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/nsb'>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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Joshua answered: If you are a great people, then get to the wood country, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim is too narrow for you.
The mountain will be yours. For it is a wood, and you will cut it down. The farthest limits will be yours. You will drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they are strong.
All the people came to the forest. There was honey on the ground. The bees had gone from it.
Do not live in your stronghold, the prophet Gad told David. Go to the land of Judah. So David went to the forest of Hereth.
David was afraid because Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph.
He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls. He talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon was one hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
He made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold. Three pounds of gold was in every cover. The king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon.
Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel. On the way some boys came out of a town and taunted and made fun of him. They shouted: Get out of here, baldy! Elisha turned around and glared at them. He cursed them in the name of Jehovah. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces.
He built cities in the hills of Judah. He also built forts and towers in the wooded areas.
I need a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's park, so that he may give me wood to make boards for the doors of the tower of the house, and for the wall of the town, and for the house which is to be mine. The king gave me this, for the hand of my God was on me.
I made myself parks and fruit gardens, planting in them fruit-trees of all kinds. I made water pools from which to water the young trees.
Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with ointment,
And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.
Behold, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah of Hosts will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be cut down! The tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax. Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who rob us.
Soon the forest of Lebanon will become a fertile field thick with trees.
The Spirit will be poured out upon us from on high. Then the wilderness will be turned into a fertile field, and the fertile field will be considered a forest.
He cut down cedars, or cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
That is why lions from the forest will kill them. Wolves from the desert will tear them to pieces, and leopards will prowl through their towns. If those people go out, they will be torn apart because their sins are numerous and time after time they have turned from God.
Years ago when Hezekiah was king of Judah, a prophet named Micah from the town of Moresheth said: 'Jehovah of Hosts says, Jerusalem will be plowed under and left in ruins. Thorns will cover the mountain where the Temple now stands.'
I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees. Of this she said: These are my loose woman's hire that my lovers have given me. I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field will eat them.
I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily and he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will sprout and his beauty will be like the olive tree. His fragrance will be like the cedars of Lebanon.
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples. It will be like a lion among the beasts of the forest. Should he go through he will be like a young lion among the flocks of sheep. He treads down and tears to pieces. There is none to rescue.
Wail, You fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the majestic ones are destroyed. Wail you oaks of Bashan, for the strong 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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Joshua answered: If you are a great people, then get to the wood country, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim is too narrow for you. The children of Joseph said: The hill is not enough for us. All the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Beth-shean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel. read more. Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying: You are a great people. You have great power. You will not have only one lot. The mountain will be yours. For it is a wood, and you will cut it down. The farthest limits will be yours. You will drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they are strong.
The name of his firstborn son was Joel. He named his second son Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.
Do not live in your stronghold, the prophet Gad told David. Go to the land of Judah. So David went to the forest of Hereth.
David was afraid because Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph.
David was afraid because Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph.
I would like to run whatever happens, Let me run, replied Ahimaaz. Joab told him: Run! So Ahimaaz ran along the valley road and got ahead of the Sudanese messenger.
The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon was one hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
I need a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's park, so that he may give me wood to make boards for the doors of the tower of the house, and for the wall of the town, and for the house which is to be mine. The king gave me this, for the hand of my God was on me.
It will completely destroy the splendor of his forests and fertile fields, as when a sick man wastes away.
Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten: two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares Jehovah the God of Israel.
In that day their strong cities (of Syria and Israel) will be like a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch that they left because of the children of Israel. There will be desolation in the land.
Soon the forest of Lebanon will become a fertile field thick with trees.
The Spirit will be poured out upon us from on high. Then the wilderness will be turned into a fertile field, and the fertile field will be considered a forest.
The forest will be flattened because of hail, and the city will be completely leveled.
By your messengers you have heaped insults on Jehovah. You said: With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I reach its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.
Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and forest shade, and very high, and its top was among 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 a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies. He may flee to one of these cities and live.
David was afraid because Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph.
He built cities in the hills of Judah. He also built forts and towers in the wooded areas.
I said to the king: May the king live a very long time. My face should look sad for the town where my fathers are buried is devastated. It has been destroyed by fire.
I made myself parks and fruit gardens, planting in them fruit-trees of all kinds.
Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with ointment,
They will cut down the forest,' declares Jehovah, 'since Egypt cannot be found. They are more numerous than locusts. They cannot be counted.
It is your fault that Zion will be plowed like a field. Jerusalem will become heaps of ruin, and the mountain of the house as the high places of 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/nsb'>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 ready for battle. They crossed the Jordan River to Zaphon and said to Jephthah: Why did you cross the border to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We are going to burn the house down over your head! Jephthah replied: My people and I had a great struggle with the Ammonites. I called you, but you would not rescue me from them. read more. When I realized you were not going to, I risked my life and crossed the border to fight them. Jehovah gave me victory over them. Why are you coming to fight me now? Jephthah brought all the men of Gilead together and fought the men of Ephraim and defeated them. To keep the Ephraimites from escaping, the Gileadites captured the places where the Jordan could be crossed. When any Ephraimite who was trying to escape would ask permission to cross, the men of Gilead would ask: Are you an Ephraimite? If he said: No, they would tell him to say Shibboleth. But he would say Sibboleth, because he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they would kill him at the Jordan River crossing. Forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites were killed.
Do not live in your stronghold, the prophet Gad told David. Go to the land of Judah. So David went to the forest of Hereth.
David was afraid because Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. Jonathan went to see David. God helped him encourage David.
They both promised Jehovah that they would always be loyal to each other. Then Jonathan went home while David stayed at Horesh. Some people from the town of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah. They said: Your Majesty, David has a hideout not far from us! It is near Horesh. It is somewhere on Mount Hachilah south of Jeshimon.
They took Absalom's body and threw it into a deep pit in the forest. Then they covered it with a huge pile of stones. All the Israelites fled to their own hometowns.
The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon was one hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
He made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold. Three pounds of gold was in every cover. The king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon.
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold. All the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold. Not one was of silver, for no one gave a thought to silver in the days of King Solomon.
You defy Jehovah and through your servants you say: 'With my many chariots I ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses. I travel to its most distant borders and its most fertile forests.
He built cities in the hills of Judah. He also built forts and towers in the wooded areas.
I need a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's park, so that he may give me wood to make boards for the doors of the tower of the house, and for the wall of the town, and for the house which is to be mine. The king gave me this, for the hand of my God was on me.
By your messengers you have heaped insults on Jehovah. You said: With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I reach its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.
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.