Tree
Key Words
The noun עֵץ, occurring 330 times in the Hebrew Bible and 6 times in the Psalms, may refer to a “tree” (sg) or collectively to “trees” (pl), or to the material that comes from trees, namely, “wood.” When referring to a “tree” or to “trees,” עֵץ “emphasizes only the genus, while individual species of trees (e.g., אֶרָז ‘cedar,’ אֵצֶל ‘tamerisk,’ בְּרוֹשׁ ‘cypress,’ גֶּפֶן ‘grapevine,’ זַיִת ‘olive tree,’ לוּז ‘almond tree,’ שִׁקְמָה ‘sycamore,’ תְּאֵנָה ‘fig tree,’ תָּמָר ‘date palm’) or tree shapes (e.g., סְבַךְ/סְבֹךְ ‘bush’ or the word group אַלָּה/אַלּוֹן אֵלָה/אֵלוֹן ‘large tree,’ usually understood as ‘oak/terebinth’) acquire specific designations.”[1]
| Word | Gloss | Psalms |
|---|---|---|
| עֵץ | "tree, trees, wood" | Ps. 1:3; 74:5; 96:12; 104:16; 105:33; 148:9 |
| אֶרֶז | "cedar" | Ps. 29:5; 80:11; 92:13, 104:16; 148:9 |
| גֶּפֶן | "grape vine" | Ps. 78:47; 80:9, 15; 105:33; 128:3 |
| זַיִת | "olive tree" | Ps. 52:10; 128:3 |
| תְּאֵנָה | "fig tree" | Ps. 105:33 |
| תָּמָר | "palm tree" | Ps. 92:13 |
| שִׁקְמָה | "sycamore" | Ps. 78:47 |
Ancient Setting
“The landscape of much of the Near East is predominantly stark and barren. The land is comprised of innumerable shades of brown, with only brief interjections of green and blue. The higher in elevation one goes, generally the greener the picture becomes; consequently, mountains and rivers, along with the forests that adorn them, seen to become natural focal points for anyone traversing the land. The ancient peoples–from the remote western world of Egypt to the eastern marshes of Babylonia–lived in the land, not simply on it. They were an agrarian people whose livelihood was found and maintained among the shade, fruit, shelter, and beauty of their trees. Consequently, there can be little doubt as to the significant effect this lifestyle had on the ancient mind and the way in which the world was perceived. Trees were naturally integrated into the ritualistic and sacred elements of ANE culture.”[2]
For more on tree imagery in the Bible and in the Ancient Near East, see Osborne, Trees and Kings.[3]
Target Domains
Humans
The roots of this metaphor are to be traced back to Genesis 1, where the creation of trees on Day 3 parallels, in terms of the literary structure, the creation of humans (who are told to “be fruitful” [פְּרוּ]) on Day 6.
Psalm 1
References
- ↑ J.A Soggins, “עֵץ,” in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997).
- ↑ William Osborne, Trees and Kings: A Comparative Analysis of Tree Imagery in Israel’s Prophetic Tradition and the Ancient near East, (University Park: Eisenbrauns, 2018), 31.
- ↑ William Osborne, Trees and Kings: A Comparative Analysis of Tree Imagery in Israel’s Prophetic Tradition and the Ancient near East, (University Park: Eisenbrauns, 2018).