Reference: Forest
Easton
Heb ya'ar, meaning a dense wood, from its luxuriance. Thus all the great primeval forests of Syria (Ec 2:6; Isa 44:14; Jer 5:6; Mic 5:8). The most extensive was the trans-Jordanic forest of Ephraim (8/6/type/leb'>2Sa 18:6,8; Jos 17:15,18), which is probably the same as the wood of Ephratah (Ps 132:6), some part of the great forest of Gilead. It was in this forest that Absalom was slain by Joab. David withdrew to the forest of Hareth in the mountains of Judah to avoid the fury of Saul (1Sa 22:5). We read also of the forest of Bethel (2Ki 2:23-24), and of that which the Israelites passed in their pursuit of the Philistines (1Sa 14:25), and of the forest of the cedars of Lebanon (1Ki 4:33; 2Ki 19:23; Ho 14:5-6).
The house of the forest of Lebanon (1Ki 7:2; 10:17; 2Ch 9:16) was probably Solomon's armoury, and was so called because the wood of its many pillars came from Lebanon, and they had the appearance of a forest. (See Baalbec.)
Heb horesh, denoting a thicket of trees, underwood, jungle, bushes, or trees entangled, and therefore affording a safe hiding-place. place. This word is rendered "forest" only in 2Ch 27:4. It is also rendered "wood", the "wood" in the "wilderness of Ziph," in which david concealed himself (1Sa 23:15), which lay south-east of Hebron. In Isa 17:14 this word is in Authorized Version rendered incorrectly "bough."
Heb pardes, meaning an enclosed garden or plantation. Asaph is (Ne 2:8) called the "keeper of the king's forest." The same Hebrew word is used Ec 2:5, where it is rendered in the plural "orchards" (R.V., "parks"), and Song 4:13, rendered "orchard" (R.V. marg., "a paradise").
The forest of the vintage (Zec 11:2, "inaccessible forest," or R.V. "strong forest") is probably a figurative allusion to Jerusalem, or the verse may simply point to the devastation of the region referred to.
The forest is an image of unfruitfulness as contrasted with a cultivated field (Isa 29:17; 32:15; Jer 26:18; Ho 2:12). Isaiah (Isa 10:19,33-34) likens the Assyrian host under Sennacherib (q.v.) to the trees of some huge forest, to be suddenly cut down by an unseen stroke.
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And Joshua said to them, "If you [are] many people, go up to the forest and clear [a place] there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is [too] narrow for you."
[the] hill country will be yours. Even though it [is] a forest, you will clear it, and it will be yours [to] its farthest borders. You will drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and [are] strong."
(Now all [the people of] the land used to go into the forest, for there was honey on the surface of the ground.)
Then Gad the prophet said to David, "You should not stay in the stronghold; leave and go into the land of Judah." So David left and came [to] the forest of Hereth.
When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
The army went out to the field to meet Israel, and the battle was [fought] in the forest of Ephraim.
The battle there was spreading over the surface of all the land, and {the forest devoured more among the army than} the sword [did] on that day.
He spoke concerning the trees, from the cedar which [is] in Lebanon up to the hyssop which grows on the wall; he also spoke concerning the animals, concerning the birds, concerning the creeping things, and concerning the fish.
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; one hundred cubits its length, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height, on four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams atop the pillars.
Also [he made] three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them [into] the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
Then he went up from there [to] Bethel; as he [was] going up along the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked at him and said to him, "Go up, baldhead; go up, baldhead!" When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Then two bears came out of the forest and mauled forty-two boys among them.
And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded places.
Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave [permission] to me, according to the good hand of God on me.
I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted all [sorts of] fruit trees in them. I made for myself pools of water from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees.
Your shoots [are] an orchard of pomegranates with {choice fruit}, henna with nard;
And the rest of the trees of his forest will be a small number, and a boy can write them [down].
Look! The Lord Yahweh of hosts is about to lop off [the] branches with great power, and {the towering trees} will be felled, and the {tall trees} will be brought low. And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with the axe, and Lebanon will fall by [the] mighty [one].
At [the] time of evening, and look, terror! Before morning he is no more. This [is] the fate of those who plunder us and [the] lot of those who plunder us.
{In a very little while} shall not Lebanon change into fruitful land, and the fruitful land be regarded as forest?
Until a spirit is poured out on us from on high, and [the] wilderness becomes fruitful field, and [the] fruitful field is reckoned as the forest.
Cutting down cedars for himself, he {chooses} a holm tree and an oak, and he lets it grow strong for him among [the] trees of [the] forest. He plants a cedar, and [the] rain makes [it] grow.
Therefore a lion from [the] forest will kill them, A wolf [from the] desert plains will devastate them. A leopard [is] watching their cities, everyone [who] goes out from there will be torn, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous.
"Micah the Morashtite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, {saying}: 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Zion will be plowed, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the {temple} as high places of wood." '
and I will lay waste to her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, "They [are] my payment for prostitution, which my lovers gave to me." I will make them a forest, and the wild animals of the field will devour them.
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily plant, and he will strike his roots like the [trees of] Lebanon. His new plant shoots will spread out; his splendor will be like the olive tree, and his scent like the [trees of] Lebanon.
And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the wild animals of the forest, like a young lion among the herds of sheep which, when it passes through and treads [down] and tears in pieces, there is none who [can] deliver.
Wail, O juniper, for [the] cedar has fallen, for [the] magnificent [trees] are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the impenetrable forest has come down!
Fausets
Palestine was more wooded very anciently than afterward; the celebrated oaks and terebinths here and there were perhaps relics of a primeval forest on the highlands. But in the Bible the woods appear in the valleys and defiles leading from the highlands to the lowlands, so they were not extensive. "The wood of Ephraim" clothed the sides of the hills which descend to the plain of Jezreel and the plain itself near Bethshah (Jos 17:15-18), and extended once to Tabor which still has many forest trees. That "of Bethel" lay in the ravine going down to the plain of Jericho. That "of Hareth" on the border of the Philistine plain in the S. of Judah (1Sa 22:5). That "of Kirjath Jearim" (1Sa 8:2; Ps 132:6), meaning" town of the woods", on the confines of Judah and Benjamin; "the fields of the wood" from which David brought up the ark to Zion mean this forest town.
That "of Ziph-wilderness," where David hid, S.E. of Hebron (1Sa 23:15, etc.). Ephraim wood, a portion of the region E. of Jordan near Mahanaim, where the battle with Absalom took place (2Sa 18:6,23), on the high lands, a little way from the valley of the Jordan. (See EPHRAIM WOOD.) "The house of the forest of Lebanon" (1Ki 7:2) was so-called as being fitted up with cedar, and probably with forest-like rows of cedar pillars. "Forest" often symbolizes pride doomed to destruction; (Isa 10:18; 32:19) the Assyrian host dense and lifted up as the trees of the forest; (Isa 37:24) "the forest of his Carmel," i.e., its most luxuriant forest, image for their proud army.
Forest also symbolizes unfruitfulness as opposed to cultivated lands (Isa 29:17; 32:15). Besides ya'ar, implying "abundance of trees", there is another Hebrew term, choresh from a root "to cut down," implying a wood diminished by cutting (1Sa 23:15; 2Ch 27:4). In Isa 17:9 for "bough" translated "his strong cities shall be as the leavings of woods," what the axeman leaves when he cuts down the grove (Isa 17:6). In Eze 31:3, "with a shadowing shroud," explain with an overshadowing thicket. A third term is pardeec, related to "paradise" (Ne 2:8), "forest") a park, a plantation under a "keeper." The Persian kings preserved the forests throughout the empire with care, having wardens of the several forests, without whose sanction no tree could be felled.
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And Joshua said to them, "If you [are] many people, go up to the forest and clear [a place] there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is [too] narrow for you." And the descendants of Joseph said, "The hill country is not enough for us, and all of the Canaanites living in the land of the valley [have] chariots of iron, those in Beth-shean and its villages, and those in the Jezreel Valley." read more. And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, "You are many people and have great power; you will not have one allotment [only]; [the] hill country will be yours. Even though it [is] a forest, you will clear it, and it will be yours [to] its farthest borders. You will drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and [are] strong."
The name of his firstborn son [was] Joel, and the name of his second son [was] Abijah. [They were] judges in Beersheba.
Then Gad the prophet said to David, "You should not stay in the stronghold; leave and go into the land of Judah." So David left and came [to] the forest of Hereth.
When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
The army went out to the field to meet Israel, and the battle was [fought] in the forest of Ephraim.
"{Come what may}, I want to run." He said to him, "Run," so Ahimaaz ran on the road on the plain, and he passed the Cushite.
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; one hundred cubits its length, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height, on four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams atop the pillars.
Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave [permission] to me, according to the good hand of God on me.
And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard {completely}, and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick.
And gleanings will be left over in it, as {when an olive tree is beaten}, two [or] three ripe olive berries in [the] top of a branch, four [or] five on its fruitful branches," {declares} Yahweh, the God of Israel.
On that day, {its fortified cities} will be like the {abandonment of the wooded place and the summit}, which they deserted because of the children of Israel; and there will be desolation.
{In a very little while} shall not Lebanon change into fruitful land, and the fruitful land be regarded as forest?
Until a spirit is poured out on us from on high, and [the] wilderness becomes fruitful field, and [the] fruitful field is reckoned as the forest.
And it hails when {the forest comes down}, and the city will become low in humiliation.
By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots, I myself have gone up [the] height of [the] mountains, [to] the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off {its tall cedars}, the choicest of its junipers. And I came [to] the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard.
Look! Assyria [was] a cedar in Lebanon, [with] beautiful branches and a forest giving shade, and {very high}, and its treetop [was] between [the] clouds.
Hastings
1. ya'ar (root meaning a 'rugged' place), De 19:5; 2Ki 2:24; Jer 46:23; Mic 3:12 etc. 2. horesh, 2Ch 27:4 etc.; tr 'wood,' 1Sa 23:15 (perhaps a proper name). 3. pard
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{For example}, when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron [head] slips from the handle [of the tool] and strikes his neighbor and he dies, [then] he may flee to one of these cities, and [so] he may live.
When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded places.
I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors' burial site is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?"
I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted all [sorts of] fruit trees in them.
Your shoots [are] an orchard of pomegranates with {choice fruit}, henna with nard;
They will cut down her forest," {declares} Yahweh, "for {it is impenetrable}. Yes, they are more numerous than locusts, and {they are without number}.
Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and {the temple mount} as a high place [in] a forest.
Morish
1. choresh, 'thick intricate wood,' 2Ch 27:4; also translated 'wood' in 1Sa 23:15-16,18-19.
2. yaar, a 'forest.' This is the word commonly used for both 'wood' and 'forest;' to be distinguished from a third word, pardes, Ne 2:8, which signifies 'a park,' with cultivated trees, whereas the other is wild.
Several forests are specified under the word yaar.
1. The forest in ARABIA, Isa 21:13; its situation is unknown.
2. The 'forest of his CARMEL.' 2Ki 19:23; Isa 37:24.This reads in the margin, and in the R.V., 'forest of his fruitful field,' and does not refer to any forest connected with Carmel.
3. The forest of HARETH, 1Sa 22:5: situated in Judah, but not known.
4. The forest of LEBANON. 1Ki 7:2; 10:17,21; 2Ch 9:16,20.
The context shows that these passages do not refer to the forest at Lebanon; but that Solomon had a house at Jerusalem built of the trees from Lebanon, and called it 'the house of the forest of Lebanon.' The actual forest at Lebanon is often referred to for its noble trees.
5. The wood of EPHRAIM in which Absalom was slain, on the east of the Jordan. 8/6/type/leb'>2Sa 18:6,8,17. This has not been identified. It has been suggested that the pride and defeat of Ephraim mentioned in Jg 12:1-6 caused some forest to be called after the name of that tribe. This place, by its swamps, morasses and pits, 'devoured' the Israelites by preventing their escape.
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The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed [over] to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross [over] and make war against the {Ammonites}, and why did you not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house over you with fire." And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were engaged in great conflict with the {Ammonites}; I called you, but you did not deliver me from their hand. read more. I saw that you would not deliver [us]; {I risked my own life}, and I crossed [over] to the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?" Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, "You [are] fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh." Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, "Let me cross [over]," the men of Gilead said to him, "[Are] you an Ephraimite?" [When] he said, "No," they said to him, "Please say Shibboleth," and [if] he said, "Sibboleth"--because he could not {pronounce it} correctly--they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
Then Gad the prophet said to David, "You should not stay in the stronghold; leave and go into the land of Judah." So David left and came [to] the forest of Hereth.
When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. So Jonathan the son of Saul got up and went to David [at] Horesh, and {encouraged him} through God.
Then the two of them {made} a covenant before Yahweh. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went to his house. Then [the] Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "[Is] not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which [is] south of Jeshimon
The army went out to the field to meet Israel, and the battle was [fought] in the forest of Ephraim.
The battle there was spreading over the surface of all the land, and {the forest devoured more among the army than} the sword [did] on that day.
They took Absalom and they threw him into the large pit in the forest and raised a very great heap of stones over him. Then all of Israel fled, each to his tent.
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; one hundred cubits its length, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height, on four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams atop the pillars.
Also [he made] three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them [into] the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
All of the drinking vessels of King Solomon [were] gold, and all the vessels for the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver; [it was] not considered as something valuable in the days of Solomon.
By the hand of your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up [to] the height of the mountains. [To] the remote areas of Lebanon, I have felled the tallest of its cedars, the choicest of its cypresses. I have entered the place of overnight lodging. Even [to] the edge of forest of its fertile land.
And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded places.
Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave [permission] to me, according to the good hand of God on me.
An oracle {concerning} Arabia: You will spend the night in the thicket in a desert-plateau, caravans of Dedanites.
By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots, I myself have gone up [the] height of [the] mountains, [to] the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off {its tall cedars}, the choicest of its junipers. And I came [to] the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard.
Smith
Forest.
Although Palestine has never been in historical times a woodland country, yet there can be no doubt that there was much more wood formerly than there is a t present, and that the destruction of the forests was one of the chief causes of the present desolation.