(Isaiah 41:19; RSV marg., "oleaster"), Heb. 'etz shemen, rendered "olive tree" in 1 Kings 6:23,31,32,33 (RSV, "olive wood") and "pine branches" in Nehemiah 8:15 (RSV, "branches of wild olive"), was some tree distinct from the olive. It was probably the oleaster (Eleagnus angustifolius), which grows abundantly in almost all parts of Palestine, especially about Hebron and Samaria. "It has a fine hard wood," says Tristram, "and yields an inferior oil, but it has no relationship to the olive, which, however, it resembles in general appearance."

(Heb. ets shemen ). The Hebrew words occur in (Nehemiah 8:15) (Authorized Version "pine branches"), (1 Kings 6:23) ("olive tree") and in (Isaiah 41:19) ("oil tree"). From the passage in Nehemiah, where the ets shemen is mentioned as distinct from the olive tree, if may perhaps be identified with the zackum tree of the Arabs, the Balanites aegyptiaca , a well-known and abundant shrub or small tree in the plain of Jordan. The zackum oil is held in high repute by the Arabs for its medicinal properties. [OLIVE]