The word עץ êts (Strong's #6086, x328) is used of a tree or wood itself including everything from firewood to a gallows. It is first used for wood rather than a tree in the building of the ark when Noah is commanded (Genesis 6:14) to build an ark of עטי־גּפר atsêy-gôpher a uniquely occuring term for a type of wood not absolutely known, possibly cypress. Here the word could be translated by tree, wood or timber, almost interchangeably. The other biblical ark, that of the Covenant (Exodus 25:10), was made out of עטי־שטּים atsêy shittîym, acacia.
עץ êts is not a particular type of tree until it is further described, as for example a fruit bearing tree (Genesis 1:11,12) or the tree of knowledge or life (Genesis 2:9).
According to Genesis 2:9 trees were first planted for their beauty as much as for providing food and shelter, where they are described as "pleasant (חמד châmadh, Strong's #2530) to behold" in the first instance and only "good for food" in the second instance.
Hebrew has many words to describe leaf, branch, trunk, tree and roots, and several "root" verbs from which they derive. עץ êts itself comes from עצה âtsâh (Strong's #6095) "to fasten, make firm", hence a tree is "that which is made firm". Actually, this verb is only used once (Proverbs 16:30) of eyes that are "firmly" shut.
These distinctions can help tremendously in word studies, for the tree is a symbol which can conjure up many thoughts, indeed it has been worshipped in ancient cultures and religions. So, when the Psalmist writes that the godly "shall be like a tree" (Psalm 1:3) we are not meant to imagine what necessarily comes to our mind with the picture of a tree, but what entered the Hebrew mind, in this case, the idea of "firmness". We might think of a tree swaying in the wind, or a willow drooping over a river, or a tree putting down its roots to draw water from the river. These are all true, however, the main Hebrew idea here is that of its "steadfastness", almost comparable to a rock. For in the Psalm quoted the picture goes on to talk about how the ungodly are driven away by the wind and are unable to stand in the judgement before God, whereas the righteous man is like a tree that is not uprooted by the wind and is able to stand before God because of its "firmness".
"In reading the description of the righteous in Psa 1:1-3, the reader, especially if he is from a forested area, must not miss the emotional "wallop" in the image of the tree, with its splendid emblematic parallelism. A tree in Palestine, particularly in the southern areas, was something rather special. It is fitting that one remember that Eden was characterized by the plenitude of its trees (Gen 3:9). An oasis in the desert of southern Palestine was a haven from oppressive heat, a place of rest and refreshment; but also it was a grim reminder of a well-watered and heavily forested garden lost through human sin." (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)
The tree is to be respected of itself, not as an object or worship or treehugging but as part of early conservation against needless destruction, particularly of fruiting trees. For example, the Israelites are given very specific instructions for ethical conduct in sieges including the following:
"When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged of thee?" (Deuteronomy 20:19, JPS)
Only non-fruiting trees could be used in constructing siege engines. Tolkien's Ents would approve! (See the parable of the trees in Judges 9:8-15).
Biblical disobedience began around a tree in the garden of Eden, the bitter waters were sweetened by the throwing in of a tree (Exodus 15:25), the righteous are to be compared to a tree of life (Proverbs 11:30) and the Messiah hung upon a tree to bring life.
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