Forest

Narrator: Chris Genthree
 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 9
A Forest in Israel
1. choresh, “thick intricate wood” (2 Chron. 27:44Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers. (2 Chronicles 27:4)): also translated “wood” in 1 Samuel 23:15-16, 18-1915And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood. 16And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. (1 Samuel 23:15‑16)
18And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. 19Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? (1 Samuel 23:18‑19).
2. yaar, “a forest.” This is the word commonly used for both “wood” and “forest;” to be distinguished from a third word, pardes (Neh. 2:88And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. (Nehemiah 2:8)), which signifies “a park,” with cultivated trees, whereas the other is wild. Several forests are specified under the word yaar.
1. The forest in ARABIA (Isa. 21:1313The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. (Isaiah 21:13)): its situation is unknown.
2. The “forest of his CARMEL” (2 Kings 19:2323By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. (2 Kings 19:23); Isa. 37:2424By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. (Isaiah 37:24)). This reads in the margin, and in the R.V., “forest of his fruitful field,” and does not refer to any forest connected with Carmel.
3. The forest of HARETH (1 Sam. 22:55And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth. (1 Samuel 22:5)): situated in Judah, but not known.
4. The forest of LEBANON (1 Kings 7:22He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. (1 Kings 7:2); 1 Kings 10:17, 2117And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. (1 Kings 10:17)
21And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. (1 Kings 10:21); 2 Chron. 9:16, 2016And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. (2 Chronicles 9:16)
20And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon. (2 Chronicles 9:20)). The context shows that these passages do not refer to the forest at Lebanon; but that Solomon had a house at Jerusalem built of the trees from Lebanon, and called it “the house of the forest of Lebanon.” The actual forest at Lebanon is often referred to for its noble trees.
5. The wood of EPHRAIM in which Absalom was slain, on the east of the Jordan (2 Sam. 18:6, 8, 176So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim; (2 Samuel 18:6)
8For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. (2 Samuel 18:8)
17And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent. (2 Samuel 18:17)). This has not been identified. It has been suggested that the pride and defeat of Ephraim mentioned in Judges 12:1-61And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. 2And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. 3And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? 4Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. 5And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; 6Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. (Judges 12:1‑6) caused some forest to be called after the name of that tribe. This place, by its swamps, morasses and pits, “devoured” the Israelites by preventing their escape.