Green: The Importance of Colours in the Bible

When I chose to use only the NIV Bible for The Importance of Colours in the Bibleseries, I did not realise how helpful it would be in terms of reducing the amount of Bible verses to sort through. Combining all versions of the Bible, there are almost ninety mentions of the colour green, however, only half of them appear in the NIV. The translator of the NIV decided that the word “pasture” was as good as “green field”, and it was not necessary to write “green trees” when “trees” would suffice. So, hats off to the NIV scholars for making this article a little easier for me!
 
The colour green is between yellow and blue on the visible spectrum. It is a secondary colour that can be produced by mixing two primary colours – blue and yellow. The word “green” comes from the old English word grene, which has the same root as the words “grass” and “grow”. The majority of green we see in the world comes from nature, such as grass, trees, vegetation and so forth. 
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Green is common in plants because they contain a chemical called chlorophyll, which gives them this colour. Many fish, birds and reptiles are also green and use the chlorophyll green of their surrounding environment as a means of camouflage. Green creatures include frogs, parrots, snakes and the green huntsman spider. 
 
In Ancient Egypt, the colour green was associated with regeneration and rebirth; however, it was rarely used in their artworks. The Romans, on the other hand, connected the colour green with Venus, the goddess of gardens, vegetables and vineyards, amongst other things. As a result, a green earthy pigment was often used in their artworks. By the second century AD, the Romans had at least ten different words for varieties of greens.

​In the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, colour determined people’s rank and profession. Red was reserved for nobility and browns for peasants. Green was used for merchants, bankers, gentry and their family. It is for this reason that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa wears green in her famous portrait, as does the woman in the Arnolfini portrait by Jan van Eyck.

Green can be used as a symbol for a variety of things. In terms of traffic and safety, green grants permission and announces that it is safe to proceed. In most countries, the colour is also associated with nature, health, life, springtime, freshness and hope. It has been adopted by organisations, such as Greenpeace and the Green Party, as a result of this. Bins specifically for garden waste are green and areas in cities designated as a garden or park are often referred to as green areas.
 
In China, green is associated with the east and sunrise as well as life and growth. In Thailand, however, they connect the colour with something a little more obscure: a child born on a Wednesday. Many places relate green with youth; for instance, an inexperienced person may be called green. Underripe fruit are usually green.
 
Surveys undertaken around the world reveal that people mostly think of calmness, nature and freshness when confronted with the word green. Other suggestions, however, are less positive, for example, jealousy and envy. It is believed that William Shakespeare was the first person to use the term “green-eyed monster” in his play Othello in reference to jealousy. 
 
Other phrases that include the word green are:

• Having a green thumb – being good at gardening
• Greenhorn – an inexperienced person
• Greenroom – a room in a theatre where actors can rest when not on stage. This term originated from the colour of this room at the Theatre Royal in London.
• Green around the gills – someone who is looking a little ill
• Going green – a company or person who is participating in activities to preserve the environment, i.e. recycling

 
The colour green has a few significances in religion. According to Islamic tradition, the robes and banner of Muhammad were green. Al-Khidr, who supposedly met and travelled with Moses, was also known as The Green One. 
 
In Christianity, clergy may wear green during “ordinary time”, i.e. a Sunday that does not fall within a particular holiday or festival season. In Eastern Catholic Churches, green is usually the colour of Pentecost. Many associate green with Christmas, for instance, Christmas trees and holly leaves. Interestingly, in Scotland and Ireland, green is used to represent Catholics. This is shown on the Irish flag with orange representing Protestants. 
In the Bible, there does not appear to be any particular meaning connected to the use of the word “green”. It is used mostly to describe the colour of grass, trees or plants.

• Genesis 1:30: “And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
• Genesis 9:3: Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
• Psalm 23:2: He makes me lie down in green pastures,he leads me beside quiet waters
• Psalm 105:35: they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.
• Joel 2:22: Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
• Mark 6:39: Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

 
The greenness of nature is seen as a positive thing but many verses in the Bible talk about the lack of green. Exodus 10:15 talks about the result of the plague of locusts sent by God to the land of Egypt: “They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.”
 
In Job 39:8, God speaks to Job about the animals he created. God tells him he gave the donkey the salt flats as its natural habit where “It ranges the hills for its pastureand searches for any green thing.”
 
Isaiah 15 records a prophecy against Moab. As a punishment, the land will be ruined, destroyed overnight. Verse 6 states, “The waters of Nimrim are dried upand the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left.”
 
God reminds Ezekiel of His powers in Ezekiel 17:24: “All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.” Later, in chapter 20, God speaks via Ezekiel, revealing a prophecy against the South. Verse 47 says, “Say to the southern forest: Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it.”
 
Of course, the best place to find verses about destruction is in the book of Revelation. In the NIV, the word green only appears once in the book, however, it is concerning the end of the world, thus a distinct lack of green. Revelation 8:7: “The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”
 
In the Gospel of Luke, there is one example of a positive connotation of the colour green used in a negative context. This occurs shortly before the crucifixion of Jesus when he tells the “Daughters of Jerusalem” not to weep for him but their children, predicting devastating times in the future. He ends this short speech with the line: “For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:31) The green tree in this riddle refers to Jesus himself, the Son of God, the one who came to Earth to save. If people are doing wicked things while he is alive, what will they do once he is dead?
 
Green plants are often used as an analogy in the Bible. Most commonly, it describes people or entire societies. In some instance, the metaphor talks about people flourishing or bouncing back after a disaster. On the other hand, some refer to the destruction of communities as a result of punishments for their sins. 

• 2 Kings 19:26: Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
• Psalm 92:14: They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green
• Proverbs 11:28: Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.
• Isaiah 37:27: Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorchedbefore it grows up.
• Jeremiah 17:8: They will be like a tree planted by the waterthat sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
• Psalm 37:2: for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
• Psalm 58:9: Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.

 
And that ends the examples of the word green in the NIV. There are of course many more in other versions of the Bible, however, they tend to refer to the colour of plants, grass or fields rather than anything of more significance.
 
To finish, just for fun, let’s think of as many things that are green in today’s world, not including those already mentioned. I will start you off:

• Some flags: Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil
• Casino tables
• Billiard and snooker tables
• Avocados 
• Brussels sprouts
• Shrek
• Wine bottles
• Kermit the frog

Over to you…