Plane
Plants and Trees in the Bible
The plane tree is large and wide-spreading, with big branches and lobed, hairy leaves shaped like a hand. In Israel it can reach a height of 20 meters (66 feet) and the trunk 50 centimeters (2 feet) in diameter. Its flowers are small and green. The small seeds are contained in round, bristly fruits, which, when open, release the seeds with plumes that carry them great distances on the wind.
Pictures
In the Bible
The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used
עֶרְמוֹן ‘ermon · 2 verses
πλάτανος platanos · 1 verse
What it stands for
In Jacob presumably chose to use branches of the plane tree because its bark can easily be peeled off in strips, exposing the white or yellow inner layer. In ancient times the plane tree was praised as a shade tree by the Greeks, Romans, and Persians. associates planes, cedars, and beroshim (“cypresses” or “Grecian junipers”) with the “garden of God,” suggesting special beauty. In wisdom is compared to the plane as a beautiful, big tree.
More about it
Zohary confidently equates the ‘ermon of with Oriental Plane Platanus orientalis, mostly on the basis of the fact that Arabs call it dilba, which is derived from the Aramaic. The name ‘ermon may come from the Hebrew word ‘erom meaning “naked,” referring to the way the bark peels off, leaving the seemingly naked trunk.
Plane trees may have been abundant in the past, if the common name “Wadi Dilb” is related to the Arabic dilba. In the present day, plane trees are fairly common in the upper Jordan Valley and its tributaries. It is widespread throughout the eastern Mediterranean region and in the hills of Iraq and Iran.
Also in Wild Trees and Shrubs
Sources
Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema