Ash

Ash, The word thus translated occurs only; once in Scripture (Isa 44:14), and is variously translated. Some consider pine-tree to be the correct translation, others the rubus or bramble. Celsius quotes from the Arab author, ’Abul Fadli, the description of a tree called aran, which appears well suited to the passage, though it has not yet been ascertained what tree is intended. The aran is said to be a tree of Arabia Petraea, of a thorny nature, inhabiting the valleys, but found also in the mountains, where it is however less thorny. The wood is said to be much valued for cleaning the teeth. The fruit is in bunches like small grapes. The berry is noxious while green, and bitter like galls; as it ripens it becomes red, then black and somewhat sweetish, and when eaten is grateful to the stomach, etc. and seems to act as a stimulant medicine. Sprengel supposes this to be the caper plant. To us it appears to agree in some respects with Salvadora persica, but not in all points, and therefore it is preferable to leave it as one of those still requiring investigation by some traveler in Syria conversant both with plants and their Oriental names and uses.

Ash. (Hebrew, oren), only in Isa 44:14. As the true ash is not a native of Palestine, some understand this to be a species of pine tree. Perhaps the larch (Laryx europaea) may be intended.

(Isa 44:14): Hebrew oren, akin to Arabic atari, "slender", "graceful". Probably a pine; so the Septuagint and Vulgate The Latin ornus seems akin.

(ארֶן, o’ren, probably tremulous, from the motion of the leaves) occurs only once in Scripture as the name of a tree, in connection with other trees, of whose timber idols were made, Isa 44:14: "He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest; he planteth an ash (oren), and the rain doth nourish it." Others consider pine-tree to be the correct translation; but for neither does there appear to be any decisive proof, nor for the rubus or bramble adopted for oren in the fable of the Cedar and Rubus, translated from the Hebrew of R. Berechia Hannakdan by Celsius (Hierobot. i, 186). Oren is translated pine-tree both in the Sept. (πίτυς) and the Vulg., and this has been acquiesced in by several of the most learned critics, and among them by Calvin and Bochart. Celsius (ut sup. p. 191) states, moreover, that some of the rabbins also consider oren to be the same as the Arabic sunober (which is no doubt a pine), and that they often join together arzim, orn’m, and beroshim, as trees of the same nature (אִרְזִים אָרְנִים וּבְרֹוֹשִׂים עֲצֵי, "cedars" and "ash-trees" and "cypresses," Talmud Ba.byl. Pora, fol. xcvi, 1).

Luther and the Portuguese version read cedar. Rosenmuller (Alierth. IV, i, 243 sq.; comp. Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 152) contends that it is not the common wild pine (Pinus sylvestri,) which is intended, but what the ancients called the domestic pine, which was raised in gardens en account of its elegant shape and the pleasant fruit it yields, the Pignole nuts of the Italians (Pinus pinea of Linnaeus), and quotes Virgil (Ecl. 7:65; Georg. 4:112). The English version, in the translation of oren, follows those interpreters who have adopted ornus, apparently only because the elementary letters of the Hebrew are found also in the Latin word. SEE PINE. Celsius objects to this as an insufficient reason for supposing that the ash was intended; and there does not appear to be any other proof. Ornus Europea, or manna ash (Fraxinus ornus, Linnaeus, Pranzensyst. ii, 516), does, however, grow in Syria, but, being a cultivated plant, it may have been introduced. SEE MANNA. The common ash was anciently associated with the oak (Stat. Theb. 6:102) as a hard (Ovid, Met. 12:337; Lucan. 6:390; Colum. 11:2) and durable (Horace, Od. i, 9, 2) tree (Pliny, 16:30; Virg. Geo. ii, 65 sq.), of hardy growth (Virar. Geo. ii, 111; AEn. ii, 626). Celsius (ut sup. p. 192) quotes from the Arab author ’Abu-l-Fadli the description of a tree called aran, which appears well suited to the passage, though it has not yet been ascertained what tree is intended.

The aran is said to be a tree of Arabia Petraea, of a thorny nature, inhabiting the valleys, but found also in the mountains, where it is, however, less thorny. The wood is said to be much valued for cleaning the teeth. The fruit is in bunches like small grapes. The berry is noxious while green, and bitter like galls; as it ripens it becomes red, then black and somewhat sweetish, and when eaten is grateful to the stomach, and seems to act as a stimulant medicine. Sprengel (Hist. reilherb. i, 14) supposes this to be the caper plant (Capparis Spinosa of Linnaeus). Faber thought it to be the Rhlamnus siculus pentaphyllus of Shaw. Link (in Schrader’s Journ. of. Botan. 4:252) identifies it with Flacourtia sepiaria of Roxburgh, a tree, however, which has not been found in Syria. It appears to agree in some respects with the Salvadora Persica, but not in all points, and therefore it requires further investigation by some traveller in Syria conversant both with plants and their Oriental names and uses. SEE BOTANY.

Ash

SEE ARCTURUS; SEE MOTH.

The particular tree pointed out by the Hebrew word oren is not known. Isa 44:14. The LXX and the Vulgate call it ’pine.’

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Caspar Levias

The A. V. rendering of the Hebrew "oren" (Isa. xliv. 14); R. V. has "fir-tree." According to TanḦum (quoted in Gesenius, "Thesaurus," under ), the word was used in later Hebrew in the sense of "mast." The plural, "oranim"—for which Hai Gaon uses the Aramaic form "ornan"—is mentioned in the Mishnah (Parah iii. 8) between cedars and cypresses. The tree belongs to the family of the conifers, has hard wood, and a tall, smooth, straight stem. This agrees with tradition and etymology. The Targum renders the word "urna," a Hexaplar addition to the Septuagint πίτνς; Jerome translates it pinus; while Maimonides and TanḦum explain it to be a kind of cedar. This, together with the evidence that comes from the Assyrian and Syriac equivalents, makes it evident that the term denotes some kind of fir. The most acceptable suggestion is that of Tristram, who sees in it the Aleppo pine (Pinus Halepensis). The word is not to be confounded with "aron," which occurs in the Talmud as the name of the laurel-tree.

ASH.—See Fir.

ash (ארן, ’ōren; the Revised Version (British and American) FIR TREE; the Revised Version, margin Ash): A maker of idols “planteth a fir-tree (margin, “ash”), and the rain doth nourish it” (Isa 44:14). It is a suggestion as old as Luther that the final letter ן, “n”, was originally a ז, “z”, and that the word should be ’erez, “cedar”; the chief objection is that cedar occurs just before in the same verse. The word ’ōren seems to be connected with the Assyrian irin, meaning fir or cedar or allied tree. “Fir” has support from the Septuagint and from the rabbis. Post (HDB) suggests as probable the stone pine, Pinus pinea, which has been extensively planted round Beirût and unlike most planted trees flourishes without artificial watering - “the rain doth nourish it.”

The translation “ash” was probably suggested by the fanciful resemblance of the Hebrew ’ōren and the Latin ornus, the manna ash of Europe. Three varieties of ash flourish in Syria, Fraxinus ornus, F. excelsior and F. oxycarpa. The last mentioned, which is common in parts of North Palestine, being a large tree some 30 to 40 ft. high, might suit the context were there anything philological to support the idea.

Ash trees (genus Fraxinus) grow in many parts of the world, including some regions of the Middle East. The flowering or manna ash (Fraxinus ornus) is one such tree. It grows from 4.6 to 15.2 meters (15 to 50 feet) tall and produces a sweet sap known as "manna."

Some Bible scholars believe that the "ash" tree mentioned in Isaiah 44:14 in the King James Version refers to the Aleppo pine. Although not true ash trees, some other desert plants like the prickly alhagi (Alhagi maurorum) and the manna tamarisk (Tamarix mannifera) produce sweet substances that may have been associated with biblical "manna."

See also Prickly Alhagi, Tamarisk.

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.