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/mstc'>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 answered them, "If ye be much people, then get you up to the wood country, and prepare for yourselves there in the land of the Perezites and of the Rephaim, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for you."
But the hill shall be yours, for it is a wood country and ye shall bring it to fashion, and it shall be yours even unto the ends of it, for ye shall be able to cast out the Cananites for all their iron chariots and for all they be so strong."
And the prophet Gad said unto David, "Abide not in castles, but depart and go to the land of Judah." Then David departed and came into the forest of Hereth.
And David saw that Saul was come out, to seek his life, while David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a thicket.
And the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim:
And the field was fought in divers places, all abroad upon the earth. And the woods devoured more people that day than did the sword.
And he disputed of trees, even from the Cedar tree that groweth in Lebanon unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the wall. And he disputed of beasts, fowls, worms, and fishes.
And he built the house of the wood of Lebanon, a hundred cubits long and fifty broad, and thirty high, four square with rows of Cedar pillars and Cedar beams along upon the pillars.
And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold, three pounds of gold going to a piece, and put them in the house of the wood of Lebanon.
And he went from thence up to Bethel. And as he was going up in the way, there came little lads out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, "Go up, thou bald head! Go up thou baldhead!" And he turned back and looked on them and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came two bears out of the wood and tare forty two of the boys.
Moreover, he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the wood country he built castles and towers.
And letters unto Asaph the lord of the king's wood, that he may give me wood for beams to the gates of the palace, which are hard on the house and hard on the walls of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into." And the king gave me according to the good hand of God upon me.
I made me orchards and gardens of pleasure, and planted trees in them of all manner fruits. I made pools of water, to water the green and fruitful trees withal.
The fruits that sprout in thee are like a very Paradise of pomegranates with sweet fruits:
The trees also of his field shall be of such a number that a child may tell them.
But see, the Lord God of Hosts shall take away the proud from thence, with fear. He shall hew down the proud, and fell the high minded. The thorns of the wood shall be rooted out with iron, and Lebanon shall have a mighty fall.
At even, behold, there is trouble: yet in the morning it is gone with them. This is the portion of them that oppress us, and the heritage of them that rob us.
See ye not that it is hard at hand, that Lebanon shall be turned into a low field, and that the low field shall be as the wood?
Unto the time that the spirit be poured upon us from above. Then shall the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the plenteous field shall be reckoned for a wood.
Moreover, he goeth out to hew down Cedar trees: He bringeth home Elms and Oaks, and other timber of the wood. Or else the Fir trees which he planted himself, and such as the rain hath swelled,
Wherefore a lion out of the wood shall hurt them, and a wolf in the evening shall destroy them. The cat of the mountain shall lie lurking by their cities, to tare in pieces all them that come thereout. For their offenses are many, and their departing away is great.
"Micah the Morasthite, which was a prophet under Hezekiah king of Judah, spake to all the people of Judah, 'Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall be a heap of stones, and the hill of the LORD's house shall be turned to a high wood.'
I will destroy her vineyards and fig trees, though she sayeth, 'Lo, here are my rewards, that my lovers have given me.' I will make it a wood, and the wild beasts shall eat it up.
I will be as dew to Israel, and he shall flourish as a lily, and stretch out his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall run out, and as an olive tree shall his glory be, and his savour as Lebanon.
Yea, the residue of Jacob shall be among the gentiles and the multitude of people, as the lion among the beasts of the wood, and as the Lion's whelps among a flock of sheep: which, when he goeth through, treadeth down, teareth in pieces, and there is no man that can help.
Howl ye Fir trees, for the cedar is fallen, yea all the proud are wasted away. Howl, O ye oak trees of Bashan, for the mighty strong wood is cut 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 answered them, "If ye be much people, then get you up to the wood country, and prepare for yourselves there in the land of the Perezites and of the Rephaim, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for you." Then the children of Joseph said again, "The hill will not be gotten of us: for all the Cananites that dwell in the low country have chariots of iron, and so have they that inhabit Bethshean, and the towns of the same, and they also that dwell in the valley of Jezreel." read more. And Joshua answered the house of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, "Ye be much people and have great power and shall not therefore have one lot. But the hill shall be yours, for it is a wood country and ye shall bring it to fashion, and it shall be yours even unto the ends of it, for ye shall be able to cast out the Cananites for all their iron chariots and for all they be so strong."
The name of his eldest son was Joel, and the name of the second Abiah, which were judges in Beersheba.
And the prophet Gad said unto David, "Abide not in castles, but depart and go to the land of Judah." Then David departed and came into the forest of Hereth.
And David saw that Saul was come out, to seek his life, while David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a thicket.
And David saw that Saul was come out, to seek his life, while David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a thicket.
And the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim:
And he said unto him, "Run." Then Ahimaaz ran by the plain and overran Cushi.
And he built the house of the wood of Lebanon, a hundred cubits long and fifty broad, and thirty high, four square with rows of Cedar pillars and Cedar beams along upon the pillars.
And letters unto Asaph the lord of the king's wood, that he may give me wood for beams to the gates of the palace, which are hard on the house and hard on the walls of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into." And the king gave me according to the good hand of God upon me.
Yea, all the glory of his woods and fields shall be consumed with body and soul. As for himself, he shall be as one chased away.
Some gathering indeed shall there be left in it, even as in the shaking of an olive tree, there remain two of three berries in the upper bough, and four or five in the branches. Thus the LORD God of Israel hath spoken.
At the same time shall their strong cities be desolate, like as were once the forsaken plows and corn, which they forsook, for fear of the children of Israel.
See ye not that it is hard at hand, that Lebanon shall be turned into a low field, and that the low field shall be as the wood?
Unto the time that the spirit be poured upon us from above. Then shall the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the plenteous field shall be reckoned for a wood.
And when the hail falleth, it shall fall in the wood and in the city.
Thou with thy servants hast blasphemed the LORD and thus holdest thou of thyself, I cover the high mountains, and sides of Lebanon with my horsemen. And there will I cut down the high Cedar trees and the fairest Fir trees. I will up into the height of it, and into the chiefest of his timber woods.
Behold, Assyria was like a Cedar tree upon the mount of Lebanon, with fair branches: so thick, that he gave shadows, and shot out very high. His top reached into 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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as when a man goeth unto the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and as his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe, the head slippeth from the helve and smiteth his neighbour that he die; the same shall flee unto one of the same cities and be saved.
And David saw that Saul was come out, to seek his life, while David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a thicket.
Moreover, he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the wood country he built castles and towers.
Nevertheless I was sore afraid and said unto the king, "God save the king's life forever, should I not look sadly? The city of my fathers' burial lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire."
I made me orchards and gardens of pleasure, and planted trees in them of all manner fruits.
The fruits that sprout in thee are like a very Paradise of pomegranates with sweet fruits:
And they shall cut down her wood, sayeth the LORD, without any discretion. For they shall be more in number than the grasshoppers, so that no man shall be able to tell them.
Therefore shall Zion, for your sakes, be plowed like a field: Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the hill of the temple shall be turned to a high wood.
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/mstc'>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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And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, "Wherefore wentest thou to fight with the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will therefore burn thine house upon thee with fire." And Jephthah said unto them, "I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon. And I called you. But ye delivered me not out of their hands. read more. And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands and went upon the children of Ammon. And the LORD delivered them into my hands. Wherefore then are ye come upon me to fight with me?" And Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with the Ephraimites. And the men of Gilead smote the Ephraimites, because they said, "Ye Gileadites are but renegades of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and the Manassites!" Moreover, the men of Gilead took the passages of Jordan from the Ephraimites. And when those Ephraimites that were escaped said, "Let us go over," then the men of Gilead said unto them, "Ye are Ephraimites." And they said, "Nay." Then the other answered, "Then say, 'Shibboleth.'" And they said, "Syboleth" - and could not so pronounce. Whereupon the others took them and slew them at the passages of Jordan. And there were overthrown at that time, of the Ephraimites, forty two thousand.
And the prophet Gad said unto David, "Abide not in castles, but depart and go to the land of Judah." Then David departed and came into the forest of Hereth.
And David saw that Saul was come out, to seek his life, while David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a thicket. And Jonathan Saul's son arose and went to David to the thicket, and strengthened him in God,
And they made a bond both of them together before the LORD. And David tarried still in the thicket, and Jonathan went to his house. Then came the Ziphites to Saul, to Gibeah, saying, "David hideth himself fast by us in strongholds that are in a thicket in the hill of Hachilah on the rightside of the wilderness.
And the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim:
And the field was fought in divers places, all abroad upon the earth. And the woods devoured more people that day than did the sword.
And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit that was in the wood, and cast a mighty great heap of stones upon him. And all Israel fled every man to his tent.
And he built the house of the wood of Lebanon, a hundred cubits long and fifty broad, and thirty high, four square with rows of Cedar pillars and Cedar beams along upon the pillars.
And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold, three pounds of gold going to a piece, and put them in the house of the wood of Lebanon.
And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the wood of Lebanon were of pure gold. And as for silver, it was nothing worth in the days of Solomon.
By the hand of thy messengers thou hast railed on the Lord and said, 'With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, even along by the sides of Lebanon, and have cut off the high Cedar trees, and the lusty fir trees thereof, even to the wood of Carmel that belongeth thereto!
Moreover, he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the wood country he built castles and towers.
And letters unto Asaph the lord of the king's wood, that he may give me wood for beams to the gates of the palace, which are hard on the house and hard on the walls of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into." And the king gave me according to the good hand of God upon me.
The heavy burden upon Arabia. At even ye shall abide in the wood, in the way toward Dedanim.
Thou with thy servants hast blasphemed the LORD and thus holdest thou of thyself, I cover the high mountains, and sides of Lebanon with my horsemen. And there will I cut down the high Cedar trees and the fairest Fir trees. I will up into the height of it, and into the chiefest of his timber woods.
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.