Difference between revisions of "Fir; Fir-Tree"

 

Fir; Fir-Tree <ref name="term_3768" />

<p> ''''' fûr ''''' , (the Revised Version, margin "cypress"; בּרושׁ , <i> ''''' berōsh ''''' </i> , &nbsp;2 Samuel 6:5; &nbsp;1 Kings 5:8 , &nbsp;1 Kings 5:10 , etc.; (בּרותים , <i> ''''' berōthı̄m ''''' </i> (plural only), an [[Aramaic]] form, &nbsp;Song of [[Solomon]] 1:17 ): </p> <p> This tree was one of the chief trees of [[Lebanon]] (&nbsp;Isaiah 60:13 ); one of usefulness (&nbsp;Isaiah 41:19; &nbsp;Isaiah 55:13 ); associated with the cedar (&nbsp;2 Kings 19:23; &nbsp;Psalm 104:17; &nbsp;Isaiah 14:8; &nbsp;Zechariah 11:2 ); its boughs were wide and great (&nbsp;Ezekiel 31:8 ); it was evergreen (&nbsp;Hosea 14:8 ); it could supply boards and timber for doors (&nbsp;1 Kings 6:15 , &nbsp;1 Kings 6:24 ); beams for roofing the temple (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 3:5 ); planks for shipbuilding (&nbsp;Ezekiel 27:5 ). In &nbsp;2 Samuel 6:5 we read: "David and all the house of [[Israel]] played before [[Yahweh]] with all manner of instruments made of fir-wood," etc. It is practically certain that the reading in the parallel passage in &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 13:8 is more correct: "David and all Israel played before God with all their might, even with songs," etc. This view is supported by the [[Septuagint]] translation ( ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει , <i> ''''' en pásē dunámei ''''' </i> ). There is therefore no necessity to suppose that <i> ''''' berōsh ''''' </i> was a wood used for musical instruments. </p> <p> The identity of <i> ''''' berōsh ''''' </i> is uncertain. It was a name applied either to several of the <i> Coniferae </i> in common or to one or more outstanding species. If the latter is the case we can only seek for the most suited to Old [[Testament]] requirements. The Aleppo pine, <i> Pinus Halepensis </i> , is a fine tree which flourishes in the Lebanon, but its wood is not of special excellence and durability. A better tree (or couple of trees) is the <i> ''''' sherbin ''''' </i> of the Syrians; this name includes two distinct varieties in the suborder <i> Cypressineae </i> , the fine tall juniper, <i> Juniperis excelsa </i> and the cypress, <i> Cypressus sempervirens </i> . They both still occur in considerable numbers in the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon; they are magnificent trees and produce excellent wood - resinous, fragrant, durable. If these trees were not classed locally, as now, under one name, then the cypress is of the two more probably the <i> ''''' berōsh ''''' </i> ̌ . The coffins of [[Egyptian]] mummies were made of cypress; a compact variety of this cypress is cultivated all over the Turkish empire by the [[Moslems]] as an ornament in cemeteries. From early times the cypress has been connected with mourning. </p> <p> In the [[Apocrypha]] there are two definite references to the cypress (κυπάρισσος , <i> ''''' kupárissos ''''' </i> ). In [[Sirach]] 24:13, Wisdom says: </p> <p> "I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, </p> <p> And as a cypress tree on the mountains of Hermon." </p> <p> And in Sirach 50:10 the high priest Simon is said to be </p> <p> "As an olive tree budding forth fruits, </p> <p> And as a cypress growing high among the clouds." </p> <p> These passages, especially the former, certainly favor the idea that <i> ''''' berōsh ''''' </i> was the cypress; the name may, however, have included allied trees. </p>

 

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