Trees

TREES IN THE BIBLE

Introduction

There are quite a few references to trees in the Bible, or to their blossom, fruit or timber.  The Temple of the Lord at Jerusalem included wood made of acacia (including the altar of incense: Exodus 30:1; 37:25), cyprus, olive, plane, palm and cedar.  Trees were often found at holy places.  The wood could, of course, be used for making idols (e.g. Isaiah 40:20, Jeremiah 10:3) and there are a good few verses in the Bible describing this abuse.  The wood of "fir" (a word that describes an evergreen, rather than a particular species) was used to make musical instruments, as described in 2 Samuel, chapter 6, verse 5.  Cedar of Lebanon and other wood are mentioned in the construction of ships in Ezekiel (27:5) and Ezra (3:7).  Branches of various trees, including the willow as well as the myrtle and palm (Nehemiah 8:15; Leviticus 23:40) were cut to construct the booths during the Feast of the Tabernacles.  Palm leaves were used as a token of victory in battle and a token of peace (John 12:13; Revelation 7:9).  It is used as an analogy in the Song of Solomon (7:7-8).  When the Israelites vanquished their enemies and entered the land, they were commanded by God not to destroy the fruit trees (Deuteronomy 20:19-20, cited in New American Standard Master Study bible, 1981, 2225)
   The word tree is also used symbolically in the Bible or "as like" something. In Psalm 1, verse 3, for example: "And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither..."  The Messiah in the Old Testament is called "Branch" in Zechariah 3, verse 8 and 6, verse 12.  Also used by Jeremiah (23:5l 33:15) and Isaiah (4:2).  A tree is used to describe a wicked man in Psalm 37, verse 35, "I have seen a violent, wicked man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil."  Or symbolic of wisdom in Proverbs 3, verse 18 "She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast."
   In Matthew 7, verse 17 to 20, Our Lord speaks of knowing people by their fruits and uses the analogy of good and bad fruit: "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits."  In Mark 8, verse 24, the tree is used as an analogy by a blind man whom Jesus heals, to describe how the people he sees appear "And he looked up and said, 'I see men, for I am seeing them like trees, walking about'"  In Luke 19, verse 4, the tree that Zaccheus climbed up in order to see Jesus passing by, was a sycamore.  In the New Testament, the word "tree" is used in Galatians, Chapter 3, verse 13, to describe the cross on which Our Lord was crucified.

Tree - Of Knowledge of Good and Evil
Genesis 2, v.9
And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
V.16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; V.17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."

Tree of Life
Revelation 2, v.7
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God."

Trees of Frankincense
Song of Solomon 4:14.  These refer to all trees producing a perfume so this is not a species.

Gopher Wood
Genesis 6:14

Oak, Oaks of Bashan
According to the New American Standard Bible (1981, 2068)
"The rendering of various Hebrew words which signify strength; hence, any strong tree or grove of trees, rather than a particular species.  In Genesis 35:4 and Judges 6:11, it represents the elm tree of Hosea 4:13, and the terebinth tree of Isaiah 6:13.  Such a tree frequently served as a landmark or to mark a place of important events (Genesis 35:4; Joshua 24:26).  Genesis 12:6 and Deuteronomy 11:30 mention the oak or oaks of Moreh.  According to tradition "Abraham's Oak," in the field of Mamre near Hebron, still exists.

Genesis 12:6; 35:4; Deuteronomy 11:30; Judges 6:11; 1 Samuel 10:3 (Oak of Tabor); 2 Samuel 18:10; Isaiah 1:30; 6:13; (terebinth or oak); 44:14; Joshua 24:26; Amos 2:9

Tamarisk tree
Genesis 21, v.33
And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.

Almond Tree. Amygdalus communis
Called in Hebrew, shaked, the awaker.  It is the first tree to blossom in Spring.  There are two varieties, the bitter with white flowers and the sweet with rosy pink blossom. There are Bible references to its fruit, blossom, tree and cut branches.

Aaron's Rod of Almond
Numbers 17, verse 8
Now it came about on the next day that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

Jeremiah 1, v.11.
And the word of the Lord came to me saying, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"  And I said "I see a rod of an almond tree." V.12 Then the Lord said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it."

Ecclesiastes 12, v.5
Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective.

Almond blossom in decorations for the lampstand of the temple at Jerusalem:
Exodus 25, 33-34
V.33 Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower - so for six branches going out from the lampstand; V.34 and in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms, it bulbs and its flowers.

Trees - cut branches of Poplar, Almond and Plane
Genesis 30, v.37
Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods.

Palma; Diklah (Palm tree)
Joel 1, v.12
The vine dries up and the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, all the trees of the field dry up.  Indeed, rejoicing dries up from the sons of men.

1 Chronicles 1:21
Leviticus 23:40
Song of Solomon, 7, v.7-8
Jeremiah 10, v.5
1 Kings 6, v.29, 32, 35
John 12, v.13
Rev. 7, v.9
Psalm 92 v.12, 14
Ezekiel 40, v.16
John 12, v.13

Acacia
Probably Acacia Seyal, which grows today in the region of Sinai and Israel.  It has a reddish-brown bark.  According to Wikipedia, "Acacia Seyal is thought to be the Shittah tree of the Bible, which supplied Shittim-wood. According to the book of Genesis, this was used in the construction of the Ark of the Covenant."
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia)

Exodus 25, v.10, 13; 26: 15-37; 37:10; 30:1; 37:25; 38:1; Isaiah 41:19

Exodus 25:10
And they shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.
V.13 "And you shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold."

Olive
Genesis 8, v.11
And the dove came to him toward evening; and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.

Exodus 23:11; Joshua 24:13; Judges 9:8-9; Judges 15:5; 1 Sam. 8:14; 1 Kings 6:33, v.31-33; 2 Kings 18:32; Haggai 2:19; Isaiah 41:19

Cypress
Isaiah 41:19; 44:14; 55:13; 60:13; 1 Kings 5:6-10; 1 Kings 6:34; 2 Kings 19:23; Zechariah 11:2

Sycamore, Sycamine
Luke 17, v.6
"If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you."

Luke 19, v.4
(Zaccheus converted) V.4 And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

Fig
Deuteronomy 8:8; 1 Samuel 25:18; 30:12; Judges 9:10-11; Numbers 13:23; Psalm 105:3; Proverbs 27:18; Song of Solomon 2:13; Jeremiah 5:17; Joel 1:12; Micah 4:4; Haggai 2:19; Zechariah 3:10; Matthew 21:19-21; Luke 13:6-9; John 1: 48-50; Revelation 6:13.

Proverbs 27, V.18
He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit

1 Samuel 25, v.18  Figs - fruit
Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

Jeremiah 5, 17
"And they will devour your harvest and your food; they will devour your sons and your daughters; they will devour your flocks and your herds; they will devour your vines and your fig trees;

Psalm 105, v.33
He struck down their vines also and their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their territory.

Song of Solomon 2, v.13
The fig tree has ripened its figs, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.

Micah 4, v.4
And each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Zechariah 3, v.10
"In that day," declares the Lord of hosts, "every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree."

Matthew 21, v.19-21
And seeing a fig tree by the wayside He went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only.  And He said to it: May no fruit ever come from you again. And the fig tree withered at once.

Luke 13, v.6-9  Fig - parable
V.6 And He began telling this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. V.7 "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any.  Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' V.8 "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; V.9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down."

Revelations 6, v.13  Fig
V.13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

John 1, v.48-50
V.48 Nathaniel said to Him, "How do you know me?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  V.49 Nathaniel answered, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." V.50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?  You shall see greater things than these."

Olive Tree, Fig, Cedar of Lebanon
Judges 9, v.8-15
V.8 "Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, "Reign over us!" V.9 "But the olive tree said to them. "Shall I leave my fatness with which God and me are honored, and go wave over the trees?" V.10 "Then the trees said to the fig tree, "You come, reign over us!" V.13 "But the vine said to them, "Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go and wave over the trees?"  V.14 "Finally all the trees said to the bramble, "You come, reign over us!" V.15 "And the bramble said to the trees, "If in truth you are anointing me a king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon."

Cedar, Cedar of Lebanon
Psalm 92:12; 104:16; Leviticus 14:4; Judges 9:15; 1 Kings 5: 5-10 (cedars of Lebanon and cypress) 1 Kings 6:9, 10, 18; 1 Kings 6:36 (cedar); 1 Kings 7:2, 7; 2 Kings 14:9; 2 Kings 19:23; 2 Samuel, 5:11; Ezra 3:7; Ezekiel 17:22; 27:5; 31:3; Isaiah 2:13; 41:19' 44:14; 60:13; Hosea 14:7; Zechariah 11:1-2; Numbers 19:6; 24:6; Song of Solomon 4:11

Fir
This could be a general word applying to evergreen trees.
2 Sam. 6:5; Psalm 104:17; Ezekiel 27:5; Isaiah 44:13

Pine
Psalm 104:17

Willow, "willows of the brook"
Ezekiel 17:5; Leviticus 23:40 (branches of willow tree)

Pomegranate (many-seeded apple)

Numbers 13:23; 20:5; Deuteronomy 8:8; 1 Sam: 14:2; Song of Solomon: 4:3; 4:13; 6:7; 7:12; 11; 8:2; Joel 1:12; Haggai 2:19

Pomegranate mentioned with other trees

Joel 1, v.12  Fig, Pomegranate, Palm, Apple
V.12 The vine dries up, and the fig tree fails; the pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, all the trees of the field dry up.  Indeed, rejoicing dries up from the sons of men.

Numbers 13, v.23, Fig, Pomegranate
Then they came to the valley of Eschol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs.
Numbers 20, v.5, Fig, Pomegranate
"And why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink."

Deuteronomy 8 v.8  Fig, Pomegranate, Olive
V.8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

Apple
Isaiah 40:16; 60:13; Zechariah 11:1; Proverbs 25:11; Song of Solomon 2:3;
8:5; Joel 1:12
"Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?" Beneath the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother was in labor for you, there she was in labor and gave you birth.

Poplar
Hosea 4:13

Juniper
1 Kings 19 v. 5; Isaiah 41:19

Isaiah 60:13
The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the box tree, and the cypress together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I shall make the place of My feet glorious.

Terebinth
Isaiah 6:13; Hosea 4:13

Box, Boxwood
Ezekiel 27:5; Isaiah 41:19; 60:13

Plane
Genesis 30:37

Myrtle
Isaiah 41:19; 55:13; Nehemiah 8:15; Zechariah 1:8, 10-11

TREES IN GENERAL
Genesis 1:11-12; 3:8; 18:4; Deuteronomy 21:22; Psalm 104:16; Isaiah 40:20; 55: 12-13

Genesis 1, v.11
Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth"; and it was so. V.12 And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good

Genesis 3, v.8
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 18, v.4
"Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; V.5 and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant." And they said, "So do, as you have said."

Deuteronomy 20, v.19
"When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging the axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down.  For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? V.20 Only the trees which you know are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls."

Deuteronomy 21, v.22
"And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, V.23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance."

Psalm 1, v.3 Trees - analogy
And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

Psalm 37, v.35 Trees - analogy
I have seen a violent, wicked man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.

Matthew 3, v.10 Trees - analogy
(John the Baptist speaking) "And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Matthew 7, v.17-20  Trees - general; analogy
V.17 "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. V.18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. V.19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. V.20 So then, you will know them by their fruits."

Matthew 12, v.33 Trees - general; analogy
"Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit."

Mark 8, v.24. Trees - analogy
And he looked up and said, "I see men, for I am seeing them like trees, walking about."

Jude v.12
These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;

Proverbs 3, v.18. Tree - allegory
V.18 She (wisdom) is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold fast.

Isaiah 40, v.20. Tree - general for carving idols
He who is too impoverished for such an offering selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not totter.

Psalm 104, v.16  Trees General and Specific
The trees of the Lord drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted, V.17 where the birds build their nests, and the stork, whose home is the fir trees.

Isaiah 55, v.12-13  Trees General and Specific: Cypress, Myrtle
"For you will go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. V.13 Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up; and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up; and it will be a memorial to the Lord, for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off."

REFERENCES and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

New American Standard Version, Master Study Bible, Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 1981. Pages:
1609 (Acacia), 1626 (oak of Al'lon-Ba'cuth), 1627 (Almond), 1641 (Apple), 1696 (Box tree), 1697 (Branch), 1709 (Cedar), 1758 (Cypress), 1827 (Fig), 1827 (Fir), 1860 (Gopher Wood), 1995 (Juniper), 2058 (Myrtle), 2068 (Oak), 2071 (Olive), 2073 (Orchard), 2076 (Palm), 2105 (Pomegranate), 2106 (Poplar), 2202 (Sycamore), 2213 (Terebinth), 2225 (Tree), 2244 (Willow), 2271 (Apple), 2275 (Blossom), 2276 (Branch), 2279 (Cedar), 2300 (Fig), 2302 (Forest), 2323 (Oak), 2324 (Orchard), 2350 (Timber), 2351-2 (Tree), 2360 (Wood).

Wikipedia  (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia)