MULBERRY TREES ( bÄ•kâ’îm , 2 Samuel 5:23 f., 1 Chronicles 14:14 f., Psalms 84:6 mg.). These trees have on philological grounds been supposed to be a variety of balsam, and on grounds of appropriateness to the story ( 2 Samuel 5:23 f.) to be poplars, whose leaves readily quiver with the slightest breath of air. Their identity is, however, quite uncertain. Mulberries they cannot be; for though plentiful to-day in Palestine, and still more so in the Lebanon, these trees were introduced to the land later than OT times. See, however, Sycamine.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Complete and trustworthy, Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible is a thorough reference (5,915 entries) for all readers of the Bible. For nearly a century, lay people and scholars alike have valued the authoritative contents and the convenient format of this one-volume work.Wikipedia
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