There are olive trees in Lebanon that are estimated to be 2,000 years old or more.
They are known as The Noah Trees because legend has it that the olive branch the dove found comes from them. These trees survived storms and earthquakes, droughts and wars - including the recent one. Some say they are the trees of hope. Can trees teach us how to be resilient and to hold on to hope? The authors of Job thought so.
We need all the help we can to hold on to hope when all around us forces that are fueled by fear and driven by brute power seem to prevail.
The authors of Job were pretty busy with this timeless tension and provided complex and nuanced responses, including the suggestion that we can learn critical life lessons by observing nature in its - our - messy complexity.
Biblical scholar and author Avivah Zornberg echoes this intent by writing that
“Job’s ambiguity reflects the human heart: a simultaneous belief in redemption and resignation to pain. To live is to hold both.”
When it comes to hope - Job offers more than yes or no options - maybe matters a lot too. On the 1-10 scale the book offers multiple options that keep shifting.
There are multiple ways to hold on to complexity and hold on to hope.
In today’s chapter 14, we encounter Job’s profound pain paired with persistent hope. As he continues his speech in response to his friends, and in defiance of God - Job seems to offer three perspectives on the hope front:
Yes, maybe, and no.
But even within the stark "no," he leaves us with a powerful image: the tree of hope.
In the first of these musings he uses the metaphor of a tree to illustrate the power of renewal:
כִּי יֵשׁ לָעֵץ תִּקְוָה אִם־יִכָּרֵת וְעוֹד יַחֲלִיף וְיֹנַקְתּוֹ לֹא תֶחְדָּל׃ אִם־יַזְקִין בָּאָרֶץ שׇׁרְשׁוֹ וּבֶעָפָר יָמוּת גִּזְעוֹ׃ מֵרֵיחַ מַיִם יַפְרִחַ וְעָשָׂה קָצִיר כְּמוֹ־נָטַע׃
There is hope for a tree; If it is cut down it will renew itself;
Its shoots will not cease. If its roots are old in the earth,
And its stump dies in the ground. At the scent of water it will bud. And produce branches like a sapling.
Job 14:7-9
The tree has a remarkable ability to regenerate, even after being cut down or drying out. At just the scent of water—life’s essence—it can spring back to life.
This image is a universal symbol of renewal and resilience, even in the darkest of times.
Trees, Job claims, are more resilient than humans - without purpose - human hope will fade away and not revive as trees do.
But Job considers several more perspectives.
אִם־יָמוּת גֶּבֶר הֲיִחְיֶה כׇּל־יְמֵי צְבָאִי אֲיַחֵל עַד־בּוֹא חֲלִיפָתִי׃
“Can one who dies live again?
All the days of my service I will wait until my renewal comes.”
Job 14:14
Here, Job imagines a possibility. If there were a chance for transformation, he would wait for it. The power of hope is almost like the dream of resurrection -yet this hope remains a distant dream—longed for but not realized.
But in the third image he uses here - hope is dashed:
אֲבָנִים שָׁחֲקוּ מַיִם תִּשְׁטֹף־סְפִיחֶיהָ עֲפַר־אָרֶץ וְתִקְוַת אֱנוֹשׁ הֶאֱבַדְתָּ׃
Water wears away stone;
Torrents wash away earth;
So You destroy a mortal’s hope,
Job 14:19
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Even nature itself erodes and is worn away, and with it, the hope of humanity. In this heartbreaking and humbling symbolism, Job paints a picture of absolute finality. No revival, no change, just an end. No hope.
Today, as the world faces wars, displacement, ecological crises, and digital isolation - the image of the tree of hope remains deeply relevant. Job may have meant for it to a counter image to human hopelessness but I find in it a reminder that we come from trees and use this image as a helpful trope to hold on to hope - with roots deep in the ground of gratitude.
In this image of the tree , we witness the cycle of life and the strength to renew despite overwhelming challenges.
Like Job, we are invited to ask the big questions, to seek meaning even amid pain, and to believe that, at the scent of water, even our deadest and deepest sense of despair—like the tree—can bloom again. This echoes a verse from the Scroll of Lamentations - coming soon on our Below the Bible Belt journey — “Perhaps there is hope.”
The concept of Perhaps or Maybe becomes our powerful and patient ally on the path from despair to repair.
It’s helpful to look at the trees growing along the path and remember that we are not alone, no matter how long the road seems to be and wherever we are on the scale of hopefulness.
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