Tree
Tree
()
Tree is used five times in the NT as a synonym for the Cross (Act 5:30; Act 10:39; Act 13:29, Gal 3:13; 1Pe 2:24). In classical Greek means wood cut, timber (as in 1Co 3:12, Rev 18:12); an instrument of punishment, resembling the pillory (Herod. vi. 75, ix. 37; so in Act 16:24); rarely a living tree (as in Rev 22:2; Rev 22:14; Rev 22:19); and never a cross. But in the Septuagint , where is used for , tree, the phrase hang on a tree occurs several times (Gen 40:19, Deu 21:22, Jos 10:26); and the dread saying, (maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno), seems to have been applied very early in the Christian Church-apparently many years before the writing of the Epistle to the Galatians-with a deep theological meaning as well as a poignant pathos, to the death of Christ, whose Cross then came to be commonly known as the tree.
Among the ancient Israelites the criminal was not executed by being hanged, but hanged after execution, his corpse being exposed before all eyes as a proof that he had met the reward of his deeds (2Sa 4:12; 2Sa 21:9-10). But Gen 40:19, which refers to a case in Egypt, may denote a death by suspension (see J. Skinner, International Critical Commentary , Genesis, Edinburgh, 1910). Be that as it may, the tree used for this gruesome purpose was no doubt a literal living tree, not an artificial gallows-tree.
The Cross is called a tree in two addresses which are said to have been delivered by St. Peter (Act 5:30; Act 10:39), and 1Pe 2:24 refers to Christ bearing our sins in His body upon the tree. Cf. also St. Pauls words in Act 13:29 with Gal 3:18. The theme crux est arbor is a favourite one in mediaeval poetry, and the tree is a common synonym for the Cross in modern hymnology.
In Jud 1:12 apostates are compared to autumn trees without fruit. The writer of the Apocalypse refers to a conflagration among forest trees (Rev 8:7); also to trees spared by hurricanes (Rev 7:1; Rev 7:3) and by locusts (Rev 9:4). See also Tree of Life.
James Strahan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Tree
prop. , ets (), which also signifies wood (); in Jer 6:6, the fern. , etsah, is used. Besides this generic term, there also occur peculiar words of a more distinct signification, e.g. , eshel (1Sa 22:6; 1Sa 31:13; grove [q.v.] in Gen 21:33), which is thought to denote the tamarisk or else the terebbinth; , eyl (Isa 61:3; Eze 31:14); Chald, , ildan (Dan 4:10 sq.), prob. the oak (q.v.); , ets hadar (goodly tree, Lev 23:40), , nis aboth (thick tree, Lev 23:40; Neh 8:15), and
, tsel (shady tree, Job 40:21-22), which designate rather vigorous trees in general than specific varieties. SEE TABERNACLES, FESTIVAL OF. For a list of all the kinds of trees (including shrubs, plants, fruits, etc.) mentioned in the Bible, SEE BOTANY. See Taylor, Trees of Scripture (Lond. 1842).
In Eastern countries trees are not only graceful ornaments in the landscape, but essential to the comfort and support of the inhabitants. The Hebrews were forbidden to destroy the fruit-trees of their enemies in time of war, for the tree of the field is man’s life (Deu 20:19-20). Trees of any kind are not now very abundant in Palestine. Some trees are found, by an examination of the internal zones, to attain to a very long age. There are some in existence which are stated to have attained a longevity of three thousand years, and for some of them a still higher antiquity is claimed. Individual trees in Palestine are often notable for historical and sacred associations (Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 151). SEE ALLON-BACHUTH; SEE MEONENIM.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Tree
TREE (, Lat. lignum, arbor).A poetic name for the Cross (Act 5:30; Act 10:39; Act 13:29, 1Pe 2:24; cf. Gal 3:13; nowhere in Gospels). The name no doubt originated in the practice (cf. Jos 10:26) of employing a tree in case of haste for the purpose of crucifixion* [Note: Lips, de Cruc. ii. v. Though is rarely applied to live wood in classical Greek (see Liddell and Scott, s.v.), it is frequently so used in later and Biblical Greek; cf. Jdg 9:8-15, Psa 96:12; Psa 104:16, Luk 23:31, Rev 2:7; Rev 22:2.] (cf. gallows-tree), but in mediaeval times it was explained by a quaint legend. As he lay a dying, it was said, Adam sent his son Seth to the angel that guarded Paradise, to crave a bough from the tree of life. The angel gave it, and Seth carried it to his father, but found him dead. He planted the bough upon his grave. In course of time, when Solomon was building the Temple, the tree was cut down, but it refused to be fitted into any part of the Temple, and was placed over a stream to serve as a bridge. By and by the queen of Sheba came with her gifts and offerings. Seeing the tree she would not walk over it, since she recognized that the Redeemer of the world would suffer on it. Long afterwards the Jews took it and cast it into a stagnant pool, which derived a miraculous virtue from its presence: an angel descended from time to time and troubled the water, and the first that stepped in after the troubling was healed (cf. Joh 5:4). There it remained until the time of our Lords Passion, when it was taken out of the pool and fashioned into the Cross on which He suffered. [Note: Daniel, Thes. Hymnol, i. c. n.]
Much devout fancy was inspired by the term. It suggested a reference to the Cross in Son 2:3; Son 2:5, which runs thus in the Vulgate: Sicut malus inter ligna silvarum, sic dilectus meus inter filios. Sub umbra illius, quem desideraveram, sedi: et fructus ejus dulcis gutturi meo. Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis: quia amore langueo. The hymn-writers extolled the arbor salutifera which bore such sweet and precious fruit. One says: [Note: i. cxli.]
Fertilitate potens, O dulce et nobile lignum,
Quando tuis ramis tam nova poma geris.
And in his exquisite Laudismus de S. Cruce St. Bonaventura says: [Note: ii. cxxii.]
Crux est arbor decorata,
Christi sanguine sacrata,
Cunctis plena fructibus;
Quibus animae eruuntur,
Cum supernis nutriuntur
Cibis in clestibus.
The Fathers loved to contrast the first tree whose fruit brought death into the world, and the second tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2). Cf. St. Jerome on Mar 15:23 Hic figitur salus in ligno, ligno primo infixa est mors. Lignum primum lignum scientiae boni et mali est. Et secundum lignum boni tantum nobis et vitae lignum est. In Evangel. Nicodem. xxiii., after the harrying of hell Hades says to Satan: All that thou gainedst by the tree of knowledge ( ), by the tree of the Cross ( ) thou hast lost. See also art. Cross.
LiteratureReference may be made to The Legend of the Cross in Baring-Goulds Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, and to Farrars Christ in Art, p. 276.
David Smith.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Tree
TREE.Tree is used as a poetic name for the Cross in Act 5:30; Act 10:39; Act 13:29, 1Pe 2:24; cf. Gal 3:12. For sacred trees see High Place, 1; and Israel, ii. 1 (5); and, for the various trees of the Bible, the artt. under their respective names.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Tree
We meet with the names of a great variety of trees in Scripture, but if we may give credit to ancient writers, there was nothing in the Hebrew language less determined than the special names of trees. The sacred writers, however, have very largely and very beautifully classed them under their respective names. I do not take upon me to say that in numberless instances the names and trees are not figurative, for I rather think they are. It has been thought so by some writers, and there is reason for the opinion; and when we consider how God the Holy Ghost, from the description of the garden of Eden, in the very opening of the Bible, to the closing the canon of Scripture, in the description of the Paradise of God, makes use of the several names of “the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” which were evidently symbolical and sacramental, I cannot but pause over the several elegantly and highly finished representations which the whole Book of God abounds with, more or less, from beginning to end, and accept them as such. Hence, in this point of view, are the “trees of the garden and of the forest, the trees of righteousness, and of the Lord’s right hand planting;” but chiefly and above all in beholding that most striking and lovely representation of Jesus, under the similitude of the tree of life. (Rev 22:2) Amidst a thousand beauties included in this lovely figure, how blessed is it to see that in his person, the life, the fruit, the healing, the shadow of his branches, the everlasting root, the verdure of his leaves, all, and every one, are beautifully described as figurative of temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings in Jesus. And it is not the least of the beauty of this similitude, that this tree of life is said to be in the midst of the street, and on either side of the river. For as the church of Jesus, though but one, and the only one of her mother, (Son 6:9) is in both worlds, the river of Jordan only separating in place, but not in union; Jesus is equally the life of both, and gives blessedness to the body below as well as happiness to the society above. Hail! thou everlasting and eternal tree of life! Cause me to sit down under thy shadow with great delight this side the river, until thou shalt bring me home to the everlasting rest and enjoyment of thy fulness, in the paradise of God above. Amen.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Tree
tre. See BOTANY.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Tree
Of life
Gen 2:9; Gen 3:22; Gen 3:24; Rev 22:14
Of knowledge
Gen 2:9; Gen 2:17; Gen 3:3-6; Gen 3:11-12; Gen 3:17
Figurative
Psa 1:3; Jer 17:8
Symbolic
Dan 4:10-12
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Tree
“a living, growing tree” (cp. Eng., “rhododendron,” lit., “rose tree”), known by the fruit it produces, Mat 12:33; Luk 6:44; certain qualities are mentioned in the NT; “a good tree,” Mat 7:17-18; Mat 12:33; Luk 6:43; “a corrupt tree” (ditto); in Jud 1:12, metaphorically, of evil teachers, “autumn trees (AV, ‘trees whose fruit withereth’) without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots,” RV; in Luk 13:19 in some texts, “a great tree,” AV (RV, “a tree”); for this and Mat 13:32 see MUSTARD; in Luk 21:29 “the fig tree” is illustrative of Israel, “all the trees” indicating Gentile nations.
“wood, a piece of wood, anything made of wood” (see STAFF, STOCKS), is used, with the rendering “tree,” (a) in Luk 23:31, where “the green tree” refers either to Christ, figuratively of all His living power and excellencies, or to the life of the Jewish people while still inhabiting their land, in contrast to “the dry,” a figure fulfilled in the horrors of the Roman massacre and devastation in A.D. 70 (cp. the Lord’s parable in Luk 13:6-9; see Eze 20:47, and cp. Eze 21:3); (b) of “the cross,” the tree being the stauros, the upright pale or stake to which Romans nailed those who were thus to be executed, Act 5:30; Act 10:39; Act 13:29; Gal 3:13; 1Pe 2:24; (c) of “the tree of life,” Rev 2:7; Rev 22:2 (twice), Rev 22:14, Rev 22:19, RV, AV, “book.” See WOOD.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Tree
is the first and largest of the vegetable kind, consisting of a single trunk, out of which spring forth branches and leaves. Heat is so essential to the growth of trees, that we see them grow larger and smaller in a sort of gradation as the climates in which they stand are more or less hot. The hottest countries yield, in general, the largest and tallest trees, and those, also, in much greater beauty and variety than the colder do; and even those plants which are common to both arrive at a much greater bulk in the southern than in the northern climates; nay, there are some regions so bleak and chill, that they raise no vegetables at all to any considerable height. Greenland, Iceland, and similar places, afford no trees at all; and the shrubs which grow in them are always little and low. In the warmer climates, where trees grow to a moderate size, any accidental diminution of the common heat is found very greatly to impede vegetation; and even in England the cold summers we sometimes have give us an evident proof of this in the scarcity of produce from all our large fruit trees. Heat, whatever be the producing cause, acts as well upon vegetation one way as another. Thus the heat of manure, and the artificial heat of coal fires in stoves, are found to supply the place of the sun. Great numbers of the eastern trees, in their native soil, flower twice in a year, and some flower and bear ripe fruit all the year round; and it is observed of these last, that they are at once the most frequent and the most useful to the inhabitants; their fruits, which always hang on them in readiness, containing cool juices, which are good in fevers, and other of the common diseases of hot countries. The umbrageous foliage, with which the God of providence has generally furnished all trees in warm climates, affords a most refreshing and grateful shade to those who seek relief from the direct and hurtful rays of a tropical sun.
The Land of Promise cannot boast, like many other countries, of extensive woods; but considerable thickets of trees and of reeds sometimes arise to diversify and adorn the scene. Between the Lake Samochonites and the sea of Tiberias, the river Jordan is almost concealed by shady trees from the view of the traveller. When the waters of the Jordan are low, the Lake Samochonites is only a marsh, for the most part dry and overgrown with shrubs and reeds. In these thickets, among other ferocious animals, the wild boar seeks a covert from the burning rays of the sun. Large herds of them are sometimes to be seen on the banks of the river, near the sea of Tiberias, lying among the reeds, or feeding under the trees. Such moist and shady places are in all countries the favourite haunts of these fierce and dangerous animals. Those marshy coverts are styled woods in the sacred Scriptures; for the wild boar of the wood is the name which that creature receives from the royal psalmist: The boar out of the wood doth waste it; and the wild beast of the field doth devour it, Psa 80:13. The wood of Ephraim, where the battle was fought between the forces of Absalom and the servants of David, was probably a place of the same kind; for the sacred historian observes, that the wood devoured more people that day than the sword, 2Sa 18:8. Some have supposed the meaning of this passage to be, that the soldiers of Absalom were destroyed by the wild beasts of the wood; but it can scarcely be supposed, that in the reign of David, when the Holy Land was crowded with inhabitants, the wild beasts could be so numerous in one of the woods as to cause such a destruction. But, supposing the wood of Ephraim to have been a morass covered with trees and bushes, like the haunts of the wild boar near the banks of Jordan, the difficulty is easily removed. It is certain that such a place has more than once proved fatal to contending armies, partly by suffocating those who in the hurry of flight inadvertently venture over places incapable of supporting them, and partly by retarding them till their pursuers come up and cut them to pieces. In this manner a greater number of men than fell in the heat of battle may be destroyed. It is probable, however, that nothing more is intended by the sacred historian, than the mention of a fact familiar to military men in all ages, and whatever kind of weapons were then employed in warfare,that forests, especially such thick and impassable forests as are common in warm countries, constitute the very worst ground along which a discomfited army can be compelled to retreat. Their orderly ranks are broken; the direction which each warrior for his own safety must take is uncertain; and while one tumultuous mass is making a pass for itself through intervening brushwood and closely matted jungle, and another is hurrying along a different path and encountering similar or perhaps greater impediments, the cool and deliberate pursuers, whether archers or sharp shooters, enjoy an immense advantage in being able to choose their own points of annoyance, and by flank or cross attacks to kill their retreating foes, with scarcely any risk to themselves, but with immense carnage to the routed army.
Several critics imagine that by , rendered goodly trees,
Lev 23:40, the citron tree is intended. , rendered thick trees in the same verse, and in Neh 8:15; Eze 20:28, is the myrtle, according to the rabbins, the Chaldee paraphrase, Syriac version, and Deodatus. The word , translated grove in Gen 21:33, has been variously translated. Parkhurst renders it an oak, and says, that from this word may be derived the name of the famous asylum, opened by Romulus between two groves of oak at Rome. On the other hand, Celsius, Michaelis, and Dr. Geddes render it the tamarisk, which is a lofty and beautiful tree, and grows abundantly in Egypt and Arabia. The same word in 1Sa 22:6; 1Sa 31:13, is rendered a tree. It must be noted too, that in the first of these places, the common version is equally obscure and contradictory, by making ramah a proper name: it signifies hillock or bank. Of the trees that produced precious balsams there was one in particular that long flourished in Judea, having been supposed to have been an object of great attention to Solomon, which was afterward transplanted to Matarea, in Egypt, where it continued till about two hundred and fifty years ago, according to Maillet, who gives a description of it, drawn, it is supposed, from the Arabian authors, in which he says, This shrub had two very differently coloured barks, the one red, the other perfectly green; that they tasted strongly like incense and turpentine, and when bruised between the fingers they smelt very nearly like cardamoms. This balsam, which was extremely precious and celebrated, and was used by the Coptic church in their chrism, was produced by a very low shrub; and it is said, that all those shrubs that produced balsams are every where low, and do not exceed two or three cubits in height.
Descriptions of the principal trees and shrubs mentioned in Holy Writ, the reader will find noticed in distinct articles under their several denominations.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Tree
This beautiful plant of GOD’s design and creation is used in many ways in the Scripture. Each type of tree represents a different truth. Trees are also used to represent positions of great power, or of lesser power. Trees represent GOD’s people in some cases, while they represent Satan’s product in other cases.
Gen 2:17 (c) It has been suggested that this tree represents human reasonings, searchings and conclusions about GOD’s matters. Men today prefer psychological investigations and mental processes rather than to believe GOD and His Word. The Devil offers many philosophies and theories which men eagerly grasp and prefer them to GOD’s revealed truth. (See also Gen 3:3).
Exo 15:25 (c) Perhaps this tree represents the Lord JESUS CHRIST who certainly does sweeten the bitter things of life, and make the sorrows of earth a blessing to the soul.
Exo 15:27 (c) Strangely enough, these trees may, and possibly do, represent the seventy persons who came down to Egypt from the land of Israel. The twelve springs may represent the twelve tribes. Certainly they were to be a blessing to the whole earth.
Num 24:6 (a) It is a type of the people of GOD seen in the light of GOD’s thoughts, as His own choice planting, and bearing fruit for His glory. (See Jer 17:8).
Job 14:7 (c) The teaching of this passage is that though a man may fail in business, or fall as a sinner, it is quite possible for him to be restored and to recover and to end his days in blessing, and with GOD’s approval.
Psa 1:3 (a) This is the child of GOD who is rooted and grounded in the Word of GOD, and is having his soul and life permeated by the Holy Spirit (the river). He is not planted in the river, but by the river. The finest tree will not grow in the best of soil unless there is water available. The water represents the Holy Spirit.
Pro 3:18 (a) GOD is giving us here a picture of “wisdom.” Those who exercise this virtue certainly save themselves from much trouble, and become a rich blessing to many. CHRIST bears this name.
Pro 11:30 (a) The tree represents a fruitful life lived for the glory of GOD and the blessing of men.
Pro 13:12 (a) The Lord uses this picture to illustrate the blessings of answered prayer, and the receiving of the desires of the heart.
Pro 15:4 (a) Good talk and wise words certainly do bring the blessings that a tree of life would bring. The Lord tells us to let our conversation be always with grace. The Psalmist also requested that “the words of my mouth” might be acceptable to GOD.
Isa 56:3 (a) The eunuch had no power to propagate himself, he could have no posterity. He is like the dry tree in that there would be no fruit in his life that might produce posterity.
Isa 66:17 (b) Probably this tree represents some particular wicked religion which permits abominations and wicked practices. The self-righteous person is satisfied with that kind of arrangement.
Eze 17:24 (a) GOD uses this strange illustration to describe His power in bringing down the important men of the nation, and exalting the obscure man. He wrecks the life of the great man, and promotes the welfare of the small man. The trees here represent people. (See also Eze 21:10).
Eze 31:8 (a) This allegory describes Satan in his original beauty and glory. The description of Satan begins at verse 3. It runs through verse 9.
Dan 4:10 (a) This tree is King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel explains this fully.
Mat 3:10 (b) The primary application of this type is to Israel. The application is also to the individual. GOD did lay the ax to the root of Israel and destroyed the nation. The roots, however, remain in the earth, and are even now producing a new tree. This happens also to individuals who, because their lives are so utterly given over to the Devil and there is no fruit for GOD, that one is cut off and sent to hell. (See also Luk 6:43).
Mat 12:33 (a) The Lord is propounding here a very deep truth, which should stir every heart. The individual must be born again to become a good tree, which will bring forth good fruit. No man is naturally a Christian. The tree itself must be made before the fruit can be right. An unsaved person lives the life of an unsaved person. If he is transformed by the power and grace of GOD, then he becomes a Christian and lives the life of a Christian. (See Luk 6:44).
Mat 13:32 (a) Mustard does not grow on trees. There is no such things as a mustard tree. The mustard grows on a bush. Therefore, this tree is an unnatural thing, and it represents the great, unnatural religious system, which consists of many denominations having a multitude of beliefs, many of them grotesque, and even wicked. GOD never intended that His church should be of this sort. Those who really trust JESUS CHRIST and are true Christians form only a very small part of that great institution we call Christendom. The birds in this story represent evil spirits. They are made to feel at home in this great unnatural religious system, which is a curse to the earth. (See Luk 13:19).
Luk 17:6 (b) The reference is to any trouble or difficulty in the life, which seems like a mountain that cannot be moved by any human means. Our Lord is able to do it, and therefore He gives us the privilege of bringing the problem to Him. (See “SEED”).
Rev 2:7 (b) We find no indication of the meaning of this type, but we may assume that it refers to the blessings that come from the Lord JESUS CHRIST to those who walk with GOD, dwell in His presence, and are planted in His courts.