carved figures: Exodus 36:8; 2 Chronicles 3:14, 2 Chronicles 4:2-5; Psalms 103:20, Psalms 148:2; Luke 2:13-14; Ephesians 3:10; Revelation 5:11-14
palm trees: Tamar:, in Ethiopic, tamart:, the palm tree, is so called, says Parkhurst, from its straight, upright growth, for which it seems more remarkable than any other tree; and it sometimes rises to the height of more than 100 feet. The trunk is remarkably straight and lofty; and it is crowned at the top with a large tuft of spiring leaves, about four feet long, which never fall off, but always continue in the same flourishing verdure. The stalks are generally full of rugged knots, which are vestiges of decayed leaves. For the trunk of the tree is not solid, but its centre is filled with pith, round which is a tough bark full of strong fibres when young, which, as the tree becomes old, hardens and becomes ligneous. To this bark the leaves are closely joined, which, as the tree becomes old, hardens and becomes ligneous. To this bark the leaves are closely joined, which in the centre rise erect, but after they are advanced above the vagina which surrounds them, they expand very wide on every side of the stem, and as the older leaves decay, the stalk advances in height. The leaves, when the tree has grown to a size for bearing fruit, are six or eight feet long, and very broad when expanded. The fruit, called the date, grows below the leaves in clusters. Psalms 92:12-15; Revelation 7:9
open flowers: Heb. openings of flowers, 1 Kings 6:18, 1 Kings 6:32