I. Old Testament
The motif of the tree of life (םייִּחַהַ ץעֵ/ʿeṣ haḥayyîm), a variation of the idea of the “sacred tree” that appears in Canaanite, Mesopotamian and Egyptian texts, and also in the Indo-European area, is found in Gen 2:9; 3:22,24; Prov 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4 and Isa 65:22 LXX. The tree, on the basis of its cyclical sef-renewal, functions as a symbol of the regeneration of the cosmos, as an image of fertility, and thus also of immortali…