Olive oil was a very precious commodity in the Palestinian world. It was likely the most valuable agricultural product in the ancient world, being used every day as cooking oil, medicine, laxative, lubricant, leather softener, fuel in lamps, an ingredient in perfumes, and as in sacred rituals as a sacrificial offering and in anointing ceremonies. In a context involving an invitation to kingship, the olive appropriately cites its ceremonial value. The olive would rather honor others than be narcissistically anointed with its own oil.
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8 The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’