Topic
Box-tree
3 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.
These works date from 1896–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Isaiah 41:19Easton · ISBE · Nave General scriptures concerning
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
- Isaiah 60:13Easton · ISBE · Nave General scriptures concerning
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
- Ezekiel 27:6Easton · ISBE
Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 3 references
(Heb. teashshur), mentioned in Isa. 60:13; 41:19, was, according to some, a species of cedar growing in Lebanon. The words of Ezek. 27:6 literally translated are, “Thy benches they have made of ivory, the daughter of the ashur tree,” i.e., inlaid with ashur wood. The ashur is the box-tree, and accordingly the Revised Version rightly reads “inlaid in box wood.” This is the Buxus sempervirens of botanists. It is remarkable for the beauty of its evergreen foliage and for the utility of its hard and durable wood.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 3 references
box'-tre (te'ashshur; Isa 41:19; 60:13, "boxwood" Eze 27:6): A tree of uncertain identity, which must once have been common in the forests of Lebanon. According to Post (HDB, I, 313), "The only species of box found in Bible lands is Buxus longifolia, which is a shrub from 2 to 3 ft. high. It does not grow South of Mt. Cassius and it is unlikely that it did in historical times."
As an alternative to the box the cypress, Cupressus sempervirens--known in Arabic as Sherbin--has been suggested. It is a fine tree and was probably once plentiful, but as it seems to answer to the berosh (see FIR), it cannot well be the te'ashshur. There is nothing certain to go upon.
E. W. G. Masterman
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.