CEDAR
Famous tree of Lebanon (1 Kings 5:6), large and impressive (Is. 2:13; Ez. 17:22; 31:3).
It provided highly prized wood for the construction of palaces and temples (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:5, 6; 7:1-12; Ezra 3:7); Columns, beams, and planks were carved from this wood (1 Kings 6:9, 10, 18; 7:2, 7); idols were made of it (Is. 34:14); masts for ships (Ez. 27:5).
The cedar gives off a perfume (Song. 4:11; Hos. 14:6); This wood was used in the purification ceremony (Lev. 14:4; Num. 19:6). The tree mentioned is evidently the cedar of Lebanon, ‘Abies cedrus’ or ‘Cedrus Iibani’.
It is a powerful tree with long, spreading and twisted branches, with evergreen leaves; It continues to grow wild in Lebanon and in the Taurus Mountains. Another species of cedar grows in the Himalayas, the “Cedrus Deodara”.