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garden


A plot of cultivated land enclosed by walls made of stones, mud-brick, or hedges. Entrance was normally through a gate that could be locked (Song 4:12, 2Kgs 25:4). Located near ample supplies of water, gardens were lush and desirable pieces of property used for both decorative and utilitarian purposes (Gen 13:10; Num 24:6; Jer 31:12). Vegetables, spices, fruit trees, and flowers were grown in them (1Kgs 21:2; Jer 29:5; Song 4:12-16, Luke 13:19). Gardens were also used as meeting places for social occasions and for meditation and prayer (Esth 1:5; John 18:1). Occasionally, idolatrous religious practices were carried on in gardens (Isa 65:3; Isa 66:17). Ancestral tombs were often located in gardens. Thus, many Judean kings were buried in garden tombs (2Kgs 21:18; 2Kgs 21:26), and the body of Jesus was laid to rest in a garden tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea (John 19:41-42). The care of gardens might require the employ of a gardener (John 20:15). The word “garden” is also used metaphorically and symbolically in the Bible. Thus, in the Song of Solomon, the word refers to the young woman or bride whom the lover comes to court (Song 4:12, Song 5:1, Song 6:2). Elsewhere, the word refers to the “garden of God” or “garden of the Lord,” also known as “Eden,” where God walked among the trees in the cool of the day and from which the first human beings were banished (Gen 2:15; Gen 3:1; Gen 3:2; Gen 3:3; Gen 3:8; Gen 3:10; Gen 3:23; Gen 3:24; Ezek 28:13; Ezek 31:8-9). In this latter sense it is also used as a simile to describe the future restoration of the land of Israel (Isa 51:3; Isa 58:11; Ezek 36:35).

  • Powell, Mark Allan, ed. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. Abridged Edition. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009.