Pomegranate: rimmon, masculine noun, (Strong’s 7416).
Root: רִמּוֹן
Sounds like: ree-moan (singular); ree-moh’neem (plural)
In Jewish culture it is said that pomegranates have 613 seeds, which is the number of commandments in the Torah. For this reason, pomegranates are seen as symbols of righteousness for the Jewish people.
Although it is not Israel’s official national fruit (that honour goes to the prickly pear), it does hold national significance. Pomegranates had high honour in feasts, poetry, and decorations from clothing to architectural design. Let’s start off with some poetry:
Pomegranates in Poetry
Although never mentioned in the Psalms, pomegranates can be found in the Song of Solomon.
It was used as a simile:
Song of Solomon 4:3 (see also Songs 6:7).
“Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is beautiful. Your temples are like a slice of the pomegranate [ha-rimmohn הָֽרִמּוֹן֙] behind your veil…”
It was also used as a metaphor:
Song of Solomon 4:12-15
“A locked garden is my sister, my bride, a locked spring, a sealed fountain. Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates [rimmohnim רִמּוֹנִ֔ים] with delicious fruits, henna with nard plants, nard and saffron, spice reed and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, along with all the finest balsam oils.
You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.”
Pomegranates also play in the narrative of the poem:
Song of Solomon 6:11-12 (see also Songs 7:12)
[Groom:] “I went down to the orchard of nut trees to see the plants of the valley, to see whether the vine had grown or the pomegranates [ha-rimmohnim הָרִמֹּנִֽים] had bloomed. Before I was aware, my soul set me over the chariots of my noble people.”
Song of Solomon 8:1-2
[Bride:]“Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother’s breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; no one would despise me, either. I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me; I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates [rimmohni רִמֹּנִֽי].
Pomegranates are ruby red, sweet and explosive, and the perfect fruit for a love poem.
Decoration on High Priest’s Robe
The first mention of pomegranates in the Bible had to do with priestly fashion. Long before they entered the Promised Land, the High Priest was to wear a garment adorned with pomegranates:
Exodus 28:31-35 (see also Exodus 39:22-26)
“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of violet. There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. You shall make on its hem pomegranates [rimmohney רִמֹּנֵי֙] of violet, purple, and scarlet material all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate [w-rimmohn וְרִמּ֔וֹן], a golden bell and a pomegranate [w-rimmohnוְרִמּ֑וֹן], all around on the hem of the robe. It shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its sound shall be heard when he enters and leaves the Holy Place before YHWH, so that he will not die.
This priestly garment was fringed with alternating bells and pomegranates, and in 2012 it was announced that a little bell had been found in Jerusalem that may have belonged to the garment described in Exodus 28 (above). Click below to read more about the little bell: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/the-value-of-relics-and-biblical-artifacts-found-in-israel/
Fruit of the Promised Land
After escaping from Egypt the Hebrew people wandered in the desert, waiting to get to the land promised to them by YHWH. When they reached the land they sent in spies to scout out the prospects:
Numbers 13:23-24
Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates [ha-rimmohnim הָרִמֹּנִ֖ים] and the figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut off from there. When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
The land was abundant with grapes, figs and pomegranates! But powerful tribes were also plentiful and they were afraid to enter. After seeing what they would be up against, they became bitter. They were afraid to enter the Promised Land but by staying in the wilderness, they had nothing but complaints:
Numbers 20:5
[The people to YHWH:] “Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? It is not a place of grain and fig and vine and pomegranate [w-rimmohn], nor is there water to drink!”
Regardless of their whining, God’s promise remained. He would (after a generation had passed) bring them into the land where the pomegranates were plentiful:
Deuteronomy 8:5-10
So you are to know in your heart that YHWH your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of YHWH your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For YHWH your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vine, fig, and pomegranate [w-rimmohn וְרִמּ֑וֹן], a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without shortage, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless YHWH your God for the good land which He has given you.
Moses died before seeing the Promised Land, but his leader in training, Joshua, led the people into the land of plenty. Imagine how wonderful a pomegranate would taste after eating manna and quail year after year.
Decorating the Temple
After centuries of living in God’s Promised Land, an Israeli kingdom was established and Jerusalem became its capital. King David thought to make a permanent Temple for YHWH, but it would be his son Solomon to take up the task. The pomegranate became one of the most prominent symbols of decoration in the newly built Temple:
1 Kings 7:18-20, 40-45 (see also 2 Kings 25:17, 2 Chr 3:15-17, 2 Chr 4:11-13)
So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one lattice to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates [ha-rimmohnim הָֽרִמֹּנִ֔ים]; and so he did for the other capital. The capitals which were on the tops of the pillars in the porch were of lily design, four cubits. So there were capitals on the two pillars, also above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the lattice; and the pomegranates [w-ha-rimmohnim וְהָרִמּוֹנִ֤ים] totaled two hundred in rows around both capitals…
…Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of YHWH: the two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two lattices to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; and the four hundred pomegranates [w-et ha-rimmohnim וְאֶת־הָרִמֹּנִ֛ים] for the two lattices, two rows of pomegranates [rimmohnim רִמֹּנִים֙] for each lattice to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars; and the ten stands with the ten basins on the stands; and the one Sea and the twelve oxen under the Sea; and the buckets, the shovels, and the bowls; indeed, all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of YHWH were of polished bronze.
Of all the fruits of Israel, it was the pomegranate that had the most visual impact within the sacred space of the Temple. About eight years ago it was announced that archaeologists had found a little carved pomegranate (made from hippopotamus bone) with the following inscription: “Belonging to the Tem[ple of Yahwe]h, holy to the priests.” To read more about this little archaeological gem, and see other pomegranates found from the same Iron Age period, click below: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/artifacts-and-the-bible/first-person-a-scepter-from-the-temple/
Babylonian destruction of the Temple
The golden age of the Israelite nation wouldn’t last forever. Eventually the Assyrians annihilated Northern Israel and a couple of hundred years later the Babylonians (also known as the Chaldeans) successfully invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. Here is part of Jeremiah’s account of the Temple’s destruction:
Jeremiah 52:17, 21-23
Now the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of YHWH and the stands and the bronze sea, which were in the house of YHWH, the Chaldeans smashed to pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon….
…As for the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and it was twelve cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. Also, a capital of bronze was on top of it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with latticework and pomegranates [w-rimmohnim וְרִמּוֹנִ֧ים] on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, and with pomegranates [w-rimmohnim וְרִמּוֹנִֽים] And there were the pomegranates [ha-rimmohnim הָֽרִמֹּנִ֔ים], ninety-six on the sides; all the pomegranates [kal ha-rimmohnim כל־הרמונים] numbered a hundred on the latticework all around.
The Temple pomegranates fell to the ground and were carried to Babylon.
Pomegranates and Prophecy
We have no dating evidence for the prophet Joel. Some scholars have suggested he was from the time of Solomon, others have preached that he was a second Temple prophet. Either way, Joel (like all the prophets) was bringing attention to the people’s failures and he called for them to repent. In the days of Joel, nature was reflecting the situation. Like the trees in the field, their passion for God had withered:
Joel 1:11-12
Be ashamed, you farm workers, wail, you vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley; because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
The vine has dried up and the fig tree has withered; pomegranate [rimmohn רִמּ֞וֹן], also palm, and apple, all the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, joy has dried up from the sons of mankind.
Rejecting YHWH had devastating effects on the Hebrew people. The land failed to produce, enemies surrounded them, the chaos of weather hit them hard. By their own choosing they no longer had God’s protection. They turned their backs on YHWH and because He was a God that always gave humans a choice, He would not force Himself upon them, nor would He shield them from danger. They were on their own:
Haggai 2:17-19
[YHWH:] ”I struck you and every work of your hands with scorching wind, mildew, and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,” declares YHWH. ”Do consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of YHWH was founded, consider: Is the seed still in the barn? And so far the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate [w-ha-rimmohn וְהָרִמּ֛וֹן], and the olive tree, has not produced fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.’”
Pomegranates and the Great Rebellion
Pomegranates have held national attention for centuries in Israel. Even after the death of Yeshua, pomegranates remained as symbols of wealth, prosperity and national pride. During the Judean-Roman War (66-73 AD), when the Jews dared to face the Roman army and take back Jerusalem, coins were minted by the Jewish rebels. The symbol they chose for the first coins wasn’t the star of David or a Menorah, it was three budding pomegranates.
After an arduous and lengthy battle, the Romans by sheer volume of force, took down the rebels and destroyed Jerusalem. The Romans eventually rebuilt Jerusalem and called it Aelia Capitolina, but buried underneath it was, amongst many other things, a little bell, a little pomegranate, and a little coin.
One of the little silver coins, decorated with the three pomegranates, recently sold at auction for 1.1 million dollars. That’s got to be the priciest pomegranates on the market!
Next week: Harsh/Severe
Hebrew Word Lessons 