Jacob 5:11-14

11 And the Lord of the vineyard caused that it should be digged about, and pruned, and nourished, saying unto his servant: It grieveth me that I should lose this tree; wherefore, that perhaps I might preserve the roots thereof that they perish not, that I might preserve them unto myself, I have done this thing.

12 Wherefore, go thy way; watch the tree, and nourish it, according to my words.

13 And these will I place in the nethermost part of my vineyard, whithersoever I will, it mattereth not unto thee; and I do it that I may preserve unto myself the natural branches of the tree; and also, that I may lay up fruit thereof against the season, unto myself; for it grieveth me that I should lose this tree and the fruit thereof.

14 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard went his way, and hid the natural branches of the tame olive-tree in the nethermost parts of the vineyard, some in one and some in another, according to his will and pleasure.

Jacob 5:11-14

The Lord of the vineyard had the tree pruned and nourished.  If he couldn’t save the tree, he wanted to attempt to save the roots of the tree.  The roots are important.

Good root structure is vital to the productivity of the olive and a valuable resource to be preserved and cared for (Jacob 5:11, 59). Up to the third or fourth year, olive roots grow vertically downward after which these original roots are replaced by another underground root system developed from nodules, which form on the base of the trunk just below the soil surface. The nature of the roots can be judged in part by the soil which helps to determine the manner of root growth. Heavy, poorly aerated soil causes a network of fine roots to form near the surface. Sandy soils are easy for roots to penetrate, so the root system becomes much more extensive.⁹⁵ One can also know whether the roots are good by the age of the tree and by examining the other vital signs such as leaf size, fruit set, and fruit size.[1]

The Lord told the servant he would place the branches in a faraway part of the vineyard to preserve the branches.  He wanted to preserve them because he did not want to lose the tame tree and the olives it produced.

Lehi spoke of Israel using the olive tree analogy.  “Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an  olive-tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth” (1 Nephi 10:12).

Zenos's allegory also emphasizes that this branch of Israel was hidden in the last of "the nethermost parts of the vineyard" (Jacob 5:13, 14). Lehi explains this sense of isolation further by announcing that "there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord" (2 Nephi 1:6) and that in the Lord's wisdom "this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations" (2 Nephi 1:8). Zenos emphasized the Lord's role in taking the broken branches of his olive to these nethermost parts of the vineyard, and Lehi adds the idea that Nephi in particular had "been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise" (2 Nephi 1:24).[2]

It appears that the tame tree was in a prominent part of the vineyard.  Explaining the Lord’s language, David Seely and John Welch explain, “Zenos begins his allegory with the mental image of the large and central olive tree standing at the top of a high point in the vineyard, for when the Lord hides the natural branches in order to preserve them he takes them down into the ‘nethermost parts of the vineyard’ (Jacob 5:14).”[3]

The Lord went to the far parts of the vineyard and hid the natural branches, some here and some there.  “The olive is one of the few fruit trees that can be propagated by taking a branch of a tree and burying it in the ground. This is apparently what Zenos had in mind when he indicates that the Lord of the vineyard took branches and ‘planted’ them, saying that the natural branches were ‘hid’ in the ground (Jacob 5:14).”[4]

The work he did in the vineyard was done “according to his will and pleasure.”  Noel Reynolds writes, “The allegory of the olive tree uses the distinctive phrase ‘according to his own will and pleasure’ (Jacob 5:14). Zenos uses the phrase to signal the Lord's independence of action relative to his servant and all others.”[5]

---

[1] Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5, Wilford M. Hess, Daniel Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Driggs, Maxwell Institute, accessed April 4, 2014.

[2] Nephite Uses and Interpretations of Zenos, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed April 4, 2014.

[3] Zenos and the Texts of the Old Testament,  David Rolph Seely and John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute, accessed April 4, 2014.

[4] Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5, Wilford M. Hess, Daniel Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Driggs, Maxwell Institute, accessed April 4, 2014.

[5] Nephite Uses and Interpretations of Zenos, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed April 4, 2014.