A copse of bushes ; hence, a forest ; hence, honey in the comb (as hived in trees)
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The Hebrew noun ya'ar usually names a forest, woodland, thicket, or wooded growth. It can describe habitat for animals, trees joining creation's praise, timberland, a place of work, terrain that complicates battle, or a forest used figuratively for a dense human power that God brings down.
Reader summary
Full entry for יַעַר (H3293) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun ya'ar usually names a forest, woodland, thicket, or wooded growth. It can describe habitat for animals, trees joining creation's praise, timberland, a place of work, terrain that complicates battle, or a forest used figuratively for a dense human power that God brings down.
The BSB source-word alignment has 59 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include of the Forest (15), the forest (8), in the forest (7), from the forest (3), of its forests (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Deuteronomy 19:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (14), Psalms (7), Ezekiel (6), Jeremiah (6).
The Hebrew noun ya'ar usually names a forest, woodland, thicket, or wooded growth. It can describe habitat for animals, trees joining creation's praise, timberland, a place of work, terrain that complicates battle, or a forest used figuratively for a dense human power that God brings down. A rare poetic use refers to honeycomb. These senses must be selected by context rather than blended.
Psalm 104 presents forest creatures within God's wise ordering of night and day. Deuteronomy mentions a forest while describing an accidental death during timber work and the need to protect innocent life. Second Samuel records a deadly battle in difficult forest terrain. Isaiah compares Assyria's splendor and forces to a forest consumed or felled under judgment.
The noun itself does not make forests sacred, dangerous, or symbolic in every occurrence. It also does not identify every wildfire, storm, logging dispute, or military loss as a direct act of judgment. Readers should attend to genre, activity, agents, and stated comparison while treating ecological and safety applications as responsible reflection rather than hidden lexical commands.
Ya'ar names forests, woods, thickets, and in a rare poetic context honeycomb, serving creation praise, habitat, work, battle geography, and prophetic comparison without one automatic symbolism.
You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl.
Night brings forth the beasts of the forest within a creation psalm praising God's wise ordering and provision.
Let the fields exult, and all that is in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
The trees of the forest sing for joy within a poetic summons for all creation to rejoice before the righteous Judge.
If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber and swings his axe to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes and kills his neighbor, he may flee to one of these cities to save his life.
An accidental axe-head death during forest work illustrates the protection offered by cities of refuge to an unintentional manslayer.
The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.
The narrator says the forest consumed more people than the sword as battle spread through dangerous terrain around Ephraim.
The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.
Isaiah portrays Assyria's forests and orchards being consumed as part of God's judgment on arrogant imperial power.
I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved.
The lover's garden poetry includes eating honeycomb with honey, a rare food sense distinct from ordinary woodland references.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Dense vegetation domain: moves from bush-copse to forest to honeycomb's cellular structure via natural habitat association.
Dense vegetation domain: moves from bush-copse to forest to honeycomb's cellular structure via natural habitat association.
a copse of bushes; hence, a forest; hence, honey in the comb (as hived in trees) BDB: honeycomb Usage: (honey-) comb, forest, wood.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 59 lexical occurrence verses.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Ya'ar shows how biblical forests can be both ordinary places and powerful literary images. Psalm 104 locates prowling animals in the forest as part of God's wise creation, while Psalm 96 summons forest trees into poetic joy before the Lord. Deuteronomy treats timber work as a setting where a tragic accident can occur and where law must distinguish intent and protect innocent blood.
Second Samuel describes terrain that magnifies the danger and disorder of battle. Isaiah then uses forest density and splendor to portray Assyrian power that God will judge and cut down. The Song's honeycomb use belongs to intimate garden poetry and should not be merged with woodland scenes. No single formula controls these witnesses. A forest is not automatically a place of evil, refuge, spiritual testing, or divine judgment.
Faithful teaching can honor creaturely interdependence, prudent work, public safety, and responsible care for land, but the noun alone does not dictate a modern forestry policy. It should never be used to claim that a wildfire or environmental loss reveals the guilt of affected people. Context, evidence, and care remain essential.
Ps.104.20
Ya'ar is a masculine Hebrew noun commonly rendered forest, wood, woodland, or thicket. In Song of Songs 5:1 it refers to honeycomb, a rare contextual sense associated in the lexical tradition with comb found in wooded habitat. Translation and literary setting identify the intended sense.
The New Testament continues biblical teaching about creation, work, judgment, and care for neighbors, but it does not make ya'ar the lexical key to every wilderness, tree, fruit, or ecological image. Canonical links should preserve each passage's own vocabulary and genre.