Chestnut Tree
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [1]
Chestnut TREE ( ‘armôn , Genesis 30:37 , Ezekiel 31:8 . RV [Note: Revised Version.] plane ). There is no doubt that the RV [Note: Revised Version.] is correct. The chestnut tree is only an exotic in Palestine, but the plane (Arab. [Note: Arabic.] dilb ) is one of the finest trees of the land. It attains great development; a wonderful specimen, which has a small room or shop within its hollow trunk, is to be seen in one of the streets of Damascus. The plane ( Planus orientalis ) peels its outer layers of bark annually, leaving a white streaky surface. It flourishes specially by watercourses ( Sir 24:14 ).
E. W. G. Masterman.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [2]
('armon ). Genesis 30:37, from which Jacob pilled rods to set before the flock. Ezekiel 31:7-8, to which the Assyrian empire is compared in beauty and strength. A tree, stately and wide spreading and growing near water, must be meant. The eastern plane tree (not ours, which is a maple, Acer pseudoplatanus) fulfills the conditions; its root, 'aaram "to be naked," "to strip off the bark," corresponds; for it yearly sheds its bark. The groves of the Academy at Athens, where Plato and Aristotle taught, were of eastern plane.
People's Dictionary of the Bible [3]
Chestnut Tree. Genesis 30:37; Ezekiel 31:8, A. V., but the R. V. reads plane-tree in both places. The tree grows to a large size, with a mass of rich foliage. The stem is lofty, covered with a smooth bark, which annually falls off. The flowers are small, and come out a little before the leaves. This tree is a native of western Asia, but is found as far east as Cashmere.
Smith's Bible Dictionary [4]
Chestnut Tree. (Hebrew, 'armon ). Genesis 30:37; Ezekiel 31:8. Probably, the "palm tree," (Platanus orientalis ), is intended. This tree thrives best in low and rather moist situations in the north of Palestine, and resembles our sycamore or buttonwood, (Platanus occidentalis ).
Easton's Bible Dictionary [5]
'Armon Genesis 30:37 Ezekiel 31:8
