Lectionary Calendar
Friday, April 19th, 2024
the Third Week after Easter
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort! Bible Encyclopedias
Ash (1)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Search for…
or
ash ( ארן , 'ōren ; the Revised Version (British and American) FIR TREE; the Revised Version, margin Ash): A maker of idols "planteth a fir-tree (margin, "ash"), and the rain doth nourish it" (Isaiah 44:14 ). It is a suggestion as old as Luther that the final letter ן , "n", was originally a ז , "z", and that the word should be 'erez , "cedar"; the chief objection is that cedar occurs just before in the same verse. The word 'ōren seems to be connected with the Assyrian irin , meaning fir or cedar or allied tree. "Fir" has support from the Septuagint and from the rabbis. Post (HDB ) suggests as probable the stone pine, Pinus pinea , which has been extensively planted round Beirût and unlike most planted trees flourishes without artificial watering - "the rain doth nourish it."
The translation "ash" was probably suggested by the fanciful resemblance of the Hebrew 'ōren and the Latin ornus , the manna ash of Europe. Three varieties of ash flourish in Syria, Fraxinus ornus , F. excelsior and F. oxycarpa . The last mentioned, which is common in parts of North Palestine, being a large tree some 30 to 40 ft. high, might suit the context were there anything philological to support the idea.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and were generously provided by the folks at WordSearch Software.
Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Ash (1)'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/isb/a/ash-1.html. 1915.
