Oak
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen. 35:4; Isa. 6:13; Josh. 24:26, and elsewhere) — a well-known tree of the seed-bearing class, of the catkin-blossoming order. Oaks were a very common growth in Palestine, differing from the European oak in that the underside of the leaves of the Palestinian oak is whitish (Norov’s Travels, 1835). Oaks are said to grow to 1,000 years of age and more, and when the tree grows old and dries out, young shoots spring up from beneath the root, so that this tree may be called ever-growing.
For this reason the oaks of Palestine are frequently used by the sacred writers to designate and identify particular localities. Examples of this may be seen in the following passages of Holy Scripture (Gen. 12:6; Deut. 11:30; 2 Sam. 18:9).