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Bible Dictionaries
Cedar
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Cedar. Several cone-bearing, evergreen trees appear to be included under this title. But ordinarily, the cedar of Lebanon (the still famous tree of that name, Cedrus Libani) is meant. The Scriptures give its characteristics. Comp. Psalms 92:12; Ezekiel 31:3-6; 1 Kings 7:2; 1 Kings 10:27; Song of Solomon 4:11; Hosea 14:6; Isaiah 2:13; Isaiah 10:19. It grows to the height of 70 or 80 feet. The branches ate thick and long, spreading out almost horizontally from the trunk, which is sometimes 30 or 40 feet in circumference. Ezekiel 31:3; Ezekiel 31:6; Ezekiel 31:8. Maundrell measured one which was 36 feet and 6 inches in the girth, and 111 feet in the spread of its boughs. The wood is of area color and bitter taste, which is offensive to insects, and hence it Is very durable and admirably adapted for building. Cedar was used for the most noble and costly edifices, as the palace of Persepolis, the palace of Solomon, and the temple at Jerusalem. This timber served not only for beams for the frame and boards for covering buildings, but was also wrought into the walls. 2 Samuel 7:2; 1 Kings 6:36; 1 Kings 7:12. The gum which exudes from the trunk and the cones is as soft and fragrant as the balsam of Mecca. This tree, there is reason to believe, once quite covered the mountains of Lebanon between the heights of 3000 and 7000 feet. Rev. H. H. Jessup has visited and described eleven distinct groves of cedars on those mountains, including, altogether, several thousand trees. The wood of the cedar is notable for toughness, durability, and adaptedness to the climate and circumstances of Syria. There is no such thing as a rotten cedar. The name of Lamartine, carved on one of the giant trees 109 years ago, is fresh and legible today. All other woods indigenous to Syria are liable to the attacks of insects or a kind of dry rot. Cedar beams are unchangeable. The cedar is a desirable wood for carving. Isaiah 44:14. It is hard, fragrant, takes a high polish, which develops a beautiful grain, and it grows darker and richer by time.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Cedar'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/c/cedar.html. 1893.
