Page 41 - HaMizrachi #26 Tu Bishvat USA 2021

WHAT’S IN A WORD THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

Steve Kramer David Curwin

Trees
Trees in Eretz Yisrael

n honor of Tu BiShvat, let us dis- Greek, however, had its own word Tapuach
cuss some of the words related to for carob – keration. The carob seeds To Hebrew speakers, ַ חּו ּ פ ַּ ת, tapuach
Ithe trees that grow in Eretz Yisrael. were used as a measure of weight, and is clearly “apple.” It appears a few
we know it today as “carat,” the unit of times in the Tanach, mostly in Shir
Tamar and Dekel mass that indicates how much a dia- HaShirim. The etymology is debated –

The biblical word for the date palm mond weighs, or “karat” – the propor- some say it comes from ח ַ פֶנ (to blow),
tree is ר ָ מ ָּ ת, tamar (which is also the tion of fine gold in an alloy. Hebrew because of its pleasant scent. Others
name of the date fruit it produces). also borrowed from the Greek, and say it comes from ח ַ פ ָּ ת (to swell),
Tamar probably derives from the root that is the origin of koret – a small because of its round shape.
רמת, which means “to be tall, high.” A amount of powder (like a pinch of Some scholars identify the biblical
salt).
related word is tamrur – “pillar, sign- tapuach with what we call apples
post,” because of its height. Botnim today. Others say that wasn’t likely,
A synonym in Hebrew for palm tree This might seem to be a strange entry since those apples aren’t native to
is dekel, although it only appears in in a list of trees since in modern Eretz Yisrael. The fruit they think the
post-biblical Hebrew. (The region of Hebrew it means “peanuts” – a tapuach referred to is the apricot, as it
Arabia, Diklah – mentioned in Bere- legume. But peanuts are a New World fits the biblical descriptions: a tree that
ishit 10:27 and Divrei HaYamim Aleph crop, and the word םיִנ ְ ט ָּ ב, botnim provided pleasant shade, with sweet
1:21, may be so named because it was appears (once) in the Tanach. In that and fragrant fruit.
rich in date palms.) It only refers to the verse they have a different translation: Non-Hebrew speakers might think the
tree, not the fruit. “Then their father Israel said to them, apple also appears at the beginning of
The Greek word for date, dactylos, was ‘If it must be so, do this: take some Bereishit, in the story of the Garden
likely borrowed from a relative of dekel of the choice products of the land in of Eden. But in Hebrew, the produce
of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge
in another Semitic language, like Ara- your baggage, and carry them down is only called pri – the generic term
maic or Arabic (where it also referred as a gift for the man – some balm and for fruit. Rabbinic tradition has many
to the fruit). From Greek, it entered some honey, gum, ladanum, pistachio theories as to which fruit it was – the
Latin, then French, and into English, nuts [botnim] and almonds.’” (Bereishit etrog, grapes, wheat, and figs, among
43:11)
as “date.” others. But in the end, the fact there
Hebrew has a word for pistachio nuts are so many possible suggestions rein-
Charuv – fistuk, which appears in the Talmud forces the point that the fruit remains
The Hebrew word for carob is בּור ָ ח, (Gittin 59a) as fistak. So how did unidentified in the text.
botnim come to mean “peanuts?”
charuv. Some scholars say that it got And this actually makes the identi-
the name from its sword (cherev) Apparently, this usage came via fication with the apple easier. While
-shaped pods, and others say because French. When the peanuts were today, the apple is the fruit of a tree
brought back to Europe, the French
it grows in dry (charav) climates. called them pistache de terre – “earth in the genus Malus, this specificity is
Interestingly, despite it clearly grow- pistachio” (since they grew in the relatively new. Until as late as the 17
th
ing in Eretz Yisrael since antiquity, it ground). Hebrew speakers did a simi- century, “apple” was a generic term
doesn’t appear anywhere in the Tanach lar translation, and called them botnei for all fruit. So the translation of pri
but first shows up in Tannaitic litera- adama (also “earth pistachios.”) But as “apple” made sense – it just wasn’t
ture. From Hebrew, it was borrowed since some speakers were already a tapuach.
into Aramaic, from there to Arabic, using the Arabic fistuk for pistachios, David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat,
and then later into the European lan- the unnecessary adama was dropped, and the author of the Balashon blog.
guages as “carob.” and peanuts were just called botnim. balashon.com • balashon1@gmail.com.

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