For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it
will
sprout again
That is, if it be cut down to the root, and only the stump of the
root is left in the ground, as the tree in Nebuchadnezzar's
dream, ( Daniel 4:15 ) , yet the
owner of it may entertain a hope that it is not utterly
destroyed, but will bud out again; or "change" F19 its
state and condition, and become flourishing again: or "renew"
F20 itself; and its strength, and put
out new shoots and branches; either it will rise up into a new
body, as the laurel, as Pliny F21 relates, or produce new
sprouts as the willow, alder tree, and others; for this is not
true of every tree, though it may be of many; for it is
F23 reported of the cypress tree, when
cut down, it never sprouts out any more, unless in one place, in
Aenaria; but since this is the case of some, it is sufficient to
Job's purpose:
and that the tender branch thereof will not
cease;
from shooting out; or "its suckers will not cease" F24; which
may be observed frequently to grow out of the roots of trees,
even of those that are cut down, such as above mentioned.
F19 (Pylxy) "mutabit se", Drusius; "conditionem suam", Piscator.
F20 "Renovat se", Schmidt.
F21 Nat. Hist. apud Pinedam in loc.
F23 Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 3. p. 681. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 16. c. 33.
F24 (wtqnwy) "sugensque ejus surculus", Schultens.