Where Did the Tradition of Wreaths Begin? Christmas in Detail 03

God Honest Truth

Step into the past and discover the powerful story behind the wreaths you see every holiday season. In this teaching, you’ll uncover the rich history of wreaths—where they came from, what they meant in ancient cultures, and how they’ve been viewed through the lens of Scripture and Christian tradition.  So many traditions are practiced without understanding their roots. We believe every believer should know whether these symbols align with scripture or simply reflect man’s invention. This video solves the puzzle of wreath symbolism, empowering you to make informed, faith-aligned choices in your celebrations and daily life.  Join us as we trace the wreath’s journey through time, separating fact from fable, and giving you a fresh, biblical perspective. Come discover the God Honest Truth about wreaths.  Don't forget to like this video, subscribe to our channel, and click the bell icon so you don't miss our next teaching!  #HistoryOfWreaths #GodHonestTruth #WreathMeaning #ChristianHistory #HolidayOrigins  Video Chapters:   Resources from God Honest Truth: Get the full notes, drash slides, and transcript for this teaching: https://godhonesttruth.com/wp/2025/10/03/where-did-the-tradition-of-wreaths-begin-live-stream-10-10-25/  Find more resources to help you in your walk of faith: [https://www.GodHonestTruth.com]  Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GodHonestTruth  Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/godhonesttruth  Social Media Links: https://godhonesttruth.com/wp/connect-socially/  Music: TheFatRat - Kingdom Come Watch the official music video: https://tinyurl.com/tfrkingdomcome Listen to Kingdom Come: https://thefatrat.ffm.to/warriorsongs Follow TheFatRat: https://ffm.bio/thefatrat  —-Disclaimer: The information presented here is for documentary, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Any imitation or application of the content is done at your own risk. Neither the creators nor associated platforms shall be liable for any injury or damage resulting from such use. This content is freely accessible; please report any unauthorized attempts to charge. By viewing or flagging this content, you acknowledge and accept these terms.  Fair Use: Any inclusion of third-party audio/music, video, or images is used under Fair Use for commentary, parody, and educational or documentary purposes.  This video may contain content that is unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humor or irrational religious beliefs.

Transcript

00:00So if you're going to do a series on Christmas, if you're going to do a study on Christmas,

00:06one of the aspects that you've just got to bring up, one of the things you've got to

00:10look into is the subject of wreaths and how does that play into the whole Christmas thing?

00:16Where does it come from?

00:17How were they used in the past?

00:18What does the Bible have to say about it?

00:20Because the word wreath is actually used in the Bible.

00:24But how is it used?

00:25Is it used in a good way and a bad way?

00:27But we're going to get into that in this study coming up next from God, Honest Truth.

00:50This episode is going to be all about wreaths or what we commonly think of as wreaths and

00:56what I will define my interpretation of what a wreath is in just a moment.

01:00But if you would like more information on this subject than what we have currently put into

01:05this presentation, by all means, go check out the article post that we have provided for

01:10you on GodHonestTruth.com.

01:12There you'll be able to find the on-demand video.

01:14You'll be able to find the draw slides that you see here on your screen.

01:18You'll also be able to find the notes that we took and provided to you for this particular

01:22subject.

01:23We also have several files from AI, some research papers that we had AI do in the subject of

01:32wreaths.

01:33So you can go and find out even more than what you find out here.

01:37Go check it out on GodHonestTruth.com or go down below in the description and click on

01:42the convenient link that we provided for you there.

01:44And it should be there whether you're watching on an audio podcasting platform or a video

01:49platform will be down there in the description, all the same, just click on that convenient

01:53link.

01:54So something that really opened my eyes that I kind of had mixed up, I'm guessing at least

02:02technically so, is what is a wreath actually and what do they mean by wreath?

02:09When I think of a wreath, I think of this large, circular, decorative thing, usually with lots

02:18of green in it and usually made of evergreen with most of the ones I've seen.

02:24And a lot of times they'll have flowers sometimes at like weddings or even especially funerals.

02:30They'll have wreaths made out of colorful flowers and in different shapes, sometimes in art shape.

02:37I've seen them, but most of the time it's in a circle shape.

02:41And that's what these large things, that's what I really thought of as a wreath.

02:45That's something that's not always been the understanding throughout history.

02:50So let's go ahead and start out by defining what is a wreath.

02:56We look at Merriam-Webster and this comes from Merriam-Webster.com for the definition

03:01of wreath.

03:03And it has as number one, something intertwined or arranged in a circular shape, such as a

03:09decorative arrangement of foliage or flowers on a circular base or a band of intertwined

03:13flowers or leaves worn as a mark of honor or victory.

03:17Now that to me sounds more like a crown than what I would think of as a wreath.

03:24Like I said, it kind of seems like I was wrong on this particular understanding.

03:28And the second definition they have here for the meaning of wreath is something having a

03:34circular or coiling form.

03:36Now keep this concept in mind because this is something we're going to get into a lot

03:41as we go through some of the historical information and especially some of the scriptural information

03:47during this drosh.

03:48That whole something having a circular or coiling form because that gets brought up a lot in

03:55various translations.

03:55But we'll get into that here in just a little bit.

03:57The other definition I want to kind of put out there for your notes and for your understanding

04:04and something that I come to understand is the definition of garland.

04:09And according to Merriam-Webster, garland is defined as a circular or spiral arrangement

04:16of intertwined material, such as flowers or leaves.

04:21This is really getting down to the heart and definition of what I think a wreath is, but it's

04:27actually the definition for garland.

04:29So just keep that in mind too as we go throughout this.

04:32And as you look through the information that we have provided for you on our website at godhonesttruth.com,

04:37such as those AI research papers where the notes that we took, a lot of times the words

04:43will be used together as wreath and garland, but you'll be thinking one thing, but they'll

04:48be meaning another by this other word that happened to me.

04:51So it took a little bit extra time to get my mind corrected and understand exactly what they

04:56were talking about specifically, which is one of the reasons why we didn't have a drosh

05:01last week, uh, according and in addition to other stuff too.

05:04But anyways, moving on, this is from symbol genie and the article, what does a wreath symbolize?

05:11And here it says, quote, a wreath is an arrangement of flowers, leaves, fruit, twigs, or other materials

05:17that is usually hung on a wall door or window.

05:20Quote, wreaths have been used for centuries as a way to decorate homes and as a symbol

05:25of hope and goodwill, end quote.

05:28That's what I think of when I think of a wreath, something that's decorative, has the twigs,

05:34has the flowers, has the leaves, but especially the greenery.

05:39And here is a picture of what I would normally understand as a wreath.

05:44So that's not always been the understanding.

05:46Sometimes, especially back in the day, as sometimes said, a wreath just simply meant something that

05:55was circular.

05:57It could be small.

05:58It could be big.

05:59It could be even sometimes made out of metal, but not usually.

06:05Usually it's made out of perishable organic material like flowers or branches, leaves, stuff

06:13like that.

06:14But here on your screen, this is what I would normally think of as a wreath.

06:17But sometimes, technically speaking, it can be referred to this as a garland instead.

06:24I usually think of garland as those spring things that you would put on Christmas trees

06:29or decorate the house with, but they would be long strands of stuff, not this circular thing.

06:36This is something that's really opened my eyes.

06:39But hopefully this is good information for you, too.

06:41Now, according to the etym online, the etymology of the word wreath, they say it comes from

06:49the Middle English rethi, if I'm saying that correctly, or even wreath spelled differently,

06:54but meaning a round or coiled shape, something coiled up or wound in a circular shape, a twisted

06:59band, especially a flowering branch or the like twisted in circular form worn about the

07:04head from Old English reo or race or meaning fillet, bandage or band, meaning ring or garland

07:13of flowers or vines is recorded or usually starts about the 1560s, about middle of the 16th century,

07:21something like that.

07:22So, once again, this is not something that I would have defined a wreath as being.

07:29But again, according to this definition, it's something that's worn up on the head, something

07:32I would call a crown nowadays or something similar to that.

07:38Or garland, the etymology of garland from etamon lion from about the 1300s, meaning wreath of

07:45flowers, also brown of gold or silver from Old French garland, garland, the word is found

07:52in many forms in the Romantic language, such as Old Spanish garlanda, French guirlanda,

07:59Italian guirlanda, Portuguese grinalda.

08:04I know I probably butchered the pronunciation of those, but you get the point.

08:08They're all fairly similar.

08:10I mean, the same thing.

08:11This is kind of reminds me of the whole Easter teaching when we got into that and most

08:15words around the world, or what we know of as Easter, uses a derivative of the Greek

08:23word pasca, whereas in America, we use the pagan goddess name of Easter.

08:30So, it just kind of reminded me of that when all these words were very, very similar in sounding

08:35to the word garland.

08:38But anyways, let's go ahead and look at some scripture, why don't we?

08:41Looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 25.

08:46Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

08:50They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

08:56And that coming from the RSV.

08:58Now, other translations also use this very same word as, I'm sorry, this very same word

09:04of wreath.

09:06For example, we got on screen here the ESV, but other translations choose a different word

09:11and they choose the word crown, such as the King James Version, the Legacy Standard Version,

09:17and the version we use here at God Honest Truth, the scriptures 2009.

09:21So, is this a wreath or is this a crown?

09:25Well, in my definition, it's one way, but in other translations, they think of it as a different

09:30way.

09:32Here, the word used in the Greek is the Greek word G4735.

09:37That's G4735.

09:39And that is the Greek word Stephanos.

09:42Stephanos.

09:44And here, your outline of biblical usage from blueletterbible.com has it down as a crown,

09:51a mark of royal or exalted rank, et cetera, et cetera.

09:54Throne's definition has it defined as a chaplet, a badge of royalty, prize in public games, or

10:00a symbol of honor generally.

10:02That's the meaning of the word Stephanos from the Greek.

10:07Here's the Thayer's Greek lexicon for Stephanos, meaning a crown, a mark of royal or exalted

10:14rank from the Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament, a wreath consisting of foliage

10:20or precious metals formed to resemble foliage or hand-worn as a symbol of honor, victory,

10:26or as a badge of high office.

10:28Wreath crown.

10:29To describe a wreath merely as a circle of leaves would hardly be sufficient to indicate its

10:34cultural significance.

10:36And then here is your BDAG entry for Stephanos.

10:39And I'm sure you can read that or go to our notes if you aren't able to read that for

10:43the full entry from the BDAG.

10:46But what I'm getting from the lexicons and the dictionaries, stuff like that, or Stephanos

10:52is meaning what I would understand to be a crown, something that is smaller in origin than

10:58what I would think a wreath would be, smaller in origin and worn upon the head.

11:04And finally, here is your, I'm sorry.

11:08Yeah, sorry.

11:09This is your last one, but this comes from the LSJ lexicon and the Middle Liddell lexicon.

11:14Very similar lexicons, but that's another subject.

11:20Yeah, this word Stephanos, I would normally take it to be something like a crown, something

11:24wear up on your head, headgear, things like that.

11:26And it's usually something that is given.

11:29It's something that is awarded and earned a lot of times.

11:34So take that kind of meaning behind Stephanos.

11:37So you've got the crown, the headwear aspect, and something that is awarded.

11:45It's given as a symbol of accomplishment, something that is earned, things like that.

11:53For a better understanding or definition of Stephanos, this comes from the Theological Dictionary of

12:01the New Testament.

12:02And this is the entry for Stephanos.

12:04And there's a whole big entry that we've got on our notes, but this is the abridged version

12:09that we've provided here for the slides.

12:11But here it has defined for Stephanos, meaning the crown or wreath in the ancient world.

12:17To encircle, Stephanos means crown.

12:20The crown as a wreath placed upon the head is a sign of life and fertility.

12:25In nature, the simplest crown consists of a bent twig or two twigs tied together, wreaths

12:30of grass, leaves, or flowers.

12:32And cultic usage also, because this gets used a lot in cultic or pagan concepts, but the

12:41cultists and cultic acts, priests wear various forms of crowns.

12:46Obviously, there's headwear just about all over the place, and the Hebrews were no different

12:52in the Tanakh.

12:53You look back at the requirements and the description of the Levitical priesthood, the priest, especially

13:00the high priest, had a turban or had some kind of headwear that he would wear, and the priests

13:06that were under him, and just the everyday regular priests, the Levites, they would wear

13:11a head covering as well, which really gets into the whole 1 Corinthians and what did Paul

13:17mean by head covering thing, but we've already got into that.

13:20Go back to the other episode.

13:23Yeah, let's not get too far down the rabbit trail.

13:25Yeah, the use of headwear in religious matters is nothing new, and it's nothing that is specific

13:31only to the Hebrews, and it's nothing specific that's only to the pagans, not like Christmas

13:36trees.

13:38So yeah, headwear was worn by everyone, and in the pagan religions, it was no different.

13:43They wore headwear as well, including stephanos or crowns or that kind of headwear.

13:49In the army, the people in the army also wore these stephanos or these crowns.

13:56The Spartans would put on crowns before doing battle as well as other particular or other

14:01armies as well in the ancient days.

14:04In private life, in just regular everyday citizen's life, it's something that you wouldn't wear

14:08every day and just common going about your day, doing your errands, stuff like that, but

14:13a regular citizen could wear one if they were given one as a symbol of honor, as an award,

14:21as a symbol of pride, and stuff like that.

14:23But it wasn't an everyday thing.

14:24It was a very special thing, especially for a regular everyday civilian.

14:29But again, from the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, getting into the Old

14:33Testament is a word used in the Septuagint back in the Old Testament or the Tanakh, and it's

14:39used in 2 Samuel when David takes the golden stephanos from the king of Rabbah and puts

14:46it on his own head.

14:48Esther, in the book of Esther, the word stephanos is used to describe the crown and the mantle

14:53that is given to Mordechai at the end of the Purim story.

14:59So the Hebrews employed and used this concept, the stephanos, this crown imagery, a lot, even

15:07in the Old Testament.

15:09Judaism uses it as well.

15:12So stephanos or crown is not really what we're looking at, but I wanted to make that

15:16distinction and put it out there for you, because as you saw in some translations, it

15:22does translate this word as wreath.

15:24But I, in my opinion, it's done incorrectly.

15:28So I think, and tell me if I'm wrong, put down in the comments and say you disagree or you

15:35don't think like this.

15:37But in my opinion, when I think of a wreath, I think of, again, that big circular greenery

15:44thing, not something that's small and you wear on your head.

15:47Something that's small and you wear on your head, I think of like a crown or a hat, something

15:51like that, but not a wreath.

15:53However, some translations translate this word stephanos, which is commonly understood

15:58to be like headwear or crown.

16:00These translations translate it as wreath.

16:04So I wanted you to know this because it can get confusing depending on what translation

16:08that you are using or looking at at the time, which is something, another reason why I always

16:13advise people to use more than just one translation.

16:18You might have a favorite translation.

16:19I do.

16:20I do.

16:21I love the scriptures 2009, but that's not the only one that I use my daily reader.

16:27It's thing I use the most, but it's not the only one I use because I understand that it

16:34even my favorite translation as laws has got things wrong.

16:38I understand this.

16:39So I do word studies like this and I look at different translations to see how they translated

16:45it and see why they would translate it differently.

16:48And I encourage you to do the same thing.

16:50And this is here is a prime poster boy example of why we should use different translations

16:58in our studies and why we should do word studies so we can better understand what they were actually

17:03trying to tell us and not what we now get in the translations because it could be lost

17:10in translation, as they say.

17:11But going on and looking at another word that is relevant to our study tonight, and that

17:18is Strong's G1238.

17:21That's Strong's G1238.

17:23And that is the Greek word diadema.

17:26Diadema.

17:27Now here, this is what you actually think of and know of as a crown.

17:35From the outline of biblical usage, it has it defined as or in scripture used as a diadem,

17:44a blue band marked with a white, which is Persian kings used to bind on their turban or tiara,

17:49the kingly ornament for the head, meaning the crown, which you would normally think of as

17:53a crown from the about every single Hollywood creation of medieval England, you know, that

18:01the kind of crown.

18:04From Strong's definition, a diadem or a crown as bound about the head, there's Greek lexicon,

18:10a diadem to bind round Greek English lexicon of the New Testament, a type of crown employed

18:16as a symbol of the highest ruling power in a particular area associated with kingship.

18:23The BDAG entry defines it as to bind around, band fillet, properly the sign of royalty.

18:29From the LSJ, a band or fillet, band around the tiara worn by the Persian king.

18:36In the middle, Liddell, again, pretty much the same thing as the LSJ, a band or fillet,

18:41especially the band around the tiara of the Persian king.

18:45And this is a word you can find in the Brithadishah as well.

18:49You can find it in several different places, especially in Revelation.

18:56And the notes on that, once again, are on the notes file.

19:00You can find all the verses that this word is used in in our notes file.

19:05So go check that out on godhonesttruth.com.

19:08Simply click on the link down below in the description.

19:10But finally, the last word I would like to bring up for your consideration and for your notes

19:16is the word, I'm sorry, the Strong's entry G4725.

19:23That's G4725.

19:24And the only place I've been able to find this in Scripture,

19:28and this is a critical point.

19:32This is like a pivot point for our study and understanding tonight.

19:35The only place I've been able to find this in Scripture is in Acts chapter 14.

19:41This is Acts chapter 14, verses 11 to 18.

19:46And when the crowd saw what Shaul had done, they lifted up their voices.

19:52The mighty ones, or gods, have become like men and come down to us.

19:56And they called Barnabas Zeus, and Shaul Hermes.

20:02And the priest of Zeus brought oxen and wreaths and wished to offer with the crowds.

20:09And when the emissaries Barnabas and Shaul heard this, they tore their garments, crying

20:14out and saying, Men, why are you doing this?

20:17We also are men with the same nature as you, bringing to you the good news to turn from

20:23these worthless matters to the living Elohim.

20:26Even with these words, they still had difficulty in stopping the crowds from offering to them.

20:33Now, I'll put all that in there just so you got the context behind what is going on here.

20:39You got Paul and Barnabas, and they're doing great and wonderful things.

20:45And they're doing miraculous things.

20:47In front of the crowds, in front of the people, they're going out, and they are being the apostles

20:51they're supposed to be.

20:52And they are amazing, the people, because the people have not seen anything like this.

20:57And the people are so amazed, they think that Paul and Barnabas are gods come down from the

21:03heavens to be among them.

21:06And what do they do?

21:07The chief priest there, the priest of Zeus, comes and wants to make an offering along with

21:12the people, because the people want to make an offering to these gods, or at the very least

21:17what they consider to be demigods, the part-god, part-man legends of Greek antiquity, right?

21:26So, the priest of Zeus and these people want to make offerings to Paul and Barnabas because

21:31they think they're gods.

21:32And what do they bring?

21:34They bring the oxen, which is to be fairly familiar with, as part of the sacrifices.

21:40But they also bring something else.

21:42They bring wreaths.

21:46And these are the wreaths that we, or what I would normally think of as a wreath.

21:51It's not the strands and stuff like that.

21:53It's these circular ornaments, decorative greenery things.

21:59And they want to make this as part of the sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, as they think

22:04they are gods.

22:06Now, what I read to you was the Scriptures 2009 translation.

22:09In other translations, like the ESV, the King James, the LSB, and the Tree of Life version,

22:16they all translate this word as garlands instead of wreaths.

22:21But you see what we were talking about there earlier?

22:24How the, hmm, I guess the more antiquated understanding is that garland is the circular, big circular

22:34decorative thing, but wreath is just anything in general that is circular in design.

22:42So, take you how you would here.

22:45Now, one thing that I found very interesting is the Wycliffe translation.

22:50For the most part, I think it makes better sense and reads better the way they have it structured

22:55in this particular sentence, but they do translate this word as crowns, not wreaths or garlands,

23:03which is fairly odd.

23:05So, this is going to be, um, ah, I don't know, it's very, very odd.

23:13Anyways, this word, G4725, that's G4725 in the Strongs.

23:18That is the Greek word shtema, shtema, and the outline of biblical usage has it defined

23:25as a fillet, a garland, or something that's put upon victims.

23:31Strong's definition has it as a wreath for show, or a garland.

23:36Thayer's Greek lexicon has it defined as a fillet, a garland, put upon victims.

23:42Greek English lexicon of the New Testament, shtema, a wreath of wool to which leaves and flowers

23:47might be added and either wound around a staff or woven into a garland to be worn on the

23:54head, garland, or wreath.

23:56Garlands were an important part of the ritual involved in the worship of pagan gods in the

24:02ancient world.

24:02Such a garland may be described as a circle of leaves, or a ring of flowers, or a wreath

24:08of flowers.

24:10From the BDAG entry, it means, or stemma, as wreath or garland of flowers.

24:17But wool was also necessary for religious purposes.

24:22From the LSJ lexicon, a wreath garland chaplet, especially of the priest's laurel wreath, ground

24:28around a staff, worn on the head.

24:32And from the middle of the dell, pretty much the same thing, but anyways, I gotta stop doing

24:38that.

24:39Like I said, I could only find it in one place in scripture, and that's in the book of

24:44Acts chapter 14, verse 13.

24:46If you found something else, then by all means, let me know so I can add it to the notes and

24:51have a better understanding.

24:53But yeah, so far, what I've been able to discern is that this whole concept of Stephanos is

25:00something, a headwear that's worn by just about everyone, whether it's kings, royalty, or regular

25:07everyday citizens.

25:09The diadem is a something that's usually metal in nature, that's circular, worn upon the head,

25:16headgear, and has sometimes to be precious jewels, stuff like that, but usually only ever

25:22worn by royalty, by leadership, by the governing body, right?

25:27That's not usually worn by regular everyday people.

25:33So that would be diadem, or diadema in the Greek.

25:38The word that you really need to focus on here and think about is the word stemma, and

25:43from what I can gather, stemma is meaning garland, but what we would normally think of as a wreath

25:49nowadays, a large decorative thing that was usually used in the worship or the honor or the

25:57veneration of a particular pagan god.

26:01And this is something that is really comparable to our episode that we did on dendrolatry.

26:06When you think about it, a wreath like that is going to be composed of usually some kind

26:12of greenery, like leaves or branches and things like that.

26:15It's not going to be composed of rocks or, you know, sand or anything else.

26:23But because of these things, it can actually be wound around and styled like that.

26:29So yeah, take it as you will, but usually these things are used in pagan rituals and should

26:35not be used by us.

26:38So understand the difference between Stephanos, diadema, and stemma.

26:45Stemma is definitely the one we should definitely stay away from.

26:48But just a quick comparison real quick between diadema and Stephanos and the modern wreath,

26:55which we will associate with the word stemma and still proven otherwise as much as we can

27:02discern at this moment.

27:04If you have a different understanding and you have evidence to back it up, by all means,

27:08let us know.

27:10Anyways, the primary meaning of a biblical or I'm sorry, of a crown, the Greek word diadema,

27:16meaning royal sovereignty, something like kingship, rulership, authority, dominion,

27:23things like that.

27:25The Stephanos, on the other hand, could mean something like victory, honor, achievement,

27:29something that is also like diadema, something that is given or awarded.

27:36However, the modern wreath or the stemma is like a decoration.

27:41It's a memorial, a festive garland, or what they used to refer to as a garland.

27:46Maybe I've got this whole concept wrong and I should be calling it a garland instead of a wreath,

27:50but it's what I normally think of as this large decorative wreath nowadays.

27:57The material is different in each of these, or usually different in each of these as well.

28:02For instance, the diadema is usually made from a metal or something like that, or even a fabric,

28:11but the metal would be something of high value like gold, silver, et cetera, et cetera.

28:16The Stephanos can be made of a variety of things.

28:20It can be made from metal also to resemble leaves and branches and whatnot,

28:24but more commonly it would be made from leaves, branches, flowers, stuff like that,

28:29and things that will decay and rot and go away.

28:34And this is kind of the contrast that Paul brings up, but one verse in the Bible as well.

28:41The modern wreath or the stemma that we've been talking about is made from flowers.

28:46It's made from evergreens.

28:47The wreaths that we're used to now at Christmas comes from the evergreens,

28:54and it comes from the Germans, just like the Christmas trees do.

28:57And it comes from the winter solstice, the yuletide celebrations, just like the Christmas tree does.

29:04But these are made from flowers, from evergreens, from all kinds of various decorative materials.

29:12Once again, that is stemma.

29:14These things are worn by various different people as well.

29:19The diadema, or we would understand to be a crown, is usually only ever worn by those in the highest authority,

29:27things like kings, queens, and rulers, and governors, and emperors, et cetera, et cetera.

29:33The Stephanos is a symbol of honor, symbol of achievement, stuff like that.

29:40It's something else that is also awarded or given, and it's given to athletes.

29:47It's given to honored citizens who do great and wonderful things and deserve to be honored.

29:52It's given to the faithful believer in Scripture.

29:56So that's something that you achieve, something that you are given.

29:59But the stemma, or the wreath, is something that's not given.

30:04It's something you just make for decorative purposes.

30:06And back in the day, it was made for, it's all from Scripture, as a part of an offering to a pagan god.

30:14And the modern wreath, or the stemma, is for anyone.

30:19High-born, low-born, rulers, everyday people, et cetera, et cetera.

30:25It's for anyone, and it's for decorative or symbolic purposes nowadays, but in the past, it was used for religious cultic practices.

30:35The nature of these different things kind of has some nuance as well.

30:41The diadema, or the crown, is an inherent right of office or power.

30:46But again, it's also something that's given, and it's given either by the people that are electing you,

30:52it's given by your predecessor, usually like your father or someone like that.

30:57Or, like we saw in the case of Saul, it's given by Yahweh himself to Saul.

31:04But once again, it's something that is given.

31:07Whereas the nature of a Stephanos, something that we would consider, like, again,

31:15greenery headwear, something like that.

31:17Something small, smaller than what we think of as a wreath.

31:19A Stephanos is a earned prize, something else that is given, like the diadema,

31:26but the Stephanos is earned before it's given, and it's given as a symbol of honor.

31:33It's a reward that you are given as a prize, something to distinguish you above everyone else.

31:39Sort of like a trophy, almost.

31:42But the wreath, it's not earned.

31:45It's just, again, decoration.

31:49And like the Stephanos, it is also temporary.

31:52It will rot and decay and die.

31:56But it's still, you know, not earned.

32:00It's not got the same value behind it as something like a diadema or a Stephanos.

32:07It's just out there.

32:08And once again, this stemma or what we would think of nowadays as a wreath is something that

32:15was used way back in the pagan days to worship their pagan gods.

32:21Now, something I want to bring up to make a clarification real quick.

32:27Greenery is not bad in and of itself.

32:31Yahweh created everything that includes the green trees, the green grass, the beautiful flowers,

32:37et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

32:38But they're not bad in and of themselves.

32:40And they're not bad to use in religious purposes.

32:46Now, with that being said, when we use them in the way that pagans do, that is when it gets bad.

32:54For example, gold is not bad.

32:58Gold is used extensively in making the temple, then making the Ark of the Covenant,

33:05and making the utensils, et cetera, et cetera, the menorah, all this other stuff.

33:09So gold is not itself bad.

33:11But when it's used in a pagan way, like the pagans did when making idols like golden calves,

33:17and the people of Yahweh do that, that is very bad.

33:20But likewise, greenery is not bad.

33:23But when it's used in a way like the pagans used to do, like they put it in a circle,

33:29and they would use it in honor or reverence of their pagan gods,

33:34and we do that in honor of our god, that is when it really gets down to the nitty-gritty

33:40and when we are doing wrong.

33:42For instance, if we take these green things that Yahweh created, we arrange them in a circular fashion,

33:50and then we display in honor and veneration of the birthday of the sun god,

33:58and we slap a Christian sticker on it, it doesn't change anything.

34:02It's still doing pagan things in pagan ways, but saying that we're honoring the almighty,

34:10one true god of the universe.

34:12That's just something we're told not to do.

34:17So understand the difference between these words,

34:19and understand what scripture is actually talking about,

34:21and understand where the rub, as it were, really comes into play here.

34:27So it gets confusing sometimes, as it did with me during the study.

34:32It gets confusing sometimes if you don't know what they're talking about,

34:35and it can get conflated.

34:37Stick with it.

34:38You'll get there.

34:39You'll eventually sort these things out,

34:41but just know the difference between these three words when they come up,

34:44so you'll know exactly what they mean in the original languages

34:48and what the original author meant when he wrote it.

34:51So in summary,

34:52Number one,

34:54the word wreath means something that's intertwined or arranged in a circular shape.

35:01Technically, and in the old meaning,

35:02it's basically something in a circular shape.

35:07Garland means a circular or spiral arrangement of intertwined material,

35:12usually something of a greenery nature,

35:15such as flowers, leaves, or branches, or things like that.

35:19There are three different Greek words that we examined during this particular teaching

35:24that we have found in the Brit Hadashah.

35:27We didn't even get into the Sanak because it's, well, pretty much the same thing.

35:32We just didn't get into the Hebrew words.

35:34But anyways, the three words that we looked at during this teaching

35:37is Strong's G1238, and that's diadema.

35:42Strong's G4735, and that is Stephanos.

35:45Strong's G4725, and that is the Greek word shtema.

35:51The crowns, or the diadema, means a piece of headwear that is worn by the popdog,

35:59the emperor, the king, prince, queen, etc., etc.

36:05Gris means something like victory or honor or achievement.

36:09Like the diadema, this Stephanos is something that is earned or awarded or given to someone.

36:18Then we have the third word, the shtema, which we would nowadays associate with our modern word,

36:25wreath, as we would understand the word wreath,

36:27something large and circular and decorative and used in religious context and religious worship.

36:34So, that is a quick summary of what we learned tonight.

36:40There's a whole lot more that goes into it.

36:42Like I said, it's really, it really comes down to dendrolatry once again.

36:50When I planned out this whole series, I thought there would be enough information here

36:54to have two separate episodes on dendrolatry and wreaths.

37:00So, talk about wreaths and these wreaths.

37:03But it all comes down to pretty much the same concept, the same idea, the same prohibition.

37:09So, yeah, that's why it was so short tonight.

37:13But we hope that you got a lot out of it.

37:15And if something's wrong or if we didn't add something that should have been added,

37:19by all means, let us know in the comments or write to us at teamatgodhonesttruth.com.

37:24And if there's something that needs correcting, we'll put out a correction video.

37:28Or if it's something we can add to the notes, we'll just add it to the notes so that everybody can learn.

37:33So, we want to thank you ahead of time for any information that you send our way.

37:37We really, really do appreciate it.

37:39And once again, go check out the article post that we did for this episode on our website at godhonesttruth.com.

37:46Click on the post for wreaths and there you'll be able to find the on-demand video.

37:51You'll be able to find the slides, the notes that we took, as well as the research papers that were produced from the AIs, all about wreaths.

37:59And we'll also have the transcript once that becomes available, if that's so of use to you.

38:03That's all right there on godhonesttruth.com.

38:07Or you can go down below in the description, click on that convenient link that we posted for you down there.

38:13Thank you for joining us for another production from God Honest Truth Ministries.

38:20We really do appreciate your time and hope that we have been of service to you.

38:25If you have any feedback, then please reach out to us by writing to team at godhonesttruth.com.

38:31And make sure to visit our website for more information on our social media links, audio Bibles, teaching resources, and so much more.

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