A Luxuriant Olive Tree in the House of God

"Like Slips of Olive Trees"

The useful olive tree aptly illustrates divine blessings. How would a God-fearing man be rewarded?  "Your wife will be like a fruit-bearing vine in the innermost parts of your house," sang the psalmist. Your sons will be like slips of olive trees all around your table." (Psalm 128:3)  What are these "slips of olive trees," and why does the psalmist compare them to sons?

The olive tree is unusual in that the new shoots constantly sprout from the base of its trunk. When, because of old age, the main trunk no longer bears the fruit it once did, cultivation  may allow several slips, or new shoots, to grow until they become an integral part of the tree. After a time, the original tree will have three or four young, vigorous trunks surrounding it, like sons around a table. These slips have the same root-stock, and they share in producing a good crop of olives.

This characteristic of the olive tree aptly illustrates how sons and daughters can grow firm in faith, thanks to the strong spiritual roots of their parents. As offspring grow older, they also have a share in bearing fruit and supporting their parents, who rejoice to see their children serving Jehovah alongside them. -Proverbs 15:20. 

Next time: A Luxuriant Olive  Tree in the House of God-"There Exists Hope for Even a Tree" 

From the Watchtower magazine, 2000