An evergreen tree with needle-like leaves and cone-shaped fruit, often found in Lebanon and admired for its majestic appearance.
About Fir
The Cilician Fir Abies cilicica grew abundantly in the forests of Lebanon along with cedars, evergreen cypresses, and Grecian junipers. The Hebrew word berosh probably included fir, cypress, and juniper. According to 1KI 5:22 (8) and elsewhere, berosh was used in King Solomon’s building projects. The reference in EZK 27:5 to the use of berosh for the timbers/planks of ships could well be talking about fir trees since they are very straight, but the association of berosh there with Mount Senir rather favors the Grecian juniper, which was abundant there (see Grecian juniper (eastern savin)). Hepper (page 163) notes that in Bible times firs were shipped to Egypt for the masts in front of temple pylons, and there is strong evidence that fir trees were used for masts in ancient Greece. One bit of linguistic evidence that berosh could refer to this fir is that the Akkadian word burasu, cognate with berosh, probably refers to the Cilician Fir Abies cephalonica.
Key References
Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!
All Scripture References (22)
2 Samuel (1)
David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
1 Kings (5)
He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards.
The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.
King Solomon gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, who had supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold for his every desire.
2 Kings (1)
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest outposts, the densest of its forests.
2 Chronicles (2)
Send me, therefore, a craftsman skilled in engraving to work with gold and silver, with bronze and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with my craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.
He paneled the main room with cypress, which he overlaid with fine gold and decorated with palm trees and chains.
Psalms (1)
where the birds build their nests; the stork makes her home in the cypresses.
Song of Solomon (1)
The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.
Isaiah (5)
Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,
Instead of the thornbush, the cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, the myrtle will spring up; this will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”
The glory of Lebanon will come to you—its cypress, elm, and boxwood together—to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify the place of My feet.
Ezekiel (3)
They constructed all your planking with cypress from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.
The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty.
Hosea (1)
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.
Nahum (1)
The chariots dash through the streets; they rush around the plazas, appearing like torches, darting about like lightning.
Zechariah (1)
Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!