Cedar: (Heb. e'rez, Gr. kedros, Lat. cedrus), a tree very frequently
mentioned in Scripture. It was stately
(Ezekiel 31:3-5) long-branched
(Psalms 80:10; 92:12; Ezekiel 31:6-9) odoriferous
(The Song of Solomon 4:11; Hosea 14:6) durable, and
therefore much used for boards, pillars, and ceilings
(1 Kings 6:9,10; 7:2)
(Jeremiah 22:14) for masts
(Ezekiel 27:5) and for carved images
(Isaiah 44:14) It
grew very abundantly in Palestine, and particularly on Lebanon, of
which it was "the glory"
(Isaiah 35:2; 60:13) Hiram supplied Solomon with
cedar trees from Lebanon for various purposes connected with the
construction of the temple and the king's palace
(2 Samuel 5:11; 7:2,7)
(1 Kings 5:6,8,10; 6:9,10,15,16,18,20; 7:2,3,7,11,12; 9:11) etc. Cedars were
used also in the building of the second temple under Zerubbabel
(Ezra 3:7) Of the ancient cedars of Lebanon there remain now only some
seven or eight. They are not standing together. But beside them there are
found between three hundred and four hundred of younger growth. They
stand in an amphitheatre fronting the west, about 6,400 feet above
the level of the sea. The cedar is often figuratively alluded to in
the sacred Scriptures. "The mighty conquerors of olden days, the
despots of Assyria and the Pharaohs of Egypt, the proud and
idolatrous monarchs of Judah, the Hebrew commonwealth itself, the
war-like Ammonites of patriarchal times, and the moral majesty of the
Messianic age, are all compared to the towering cedar, in its royal
loftiness and supremacy
(Isaiah 2:13; Ezekiel 17:3,22,23; 31:3-9; Amos 2:9)
(Zechariah 11:1,2; Job 40:17; Psalms 29:5; 80:10; 92:12) etc.", Groser's Scrip. Nat.
Hist.
