FIR ( berôsh , RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] cypress [wh. see], 2 Samuel 6:5 , 1 Kings 5:8; 1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 6:15; 1 Kings 6:34 etc.). It was a tree of large growth ( 2 Kings 19:23 , Ezekiel 31:8 ); evergreen ( Hosea 14:8 ); a chief element in the glory of Lebanon ( Isaiah 60:13 ); associated with cedars ( Psalms 104:16-17 , Isaiah 14:8 , Zechariah 11:2 ). The timber of the berôsh ranked with the cedar for house- and ship-building ( 1 Kings 5:8; 1 Kings 5:10 etc.). Cypress is accepted by most modern authorities, but berôsh may have also included several varieties of pine. ‘Fir’ is also RV [Note: Revised Version.] tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of ôren in Isaiah 44:14 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] wrongly ‘ash’).
E. W. G. Masterman.