While living in the valley of Lemuel, Lehi had a dream in which he saw a tree with fruit that was “most sweet, above all that [he] ever before tasted” (1 Nephi 8:10-12). Nephi later desired to know the meaning of the dream his father had received. His wish was granted and he was transported in the Spirit “into an exceedingly high mountain” (1 Nephi 11:1). Here the Spirit instructed Nephi that the tree represented “the Son of God” (1 Nephi 11:7).
According to George Potter and Richard Wellington, since ancient times palm branches have symbolized victory and kingship. The apostle John wrote that the followers of Christ “took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13). But would someone in Nephi’s time and place have understood the association between a tree, probably a date palm, and the Son of God? The answer is yes!
Since earliest times in the Near East the king had been associated with the image of a sacred tree. Indeed, Lehi’s dream of a tree representing the divine king, Jesus Christ, was perfectly in harmony with Near Eastern imagery of the day Simo Parpola wrote:
The heavenly origin of kingship is already attested in the earliest Mesopotamian cultures. In both Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, it is expressed allegorically with the image of a tree planted upon earth by the mother goddess, Inanna/Ishtar. The sacred tree, usually represented in the form of a stylized palm tree growing on a mountain, is the most common decorative motif in Assyrian royal iconography.
Lehi was living in the mountains when he saw the tree, and Nephi was taken to a high mountain to have the meaning of the dream revealed. Parpola informs us that “the cosmic nature of the tree is implied by its elaborate structure, absolute symmetry and axial balance.” Nephi was amazed by the perfection of the tree he saw and said that its "beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow (1 Nephi 11:8; see also 8:11)
In the book of Daniel the king of Babylon dreams of a huge tree growing in the middle of the earth, its top reaching the sky. He is told by the prophet, “that tree, O king, is you” (Daniel 4:10-22). This imagery is ancient. Several Sumerian kings of the Ur III dynasty, about 2000 B.C., are referred to in contemporary texts as “palm trees” or “mes-trees growing along abundant watercourses.” If Lehi had seen in his dream the trees that surrounded him, palm trees growing in the watercourse of wadi Tayyib al Ism, located within the high Hijaz mountains it would be hard to think of a location that more closely fit the classic Near Eastern cosmic tree motif.
To more fully understand the full impact of symbolism of the cosmic tree one must be aware that the Assyrians did not consider their king, represented by the tree, to be a mere mortal. The king was considered to be of divine parentage. According to Parpola, “a perfect king was two thirds god and one third man … the son of god … a celestial savior figure … the son of the divine king, [who] sets out from his celestial home to fight the evil forces that threaten his father’s kingdom.”
After being shown the tree “which is precious above all” (1 Nephi 11:9), Nephi desired “to know the interpretation thereof” (1 Nephi 11:11) and was shown a virgin “exceedingly fair and white” (1 Nephi 11:13) the same terminology used to describe the tree. The Spirit continued, “Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh” (1 Nephi 11:18). Nephi noted, “And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms” (1 Nephi 11:20). This association of the mother of God with the date palm and the image of the mother nursing the god/king is also one of Near Eastern origin. Parpola once more provides us with insight: “In Assyrian imperial art, the goddess nurses the king as a baby or child … the goddess too is identified with the date palm in Assyrian texts.” Ishtar, the mother of the king, was the wife of the Assyrian supreme god Ashur, who Parpola refers to as the “heavenly father of the king” and the “sum total of gods.” Ishtar corresponded to Asherah the wife of the supreme Canaanite god El, who was, as Daniel Peterson points out, depicted as a virgin. (see the commentary on 1 Nephi 11:21) The Asherah mythology was certainly known to Lehi for her symbol stood in Solomon’s temple during his lifetime.
While this vision was given to Nephi of the supreme King who would not be born for another 600 years, it was not an inappropriate image as Parpola points out: “godlike perfection was an inherent characteristic of kings, granted to them even before their birth. According to Assyrian royal inscriptions, kings were called and predestined to their office from the beginning of time.”
For the Assyrians, the palm tree was the earthly representation of the cosmic tree that linked heaven and earth and as such represented a king who did the same. For the inhabitants of ancient Arabia the palm also represented a king who did the same. For the inhabitants of ancient Arabia the palm also represented the Tree of Life. Before Islamic times, the palm tree was worshipped by the people of south Arabia and was a motif that adorned the large temple and the cemetery of Timna. The special position of the palm continued in Islamic times. In the Qur’an we can read, “Seest thou how Allah sets forth a parable of a good word as a good tree” (Qur’an 14:29-31).
To someone from the West, a mental picture of the Tree of Life as a palm tree would not be high on the probability list. Moreover, by what coincidence did an upstate New York farm boy choose a symbol of a palm tree (located in the proposed Valley of Lemuel) which represented the Savior more appropriately than any other object could. [George Potter & Richard Wellington, Discovering Nephi’s Trail, Chapter 3, pp. 13-16, Unpublished] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 8:10; 11:21]