Verse 2
Likewise the cypress (juniper, pine) and oaks of Bashan should wail because they too would perish in the coming devastation. Bashan was famous for its oak forests (cf. Isaiah 2:13; Ezekiel 27:6). Earlier Zechariah combined Lebanon and Bashan to indicate the whole land (Zechariah 10:10). All these trees suggest the people of the land as well as the land itself. A judgment that would affect the whole land of Palestine and all its people, including its rulers, is in view.
"Perhaps next in prominence to shepherd as metaphor for king is that of a plant, especially a tree [cf. Judges 9:7-15; Isaiah 10:33-34; Ezekiel 31:3-18; Daniel 4:10; Daniel 4:23]." [Note: Merrill, p. 285.]
The cedar tree, in particular, is a metaphor for a king (cf. 2 Kings 14:9; Isaiah 14:8; Ezekiel 17:3; Amos 2:9).
Be the first to react on this!
