Difference between revisions of "Heath"

<p> &nbsp;ערער , &nbsp;Jeremiah 17:6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:6 . "He shall be like the heath in the desert. He shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land." The LXX and [[Vulgate]] render <em> oror, </em> "the tamarisk;" and this is strengthened by the affinity of the [[Hebrew]] name of this tree with the Turkish <em> oeroer </em> . Taylor and Parkhurst render it "a blasted tree stripped of its foliage." If it be a particular tree, the tamarisk is as likely as any. [[Celsius]] thinks it to be the juniper; but from the mention of it as growing in a salt land, in parched places, the author of "Scripture Illustrated" is disposed to seek it among the <em> lichens, </em> a species of plants which are the last production of vegetation under the frozen zone, and under the glowing heat of equatorial deserts; so that it seems best qualified to endure parched places, and a salt land. Hasselquist mentions several kinds seen by him in Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. In &nbsp; Jeremiah 48:6 , the original word is &nbsp;ערוער , which the [[Septuagint]] translators have read &nbsp;ערוד , for they render it &nbsp;ονος α&nbsp;γριος , <em> wild ass; </em> and, as this seems best to agree with the flight recommended in the passage, it is to be preferred. See &nbsp;WILD ASS . </p>

<p> Hebrew &nbsp;aroer , &nbsp;arar; Arabic &nbsp;dnax; the &nbsp;Juniper sabina or &nbsp;Juniper savin with small scale-like leaves, close to the stem, a gloomy looking bush on a sterile soil, symbolizing "the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord" (&nbsp;Jeremiah 17:6); the Hebrew means "naked"; such is he whose defense is other than Jehovah, a shrub in a barren soil, contrasted with the "tree spreading out her roots by the river," i.e. the man that trusteth in [[Jehovah]] (&nbsp;Jeremiah 17:7-8; compare &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:6, margin). </p>

<p> &nbsp;(1):&nbsp; (n.) A low shrub (Erica, / Calluna, vulgaris), with minute evergreen leaves, and handsome clusters of pink flowers. It is used in Great Britain for brooms, thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. It is also called heather, and ling. </p> <p> &nbsp;(2):&nbsp; (n.) A place overgrown with heath; any cheerless tract of country overgrown with shrubs or coarse herbage. </p> <p> &nbsp;(3):&nbsp; (n.) Also, any species of the genus Erica, of which several are European, and many more are South African, some of great beauty. See Illust. of Heather. </p>

<p> HEATH, n. </p> 1. A plant of the genus Erica, of many species. It is a shrub which is used in Great Britain for brooms, thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. Its leaves are small and continue green all the year. It is called also ling. 2. A place overgrown with heath. 3. A place overgrown with shrubs of any kind.

<p> &nbsp;Heath. &nbsp;Jeremiah 17:6 [[Heath]] was some species of juniper, probably the &nbsp;savin, a dwarf, stunted juniper which grows in the most sterile parts of the desert. </p>

<p> (&nbsp;עִרְעָר &nbsp;, arar', &nbsp;Jeremiah 17:6; Sept. &nbsp;ἀγριομυρίκη, Vulg. myricce; or &nbsp;עֲרוֹעֵר, &nbsp;aroem &nbsp;‘, &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:6; Sept. &nbsp;ὄνος &nbsp;ἄγριος, perh. by reading &nbsp;עָרוֹד, a wild ass; Vulg. &nbsp;myricae) has been variously translated, as &nbsp;myrica, tamarisk; tamarin which is an Indian tree, the tamarind; &nbsp;retama, that is. the broom; and also, as in the French and English versions, &nbsp;bruiere, heath, which is, perhaps, the most incorrect of all, though Hasselquist mentions finding heath near Jericho, in Syria. Gesenius, however, renders it &nbsp;ruins in the latter of the above passages (as in &nbsp;Isaiah 17:2), and &nbsp;needy in the former (as in &nbsp;Psalms 102:18). As far as the context is concerned, some of the plants named, as the retain and tamarisk, would answer very well, (See Tamiarisk); but the Arabic name, &nbsp;arar, is applied to a totally different plant, a species of juniper, as has been clearly shown by Celsius &nbsp;(Hierobot. 2, 195), who states that Arias [[Montanus]] is the only one who has so translated the Hebrew in the first of the passages in question (&nbsp;Jeremiah 17:6): "For he shall be like the &nbsp;heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited." Both the Heb. words are from the root &nbsp;עָרִר, "to be &nbsp;naked." in allusion to the &nbsp;bare nature of the rocks on which the juniper often grows (comp. &nbsp;Psalms 102:17, &nbsp;הָעִרְעָר &nbsp;תְּפַלִּת, "the prayer of the destitute," or ill-clad). Several species of juniper are no doubt found in [[Syria]] and Palestine. (See [[Cedar]]); (See [[Juniper]]). </p> <p> Dr. Robinson met with some in proceeding from [[Hebron]] to wady Musa, near the romantic pass of Nemela: "On the rocks above we found the juniper- tree, Arabic &nbsp;ar'ar; its berries have the appearance and taste of the common juniper, except that there is more of the aroma of the pine. These trees were ten or fifteen feet in height, and hung upon the rocks even to the summits of the cliffs and needles" (Bibl. Researches, 2, 506). In proceeding S.E. he states: "Large trees of the juniper become quite common in the wadys and on the rocks." It is mentioned in the same situations by other travelers, and is no doubt common enough, particularly in wild, uncultivated, and often inaccessible situations, and is thus suitable to &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:6 : "Flee, save your lives, and be like the &nbsp;heath in the wilderness." This appears to be the &nbsp;Juniperus Sabina, or savin, with small scale-like leaves, which are pressed close to the stem, and which is described as being a gloomy-looking bush inhabiting the most sterile soil (see &nbsp;English Cyclop. Hist. 3:311); a character which is obviously well suited to the &nbsp;naked or &nbsp;destitute tree spoken of by the prophet. Rosenm&nbsp;ü ller's explanation of the Hebrew word, which is also adopted by Maurer, "qui destitutus versatur" &nbsp;(Schol. ad &nbsp;Jeremiah 17:6), is very unsatisfactory. Not to mention the &nbsp;tameness of the comparison, it is evidently contradicted by the antithesis in &nbsp;Jeremiah 17:8 : "Cursed is he that trusteth in man he shall be like the juniper that grows on the bare rocks of the desert: Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord he shall be as a tree planted by the waters." The contrast between the shrub of the arid desert and the tree growing by the waters is very striking; but Rosenm&nbsp;ü ller's interpretation appears to us to spoil the whole. Even more unsatisfactory is Michaelis &nbsp;(Supp. Lex. Heb. p. 1971), who thinks "Guinea-hens" &nbsp;(Numida meleagris) are intended! [[Gesenius]] &nbsp;(Thes. p. 1073 4) understands these two Heb. terms to denote "parietinse, aedificia eversa" (ruins); but it is more in accordance with the scriptural passages to suppose that some tree is intended, which explanation, moreover, has the sanction of the Sept. and Vulgate, and of the modern use of a kindred Arabic word. &nbsp;— Smith. Modern travelers do not mention the species; but those which have been named as growing in [[Palestine]] are the Phoenician juniper, the common savin, and the brown-berried juniper. The first of these is a tree of about twenty feet high, growing with its branches in a pyramidal form. Rosenm&nbsp;ü ller states that "Forskal found it frequently in the sandy heaths about Suez. The caravans use it for fuel." The species best known in [[America]] are the common red cedar &nbsp;(Jun. Virginiana) and the Bermuda cedar, from which the wood of lead pencils is manufactured. They all have long, narrow, prickly leaves, and bear a soft, pulpy berry, from which a carminative oil is extracted. The wood is light, highly odorous, and very durable. (See [[Juniper]]). </p>