Category:Fir

Fir, n. Etym: [Dan. fyr, fyrr; akin to Sw. furu, Icel. fura, AS. furh in furhwudu fir wood, G. föhre, OHG. forha pine, vereheih a sort of oak, L. quercus (Bot.)

Defn: A genus (Abies) of coniferous trees, often of large size and elegant shape, some of them valued for their timber and others for their resin. The species are distinguished as the balsam fir, the silver fir, the red fir, etc. The Scotch fir is a Pinus.

Note: Fir in the Bible means any one of several coniferous trees, including, cedar, cypress, and probably three species of pine. J. D. Hooker.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Fir - The uniform rendering in the Authorized Version (marg. R.V., "cypress") of berosh (2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Kings 5:8, 1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 6:15, 1 Kings 6:34; 1 Kings 9:11, etc.), a lofty tree (Isaiah 55:13) growing on Lebanon (Isaiah 37:24). Its wood was used in making musical instruments and doors of houses, and for ceilings (2 Chronicles 3:5), the decks of ships (Ezekiel 27:5), floorings and spear-shafts (Nahum 2:3, R.V.). The true fir (abies) is not found in Palestine, but the pine tree, of which there are four species, is common. The precise kind of tree meant by the "green fir tree" (Hosea 14:8) is uncertain. Some regard it as the sherbin tree, a cypress resembling the cedar; others, the Aleppo or maritime pine (Pinus halepensis), which resembles the Scotch fir; while others think that the "stone-pine" (Pinus pinea) is probably meant. (See PINE.)