וְכִי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙ כָּל־עֵ֣ץ מַאֲכָ֔ל וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם עָרְלָת֖וֹ אֶת־פִּרְי֑וֹ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֗ים יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם עֲרֵלִ֖ים לֹ֥א יֵאָכֵֽל׃
Apabila kamu masuk ke negeri itu dan menanam segala jenis pohon yang buahnya dapat dimakan, kamu harus memperlakukan buahnya sebagai sesuatu yang tertutup dan terlarang. Selama tiga tahun buah itu harus tertutup dan terlarang bagimu; buah itu tidak boleh dimakan.
Concerning Noah's Work as a Planter
(β) 94–139. Our planting (Lev. 19:23–25). Ere we can plant fruit trees we must migrate to the God-given land, i.e. the mind must find the way of Wisdom. The beginner bidden to prune, i.e. cut out all hurtful things, e.g. the harlot and the toady from Friendship, superstition from Religion. Jacob’s peeled rods and the leper’s flesh, both white all over, serve as a pattern. Philo attempts to explain the command to prune the fruit itself.
Allegorical Interpretation of Genesis
[52] Do you not see that, even if He bring us into virtue and even if, when brought in, we plant no fruitless thing but “every tree good for food,” He yet commands us “thoroughly to cleanse its uncleanness” (Lev. 19:23)? And this means the notion that we are planting, for it is the cutting away of self-conceit that He demands, and self-conceit is in its nature unclean.
Concerning Noah's Work as a Planter
[95] “When ye shall have entered into the land, which the Lord your God giveth you, and shall have planted any tree for food, ye shall cleanse away its uncleanness: for three years its fruit shall remain not cleansed away, it shall not be eaten: but in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy for a thank-offering to the Lord: but in the fifth year ye shall eat the fruit; its crop shall be added to your store. I am the Lord, your God” (Lev. 19:23–25).