His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
Parallel translations
- WEB His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.
- KJV His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
- NKJV His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon.
- NASB His shoots will sprout, His majesty will be like the olive tree, And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
- NLT Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Restored Israel will spread out in beauty like the olive tree with the fragrance of Lebanon. It continues the picture of vibrant, God-given flourishing.
Overview
The olive tree symbolizes lasting fruitfulness and blessing, while Lebanon's fragrance evokes loveliness and abundance. These images portray a people made beautiful and useful again through God's healing love. The renewal promised here looks ahead to the flourishing of God's redeemed people, made fruitful by his grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 52:8But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
- Phil 4:18I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
- Ps 128:3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
- Ezek 31:3–10Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.
- Dan 4:10–15In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.
- Ps 80:9–11You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
- Song 4:11–15Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.
- Gen 27:27So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
- Matt 13:31He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.
- Jer 11:16The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.
- Ezek 17:5–8He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil; he placed it by abundant waters and set it out like a willow.
- 2 Cor 2:14–15But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
- John 15:1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
- Rom 11:16–24If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 14:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.