Trees: Ash
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Topical Encyclopedia
The ash tree, known for its strength and resilience, is a significant symbol in biblical literature and ancient Near Eastern culture. While the ash tree is not explicitly mentioned by name in the Bible, its characteristics and uses are reflected in various scriptural contexts and historical accounts.

Botanical Characteristics

The ash tree belongs to the genus Fraxinus and is part of the Oleaceae family. It is a deciduous tree, often recognized for its tall stature, compound leaves, and winged seeds known as samaras. The wood of the ash tree is notably strong and flexible, making it valuable for various practical applications.

Symbolism and Cultural Significance

In biblical times, trees were often symbols of life, strength, and endurance. The ash tree, with its robust nature, would have been seen as a representation of these qualities. Although not directly mentioned in the Bible, the ash tree's attributes align with the imagery of trees used throughout Scripture to convey spiritual truths and divine principles.

Biblical Context and References

While the ash tree itself is not named in the Bible, trees in general hold significant theological and metaphorical importance. For instance, trees are frequently used to symbolize righteousness and prosperity. Psalm 1:3 states, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does." This imagery underscores the idea of spiritual vitality and steadfastness, qualities that can be associated with the ash tree.

Additionally, the Bible often uses trees to illustrate the concept of growth and flourishing under God's care. In Isaiah 61:3 , the prophet speaks of God's people as "oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." Although the specific type of tree is not an ash, the metaphor of a strong and enduring tree reflects the characteristics that the ash tree embodies.

Historical and Practical Uses

In ancient times, the wood of the ash tree was highly valued for its durability and elasticity. It was commonly used in the construction of tools, weapons, and furniture. The strength of ash wood made it ideal for crafting items that required resilience and flexibility, such as bows and spears. This practical use of ash wood would have been well-known in the cultures surrounding the biblical narrative.

Theological Reflections

The qualities of the ash tree—strength, resilience, and usefulness—can serve as a reminder of the virtues that believers are called to embody. Just as the ash tree stands firm and serves a purpose, Christians are encouraged to stand strong in their faith and be of service to others. The imagery of trees in the Bible often points to a life rooted in God's truth, bearing fruit in due season, and providing shelter and support to those in need.

In summary, while the ash tree is not directly mentioned in the biblical text, its characteristics and uses resonate with the broader scriptural themes of strength, endurance, and divine purpose. Through the lens of biblical symbolism, the ash tree can be appreciated as a representation of the enduring and fruitful life that God desires for His people.
Torrey's Topical Textbook
Isaiah 44:14
He hews him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest: he plants an ash, and the rain does nourish it.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Of Removing Tithes.
... in not.4 Gwill.1584. See Cattle. Alder-trees, Ash, Asp, Beech, &c. See,
Trees. Apples. Windfall Apples are titheable.2 Gwill.579. ...
/.../prideaux/directions to church-wardens/8 of removing tithes.htm

A Letter from a West Indian Cottage Ornee
... fills the centre of the glen, towering with upright but branching limbs, and huge
crown, thinly leaved, double the height of all the trees around? An ash? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/at last/chapter v a letter from.htm

The Subject of Plagiarisms Resumed. The Greeks Plagiarized from ...
... "And as the fruitful field produceth leaves,. And on the ash trees some fade, others
grow,. So whirls the race of man its leaf," [3200] ". Homer transcribes:". ...
/.../clement/the stromata or miscellanies/chapter ii the subject of plagiarisms.htm

Liii. The Contemplation of Death.
... peeping above the lime trees, and the rooks cawing and wheeling above the old trees. ...
fragrant in May, is covered now with purple berries, and the ash is hung ...
/.../liii the contemplation of death.htm

Visits of Angels.
... the Garden" may be grown up in weeds, the rough, scabeous limbs of the trees may
hang ... men, when the sun is a burned-out cinder and the stars are dying ash heaps ...
/.../rees/the heart-cry of jesus/chapter xi visits of angels.htm

What Lasts, and what Passes Away.
... of tongues, and go over all the world colonising, cutting down trees, planting corn ...
changeth," and we come down and are laid in our graves, a little ash. ...
/.../the village pulpit volume ii trinity to advent/lxii what lasts and what.htm

The Beginning, Increase, and End of the Divine Life
... is the flash and the glare, but afterwards the darkness and the black ash. ... Shivering
beneath the trees of the garden, complaining of nakedness, sin comes to ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 6 1860/the beginning increase and end.htm

A Sermon and Congregation to Order
... discovered that we have a tree in Britain, as easily raised as an ash, the wood ... They
want only more trees to make them more pleasant than most of the mountains ...
/.../wesley/the journal of john wesley/a sermon and congregation to.htm

The High Woods
... Cacao-trees being cut over when the weeds are cleared. Among them, too, at some
twenty yards apart, are the stems of a tree looking much like an ash, save that ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/at last/chapter vii the high woods.htm

Down the Islands
... from the crater above was not harmless vapour, but dust, and ash, and stone. ... the
island in ashes, burying crops, breaking branches off the trees, and spreading ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/at last/chapter ii down the islands.htm

Resources
Does Matthew 7:21-23 mean that believers can lose salvation? | GotQuestions.org

What is the Valley of Baca in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Who was Asherah / Ashtoreth? | GotQuestions.org

Bible ConcordanceBible DictionaryBible EncyclopediaTopical BibleBible Thesuarus
Subtopics

Trees

Trees of Christ

Trees of Kings

Trees of the Life and Conversation of the Righteous

Trees of Various Sizes

Trees of Wisdom

Trees were Cut Down by Besieging Armies for Erecting Forts

Trees were Cut Down for Building

Trees were Cut Down for Fuel

Trees were Cut Down for Making Idols

Trees were Cut Down with Axes

Trees were Sold With the Land on Which They Grew

Trees: (Barren) of the Wicked

Trees: (Casting Their Leaves Yet Retaining Their Substance) of

Trees: (Dry) of the Wicked Ripe for Judgment

Trees: (Dry) of Useless Persons

Trees: (Duration of) of Continued Prosperity of Saints

Trees: (Evergreen) of Saints

Trees: (Good and Fruitful) of Saints

Trees: (Green) of the Innocence of Christ

Trees: (Producing Evil Fruit) the Wicked

Trees: (Shaking of the Leaves off) the Terror of the Wicked

Trees: Afford an Agreeable Shade in Eastern Countries During The

Trees: Almond

Trees: Almug or Algum

Trees: Apple

Trees: Ash

Trees: Bay

Trees: Box

Trees: Cedar

Trees: Chestnut

Trees: Cyprus

Trees: Designed to Beautify the Earth

Trees: Different Kinds of Mentioned of the Forest

Trees: Different Kinds of Mentioned of the Wood

Trees: Different Kinds of Mentioned: Bearing Fruit

Trees: Different Kinds of Mentioned: Deciduous or Casting the Leaves

Trees: Different Kinds of Mentioned: Evergreen

Trees: Each Kind Has Its own Seed for Propagating Its Species

Trees: Each Kind of, Known by Its Fruit

Trees: Early Custom of Planting, in Consecrated Grounds

Trees: Fig

Trees: Fir

Trees: Given As Food to the Animal Creation

Trees: God Increases and Multiplies the Fruit of, for his People

Trees: God often Renders, Barren As a Punishment

Trees: Juniper

Trees: Lign-Aloes

Trees: Made for the Glory of God

Trees: Mulberry

Trees: Mustard

Trees: Myrtle

Trees: Nourished by the Earth

Trees: Nourished by the Rain from Heaven

Trees: Nourished: Through Their own Sap

Trees: Oak

Trees: Often Propagated by Birds Who Carry the Seeds Along With Them

Trees: Often Suffered From: Desolating Armies

Trees: Often Suffered From: Fire

Trees: Often Suffered From: Hail and Frost

Trees: Often Suffered From: Locusts

Trees: Oil-Tree

Trees: Olive

Trees: Originally Created by God

Trees: Palm

Trees: Parts of Mentioned: The Branches

Trees: Parts of Mentioned: The Fruit or Seeds

Trees: Parts of Mentioned: The Leaves

Trees: Parts of Mentioned: The Roots

Trees: Parts of Mentioned: The Stem or Trunk

Trees: Parts of Mentioned: The Tender Shoots

Trees: Pine

Trees: Planted by Man

Trees: Pomegranate

Trees: Shittah or Shittim

Trees: Solomon Wrote the History of

Trees: Specially Flourished Beside the Rivers and Streams of Water

Trees: Sycamore

Trees: Teil

Trees: The Jews: Considered Trees on Which Criminals Were Executed

Trees: The Jews: Often Buried Under

Trees: The Jews: Often Executed Criminals On

Trees: The Jews: Often Pitched Their Tents Under

Trees: The Jews: Prohibited from Cutting Down Fruit Bearing, for Sieges

Trees: The Jews: Prohibited from Planting in Consecrated Places

Trees: Vine

Trees: when Cut Down often Sprouted from Their Roots Again

Trees: Willow

Related Terms

Fir-trees (11 Occurrences)

Cedar-trees (11 Occurrences)

Olive-trees (11 Occurrences)

Palm-trees (23 Occurrences)

Cypress-trees (6 Occurrences)

Fig-trees (5 Occurrences)

Fruit-trees (5 Occurrences)

Sycamore-trees (6 Occurrences)

Sycomore-trees (6 Occurrences)

Algum-trees (3 Occurrences)

Mulberry-trees (4 Occurrences)

Myrtle-trees (3 Occurrences)

Almug-trees (2 Occurrences)

Lotus-trees (2 Occurrences)

Plane-trees (1 Occurrence)

Oak-trees (1 Occurrence)

Chesnut-trees (1 Occurrence)

Spice-trees (2 Occurrences)

Pomegranate-trees (1 Occurrence)

Balsam-trees (1 Occurrence)

Acacia-trees (1 Occurrence)

Aloe-trees (1 Occurrence)

Mulberry (6 Occurrences)

Algum (3 Occurrences)

Almug (2 Occurrences)

Myrtle (7 Occurrences)

Pine (28 Occurrences)

Sandal-wood (5 Occurrences)

Cedars (37 Occurrences)

Sycamore (9 Occurrences)

Aloes (5 Occurrences)

Axe (19 Occurrences)

Balsam (10 Occurrences)

Carved (36 Occurrences)

Tall (41 Occurrences)

Boughs (29 Occurrences)

Riverside (4 Occurrences)

Elim (5 Occurrences)

Decorated (12 Occurrences)

Palms (20 Occurrences)

Arches (13 Occurrences)

Sycamore-fig (6 Occurrences)

Shady (3 Occurrences)

Shephe'lah (10 Occurrences)

Apple-tree (3 Occurrences)

Vestibule (36 Occurrences)

Pomegranate (11 Occurrences)

Vines (39 Occurrences)

Porches (13 Occurrences)

Projections (10 Occurrences)

Baca (1 Occurrence)

Baalhanan (5 Occurrences)

Baal-hanan (5 Occurrences)

Cypress (17 Occurrences)

Chestnut (2 Occurrences)

Carvings (6 Occurrences)

Augur's

Almugwood (2 Occurrences)

Producing (20 Occurrences)

Sidonians (16 Occurrences)

Ax (12 Occurrences)

Shade (67 Occurrences)

Supports (25 Occurrences)

Crops (48 Occurrences)

Compared (29 Occurrences)

Acacia (28 Occurrences)

Palm-tree (8 Occurrences)

Planting (57 Occurrences)

Apple (8 Occurrences)

Cherubs (52 Occurrences)

Plains (31 Occurrences)

Palm (49 Occurrences)

Cedar (61 Occurrences)

Portico (37 Occurrences)

Tyrians (3 Occurrences)

Moreh (3 Occurrences)

Masons (8 Occurrences)

Planks (9 Occurrences)

Trees: Apple
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