Ash Ci*^, o'ren, probably tremulous, from the mo- tion 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. xliv, 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 docs there ap- pear to be an)' decisive proof, nor for the ruhus or bramble adopted for oren in the fable of the Cedar and Rubus, translated from the Hebrew of R. Bcrechia Hannakdan by Celsius (Hierobot. i, 180). Oren is translated pine-tree both in the Sept. ([ttitvc) 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, more- over, 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, or- nim, and beroshim, as trees of the same nature ("^XS D^iyi""!^ C"?7X C"T"X, "cedars" and "ash- trees" and "cypresses," Talmud Babyl. Para, fol. xevi, 1). Luther and the Portuguese version read cedar. Ro« senmuller (Altherth. IV, i, 243 sq. ; comp. Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 152) contends that it is not the common wild pine (Pinus sy/rcs/ris) which is intended, but what the ancients called the domestic pine, which was raised in gardens en account of its elegant shape and the
ash
456
ASHDOD
pleasant fruit it yields, the Pignole nuts of the Ital- ians (Pimapinea of Linnaeus), and quotes Virgil {Eel.
Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s. v.) mention a vil- {Pinus pinen of Linnaeus), and quotes Virgil (Let. lage named Bethasan as 15 or 1G miles west of Jerusa- vii, 65; Georg. iv, 112). The English version, in the lem ; but this, though agreeing sufficiently with the translation of oren, follows those interpreters who have position of the place in John xv, 42, is not far enough adopted ornus, apparently only because the clementa- south for the indications of the other passages; and rv letters of the Hebrew are found also in the Latin indeed this is a doubtful intimation (Cellar. Notit. ii, word. See Pine. Celsius objects to this as an in- 496). See Ashnaii. It appears to have been situa- Bufficient reason for supposing that the ash was in- '. ted in the southern part of the hilly region adjoining tended ; and there does not appear to be any other the plain (Keil, Comment, on Josh, xv, 42) ; perhaps proof. Ornus Europcea, or manna ash (Fraxinus ornus, j not far from the present Deir Samil. See Ain. The LinnsBUS, Pftjnzemyst. ii, 516 ), does, however, grow in I above conflicting notices of its position would almost Syria, but, being a cultivated plant, it may have been I seem to require two cities of the name of Ashan, one introduced. See Manna. The common ash was an- j in Judah (?=Eshean), and the other in Simeon (dis- ciently associated with the oak (Stat. Theb. vi, 102) as ! tinctively Chor-ashan); but, on the whole, they may a hard (Ovid, Met. xii, 337; Lucan. vi, 390; Colum. ■ best be reconciled by supposing one locality, properly xi, 2) and durable (Horace, Od. i, 9, 2) tree (Pliny, in the plain of Judah, but assigned (with Ether, q. v.)
>; Virg. Geo. ii, 65 sq.), of hardy growth (Virj Geo. ii, 111 ; jEn. ii, 626). Celsius (ut sup. p. 192) quotes from the Arab author 'Abu-1-Fadli the descrip- tion 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
to Simeon. See Tribe.
Ash'bea (Heb. As'bea, "31TX, adjuration, other- wise swelling ; Sept. 'Eero/3a), the head of a family men- tioned as working in fine linen, a branch of the descend- | ants of Shokh, the son of Judah (1 Chron. iv, 21). B.C.
".*"T" VT~ n 1 V iC "•\T\-1" " "2-v." ' prob. cir. 1017. The clause in which the word occurs
of Arabia Petrrea, of a thorny nature, inhabiting the ! , , „ iL „ ' . . . TT : ■
,, , . r \ , . ., . . , ... . is obscure (see hertheau, t omrm nf. in loc. . Iloubigant
valleys, but found also m the mountains, where it is, . „ A v , , ', , x , J t , ,
, i ... rn i • -a it i. u and Bootruyd understand a place to be meant by the
however, less thorny. I he wood is said to be much . •' j7 ,, oV ™ e n T-
valued for cleaning the teeth. The fruit is in bunch- i **f™*1™ B'th-ash^ea- ™« Jargon, °U\ u™?1* es like small grapes. The berry is noxious while j <etU Wllkms) P*™phrases it the house of Eshba." green, and bitter like galls; as it ripens it becomes Ash'bel (Heb. Ashbtl' ', ?3£JX, prob. for Eshbaal; red, then black and somewhat sweetish, and when \ Sept. 'A(7/3»'/X ; in Num. 'Aaovf3i)\ v. r. 'Aovftt'ip), the eaten is grateful to the stomach, and seems to act as I second son of Benjamin (Gen. xlvi, 21 ; 1 Chron. viii, a stimulant medicine. Sprengel {/list, reiherb. i, 14) : ]). B.C. 1856. SeeJEDiAEL. His descendants were supposes this to be the caper plant {Capparis spinosa i called Askbelites (Num. xxvi, 38). See Becher. of Linnaeus) Faber thought it ;to be ithe Mamnus si- I Asb/belite (Hcb. with the art. ha-AshSdi' cii'us ptntaphyUus of Shaw. Link (m Sehrader s Journ. \ „v- •.._ r, . . • . -, w >. „ , „ ,