2 Chronicles 4:13 ISBE
- Song of Songs 6:7 ISBE
- Song of Songs 7:12 ISBE
- Jeremiah 52:22 Nave Carved on the pillars of the temple
- Jeremiah 52:23 Nave Carved on the pillars of the temple
- Joel 1:11 ISBE
- Haggai 2:19 ISBE
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 45:9 ISBE
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 9 references
I.e., “grained apple” (pomum granatum), Heb. rimmon. Common in Egypt (Num. 20:5) and Palestine (13:23; Deut. 8:8). The Romans called it Punicum malum, i.e., Carthaginian apple, because they received it from Carthage. It belongs to the myrtle family of trees. The withering of the pomegranate tree is mentioned among the judgments of God (Joel 1:12). It is frequently mentioned in the Song of Solomon (Cant. 4:3, 13, etc.). The skirt of the high priest’s blue robe and ephod was adorned with the representation of pomegranates, alternating with golden bells (Ex. 28:33,34), as also were the “chapiters upon the two pillars” (1 Kings 7:20) which “stood before the house.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 6 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 20 references
pom'-gran-at, pom-gran'-at, pum'-gran-at (rimmon (tree and fruit); the Hebrew name is similar to the Arabic, Aramaic and Ethiopic; rhoa):
1. A Tree Characteristic of Palestine: One of the most attractive and most characteristic of the fruit trees of Syria, probably indigenous to Persia, Afghanistan and the neighborhood of the Caucasus, but introduced to Palestine in very ancient times. The spies brought specimens of figs and pomegranates, along with grapes, from the Vale of Eshcol (Nu 13:23). Vines, figs and pomegranates are mentioned (Nu 20:5) as fruits the Israelites missed in the wilderness; the promised land was to be one "of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates" (De 8:8), a promise renewed in Hag 2:19. In the lamentation in Joe 1:11,12 we have the pomegranate, the palm tree and the apple tree represented as withered, "for joy is withered away from the sons of men."
2. The Fruit:
The pomegranate tree, Punica granatum (Natural Order, Granateae) occurs usually as a shrub or small tree 10-15 ft. high, and is distinguished by its fresh green, oval leaves, which fall in winter, and its brilliant scarlet blossoms (compare So 7:12). The beauty of an orchard of pomegranates is referred to in So 4:13. The fruit which is ripe about September is apple-shaped, yellow-brown with a blush of red, and is surmounted by a crown-like hard calyx; on breaking the hard rind, the white or pinkish, translucent fruits are seen tightly packed together inside. The juicy seeds are sometimes sweet and sometimes somewhat acid, and need sugar for eating. The juice expressed from the seeds is made into a kind of syrup for flavoring drinks, and in ancient days was made into wine: "I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice (margin "sweet wine") of my pomegranate" (So 8:2). The beauty of a cut section of pomegranate--or one burst open naturally, when fully ripe--may have given rise to the comparison in So 4:3; 6:7: "Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate." The rind of the pomegranate contains a very high percentage of tannic acid, and is employed both as a medicine and for tanning, particularly in making genuine morocco leather.
Whether the pomegranate tree in Migron under which Saul is said (1Sa 14:2) to have abode with his 600 men was really a tree or a place, Rimmon, is doubtful.
See RIMMON.
3. The Pomegranate in Art:
A large number of references to the pomegranate are to the use of the form of the fruit in ornamentation, in which respect it appears among the Hebrews to have something of the position of the lotus bud as a decorative motive in Egypt. It was embroidered in many colors on the skirts of Aaron's garments, together with golden bells (Ex 28:33 f; 39:24-26 compare Ecclesiasticus 45:9). Hiram of Tyre introduced the pomegranate into his brass work ornamentation in the temple: "So he made the pillars; and there were two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars" (margin "So the Syriac The Hebrew has `pomegranates'") (1Ki 7:18). "And the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other capital" (1Ki 7:20 compare also Ps 7:42; 2Ki 25:17; 2Ch 3:16; 4:13).
E. W. G. Masterman
In the topical indexes
Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 11 references, grouped by sub-topic
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.