LEAF; LEAVES

lef, levz: Used in three different senses, with reference: (1) To trees (`aleh, "a coming up"), Genesis 3:7; 8:11; Leviticus 26:36 (Tereph); Ezekiel 17:9; phullon. Figuratively (a) of spiritual blessings (Ezekiel 47:12; compare Revelation 22:2) and prosperity (Psalms 1:3); (b) of moral decay (Isaiah 64:6), and (c) of a formal, empty profession (Matthew 21:19). (2) To a book (deleth), Jeremiah 36:23 (margin "columns"; see Jeremiah 36:2); as the parchment was gradually unfolded the successive columns could be read. (3) To doors (tsela`, "side," qela`,"a screen," "hanging"), 1 Kings 6:34. The door of the Holy Place consisted of two halves, but each half had two leaves (compare Ezekiel 41:24).

M. O. Evans

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.