Plane Tree

PLANE TREE (עֶרְמוֹן, H6895). The Heb. word ’armôn could be tr. “plane tree,” but actually in the KJV it occurs as CHESTNUT (Gen 30:37 and Ezek 31:8).

If it is a plane then it is the Eastern plane, Plantanus orientalis, normally called the Oriental plane. This plane grows in Pal. and Mount Lebanon. It bears flowers in clusters of rounded balls on a common stalk. The leaves are large and resemble those of the sycamore. This tree was held sacred in the E, and was very much valued for its shade by the Greeks.

In Ecclesiasticus 24:14, it says: “like a plane tree I grew tall.” This would have been a huge tree seventy ft. tall or more.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

(’armon; platanos (Ge 30:37), elate ("pine" or "fir") (Eze 31:8); the King James Version chestnut): `Armon is supposed to be derived from the root aram, meaning "to be bare" or "naked"; this is considered a suitable term for the plane, which sheds its bark annually. The chestnut of the King James Version is not an indigenous tree, but the plane (Planus orientalis) is one of the finest trees in Palestine, flourishing especially by water courses (compare Ecclesiasticus 24:14).

See also