Forest

Heb. ya'ar, meaning a dense wood, from its luxuriance. Thus all the great primeval forests of Syria (verse.php?book=Ecc&chapter=2&verse=6&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17340 context="">Eccl. 2:6; verse.php?book=Isa&chapter=44&verse=14&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=18548 context="">Isa. 44:14; verse.php?book=Jer&chapter=5&verse=6&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=19065 context="">Jer. 5:6; verse.php?book=Mic&chapter=5&verse=8&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=22642 context="">Micah 5:8). The most extensive was the trans-Jordanic forest of Ephraim (2 Sam. 18:6, 8; Josh. 17:15, 18), which is probably the same as the wood of Ephratah (verse.php?book=Psa&chapter=132&verse=6&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=16158 context="">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 (verse.php?book=1Sa&chapter=22&verse=5&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=7793 context="">1 Sam. 22:5). We read also of the forest of Bethel (2 Kings 2:23, 24), and of that which the Israelites passed in their pursuit of the Philistines (verse.php?book=1Sa&chapter=14&verse=25&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=7534 context="">1 Sam. 14:25), and of the forest of the cedars of Lebanon (verse.php?book=1Ki&chapter=4&verse=33&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=8878 context="">1 Kings 4:33; verse.php?book=2Ki&chapter=19&verse=23&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=10085 context="">2 Kings 19:23; Hos. 14:5, 6).

"The house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2; 10:17; verse.php?book=2Ch&chapter=9&verse=16&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=11381 context="">2 Chr. 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 verse.php?book=2Ch&chapter=27&verse=4&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=11760 context="">2 Chr. 27:4. It is also rendered "wood", the "wood" in the "wilderness of Ziph," in which david concealed himself (verse.php?book=1Sa&chapter=23&verse=15&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=7826 context="">1 Sam. 23:15), which lay south-east of Hebron. In Isa. 17:19 this word is in Authorized Version rendered incorrectly "bough."

Heb. pardes, meaning an enclosed garden or plantation. Asaph is (verse.php?book=Neh&chapter=2&verse=8&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=12316 context="">Neh. 2:8) called the "keeper of the king's forest." The same Hebrew word is used verse.php?book=Ecc&chapter=2&verse=5&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17339 context="">Eccl. 2:5, where it is rendered in the plural "orchards" (R.V., "parks"), and Cant. 4: 13, rendered "orchard" (R.V. marg., "a paradise").

"The forest of the vintage" (verse.php?book=Zec&chapter=11&verse=2&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=23031 context="">Zech. 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; verse.php?book=Jer&chapter=26&verse=18&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=19591 context="">Jer. 26:18; verse.php?book=Hos&chapter=2&verse=12&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=22118 context="">Hos. 2:12). Isaiah (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.

(1) choresh (compare proper name Harosheth), verse.php?book=2Ch&chapter=27&verse=4&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=11760 context="">2 Ch 27:4. In verse.php?book=1Sa&chapter=23&verse=15&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=7826 context="">1 Sam 23:15 ff translated "wood"; in verse.php?book=Isa&chapter=17&verse=9&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17993 context="">Isa 17:9, "wood"; in verse.php?book=Eze&chapter=31&verse=3&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=21234 context="">Ezek 31:3, "forest-like shade." Applied to any thick growth of vegetation but not necessarily so extensive as (3).

(2) pardec: verse.php?book=Neh&chapter=2&verse=8&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=12316 context="">Neh 2:8, margin "park"; verse.php?book=Ecc&chapter=2&verse=5&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17339 context="">Eccl 2:5, the King James Version "orchards," the Revised Version (British and American) "parks"; verse.php?book=Sos&chapter=4&verse=13&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17596 context="">Song 4:13, English Versions of the Bible "orchard," the Revised Version, margin "paradise." A word of Persian origin signifying probably an enclosure.

See PARADISE.

(3) ya`ar from root meaning "rugged"; compare Arabic wa`ar, "a rugged, stony region." It is sometimes rendered "forest" and sometimes (but less often in the Revised Version (British and American)) "wood." It is used of certain definite wooded tracts: "the forest in Arabia" (verse.php?book=Isa&chapter=21&verse=13&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=18049 context="">Isa 21:13, margin "thickets"); "the forest of Carmel" (verse.php?book=2Ki&chapter=19&verse=23&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=10085 context="">2 Ki 19:23 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "of his fruitful field"); "the forest of Hereth" (verse.php?book=1Sa&chapter=22&verse=5&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=7793 context="">1 Sam 22:5); "the forest of Lebanon" (verse.php?book=1Ki&chapter=7&verse=2&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=8937 context="">1 Ki 7:2 f; 10:17-21; 2 Ch 9:16-20); "the forest of Ephraim," East of the Jordan (2 Sam 18:6,8,17). The word ya`ar appears also in well-known Kiriath-jearim, "the city of forests," and Mr. Jearim (verse.php?book=Jos&chapter=15&verse=10&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=6213 context="">Josh 15:10). Among numerous other references the following may be cited: verse.php?book=Deu&chapter=19&verse=5&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=5412 context="">Dt 19:5; Josh 17:15,18; verse.php?book=1Ch&chapter=16&verse=33&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=10854 context="">1 Ch 16:33; verse.php?book=2Ki&chapter=2&verse=24&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=9576 context="">2 Ki 2:24; verse.php?book=Psa&chapter=80&verse=13&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=15212 context="">Ps 80:13; verse.php?book=Psa&chapter=83&verse=14&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=15256 context="dct_en_isbe__3525__83:14__alkitab.sabda.org/dictionary.php?version=net&word=forest">83:14; verse.php?book=Psa&chapter=96&verse=12&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=15478 context="dct_en_isbe__3525__96:12__alkitab.sabda.org/dictionary.php?version=net&word=forest">96:12; verse.php?book=Psa&chapter=132&verse=6&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=16158 context="dct_en_isbe__3525__132:6__alkitab.sabda.org/dictionary.php?version=net&word=forest">132:6; verse.php?book=Ecc&chapter=2&verse=6&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17340 context="">Eccl 2:6; verse.php?book=Sos&chapter=2&verse=3&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17558 context="">Song 2:3; verse.php?book=1Sa&chapter=7&verse=2&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=7355 context="">1 Sam 7:2; 14:25,26; verse.php?book=Jer&chapter=4&verse=29&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=19057 context="">Jer 4:29; verse.php?book=Jer&chapter=46&verse=23&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=20069 context="dct_en_isbe__3525__46:23__alkitab.sabda.org/dictionary.php?version=net&word=forest">46:23; verse.php?book=Eze&chapter=34&verse=29&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=21343 context="">Ezek 34:29; verse.php?book=Mic&chapter=3&verse=12&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=22621 context="">Mic 3:12; verse.php?book=Mic&chapter=7&verse=14&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=22679 context="dct_en_isbe__3525__7:14__alkitab.sabda.org/dictionary.php?version=net&word=forest">7:14.

(4) cebhakh, from root meaning "to interweave." A "thicket" (verse.php?book=Gen&chapter=22&verse=13&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=561 context="">Gen 22:13; verse.php?book=Jer&chapter=4&verse=7&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=19035 context="">Jer 4:7); "thicket of trees" (verse.php?book=Psa&chapter=74&verse=5&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=15054 context="">Ps 74:5); "thickets of the forest" (verse.php?book=Isa&chapter=9&verse=18&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17848 context="">Isa 9:18; verse.php?book=Isa&chapter=10&verse=34&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=17885 context="dct_en_isbe__3525__10:34__alkitab.sabda.org/dictionary.php?version=net&word=forest">10:34).

(5) 'adbhim, "thicket" (verse.php?book=Jer&chapter=4&verse=29&tab=text class=verse_trigger id=19057 context="">Jer 4:29).

From many references it is evident that Palestine had in Old Testament times much more extensive forests and woodlands than today. For a discussion of the subject see BOTANY.

E. W. G. Masterman