Ash Tree
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Isa. 44:14)—a traditional identification in the description of a craftsman planting a tree that rain causes to grow. The source called it an ash and connected it with Arabic avan and Latin ornus, but then incorrectly described it as a conifer. The Hebrew tree name is uncertain; modern versions variously give ash, pine, fir, or another forest tree. The passage’s point is that the idol-maker uses wood sustained by God’s rain to fashion an object of worship.