Forest

FOREST

for'-est:

(1) choresh (compare proper name Harosheth), 2 Chronicles 27:4. In 1 Samuel 23:15 translated "wood"; in Isaiah 17:9, "wood"; in Ezekiel 31:3, "forest-like shade." Applied to any thick growth of vegetation but not necessarily so extensive as (3).

(2) pardec:

Nehemiah 2:8, margin "park"; Ecclesiastes 2:5, the King James Version "orchards," the Revised Version (British and American) "parks"; Song of Solomon 4:13, English Versions of the Bible "orchard," the Revised Version, margin "paradise." A word of Persian origin signifying probably an enclosure.

See PARADISE.

(3) ya`ar from root meaning "rugged"; compare Arabic wa`ar, "a rugged, stony region." It is sometimes rendered "forest" and sometimes (but less often in the Revised Version (British and American)) "wood." It is used of certain definite wooded tracts:

"the forest in Arabia" (Isaiah 21:13, margin "thickets"); "the forest of Carmel" (2 Kings 19:23 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "of his fruitful field"); "the forest of Hereth" (1 Samuel 22:5); "the forest of Lebanon" (1 Kings 7:2; 10:17-21; 2 Chronicles 9:16-20); "the forest of Ephraim," East of the Jordan (2 Samuel 18:6,8,17). The word ya`ar appears also in well- known Kiriath-jearim, "the city of forests," and Mr. Jearim (Joshua 15:10). Among numerous other references the following may be cited: Deuteronomy 19:5; Joshua 17:15,18; 1 Chronicles 16:33; 2 Kings 2:24; Psalms 80:13; 83:14; 96:12; 132:6; Ecclesiastes 2:6; Song of Solomon 2:3; 1 Samuel 7:2; 14:25,26; Jeremiah 4:29; 46:23; Ezekiel 34:29; Micah 3:12; 7:14.

(4) cebhakh, from root meaning "to interweave." A "thicket" (Genesis 22:13; Jeremiah 4:7); "thicket of trees" (Psalms 74:5); "thickets of the forest" (Isaiah 9:18; 10:34).

(5) 'adbhim, "thicket" (Jeremiah 4:29).

From many references it is evident that Palestine had in Old Testament times much more extensive forests and woodlands than today. For a discussion of the subject see BOTANY.

E. W. G. Masterman