the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Dictionaries
Cypress
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or תדזה , Isaiah 44:14; and κυπαρισσοσ , Sir_24:13; Sir_50:10; a large evergreen tree. The wood is fragrant, very compact, and heavy. It scarcely ever rots, decays, or is worm-eaten; for which reason the ancients used to make the statues of their gods with it. The unperishable chests which contain the Egyptian mummies were of cypress. The gates of St. Peter's church at Rome, which had lasted from the time of Constantine to that of Pope Eugene IV, that is to say, eleven hundred years, were of cypress, and had in that time suffered no decay. But Celsius thinks that Isaiah speaks of the ilex, a kind of oak; and Bishop Lowth, that the pine is intended. The cypress, however, was more frequently used, and more fit for the purpose which the prophet mentions, than either of these trees.
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Cypress'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/c/cypress.html. 1831-2.
