CYPRESS . (1) tirzah ( Isaiah 44:14 , RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘ holm oak ’) stands for some tree with very hard wood, the meaning of the root (in Arabic) being to be hard . ‘Holm oak’ is the rendering of the oldest Latin translation. This is the Quercus ilex , a tree now rare W. of the Jordan, but still found in Gilead and Bashan; (2) te’ashshur ( Isaiah 41:19 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). Both AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] have ‘box tree’ (wh. see); (3) berôsh ( 2 Samuel 6:5 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). Both AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] have ‘ fir wood’ (see also Isaiah 55:13 ). In Palestine to-day cypresses are extensively planted, especially in cemeteries.
E. W. G. Masterman.