Wood

Trunks and branches of trees used as raw material for various objects and as fuel for burning. Acacia wood was used extensively in the tabernacle and olive wood in the temple.

Various kinds of wood

Acacia wood

Exodus 27:1 See also Exodus 25:10–13, Exodus 25:23, Exodus 26:15–17, Exodus 26:26–27, Exodus 27:6, Exodus 30:1–5, Exodus 35:4–7, Exodus 35:24, Exodus 37:1–4, Exodus 38:1; Deuteronomy 10:1–3

“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.

Cedar wood

Leviticus 14:48–53 See also Leviticus 14:1–7; Numbers 19:1–8

If, however, the priest comes and inspects it, and the mildew has not spread after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone. He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house; and he shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. And he shall cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. Finally, he is to release the live bird into the open fields outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.

Olive wood

1 Kings 6:23 See also 1 Kings 6:31–35

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.

Cypress wood

Ezekiel 27:3–6

Tell Tyre, who dwells at the gateway to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coasts, that this is what the Lord GOD says: You have said, O Tyre, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’ Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders perfected your beauty. They constructed all your planking with cypress from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.

Items made from wood

Exodus 7:19 See also Leviticus 11:29–32, Leviticus 15:11–12; Numbers 31:19–20, Numbers 35:16–18; Nehemiah 8:4; Isaiah 10:15; Jeremiah 28:13; Ezekiel 15:2–3, Ezekiel 41:22, Ezekiel 41:25; 2 Timothy 2:20

And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt— over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs— that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”

Wooden idols

Deuteronomy 29:16–18 See also Deuteronomy 28:36, Deuteronomy 28:64; Judges 6:26; 2 Kings 19:18 parallel Isaiah 37:19; Isaiah 40:18–20, Isaiah 44:13–20, Isaiah 45:20, Isaiah 48:5; Jeremiah 2:26–28, Jeremiah 3:9, Jeremiah 10:6–8; Ezekiel 20:32; Daniel 5:1–4, Daniel 5:23; Hosea 4:12, Hosea 10:5–6; Habakkuk 2:19; Revelation 9:20

For you yourselves know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the nations on the way here. You saw the abominations and idols among them made of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,

Carpentry

Exodus 31:1–5 parallel Exodus 35:30–33 See also 2 Chronicles 2:13–14

Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship, to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut gemstones for settings, and to carve wood, so that he may be a master of every craft.

Wood for burning sacrifices

Nehemiah 10:34 See also Genesis 22:3–13; Leviticus 1:3–17, Leviticus 3:1–5; 1 Samuel 6:14; 2 Samuel 24:22–23 parallel 1 Chronicles 21:23; 1 Kings 18:22–24, 1 Kings 18:30–38

We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our families at the appointed times each year. They are to bring it to the house of our God to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.

Wood as fuel

Ezekiel 24:3–5 See also Proverbs 26:20–21; Isaiah 44:13–20; Ezekiel 15:1–8

Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water. Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece— thigh and shoulder — fill it with choice bones. Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’

Chopping and gathering wood

Deuteronomy 19:5 See also Numbers 15:32–36; Deuteronomy 29:10–11; Joshua 9:3–27; 2 Kings 6:1–7

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.

Metaphorical references to wood

Zechariah 12:6 See also Job 41:27; Jeremiah 5:12–14

On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there.

Symbolic use of wood

Ezekiel 37:15–28 See also Exodus 15:23–26