📖 Biblical Definition
The cedar is Scripture's emblem of royal permanence and proud height — blessed when bent to God's service and judged when its height becomes rival to the Almighty. Solomon's temple and palace were built of cedar hauled from Lebanon (1 Kgs 5-7). "The righteous... grow like a cedar in Lebanon" (Ps 92:12). Yet Isaiah and Ezekiel repeatedly use the cedar as the figure of arrogant empires: "the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty... against all the cedars of Lebanon" (Isa 2:12-13). Ezekiel 31 casts Assyria as a majestic cedar felled for its pride. The cedar also carried ceremonial weight: cedar wood with hyssop and scarlet was used to cleanse the leper and purify from corpse-defilement (Lev 14, Num 19).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
CE'DAR, n.
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CE'DAR, n. [L. cedrus; Gr. kedros.] A large evergreen tree of the genus Cedrus, native of Lebanon and the mountains of Syria, renowned in antiquity for the size and durability of its timber, its aromatic resin, and its use in sacred and royal architecture. The cedars of Lebanon furnished the beams of Solomon's temple and the masts of Tyrian ships; in Scripture they are the symbol of lofty strength and of the righteous, but also of proud and impenitent nations which the LORD is pleased to humble. The wood was likewise used ceremonially, with hyssop and scarlet, in the cleansing of the leper.
📖 Key Scripture
Psalm 92:12 — "The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon."
1 Kings 6:9-10 — "So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar."
Isaiah 2:12-13 — "For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty... against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up."
Ezekiel 31:3 — "Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The Lebanon cedar is nearly extinct in its native range — a sober reminder that the greatest biblical symbols depend on creation stewardship and humble reverence.
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Two millennia of deforestation have reduced the cedars of Lebanon from vast forests to a handful of protected groves. The ecological loss mirrors the spiritual warning of the prophets: what rises highest often falls hardest. The biblical cedar teaches that greatness is a gift, not a possession — timber for the temple, or kindling for judgment, depending on whose purpose the tree serves. Modern leaders who imagine themselves cedars would do well to read Ezekiel 31 slowly. The same God who made Solomon's temple glorious with cedar beams sent the axe against Assyria's cedar when its top reached too high. Every proud height awaits a day of the LORD.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H730 — erez (אֶרֶז) — cedar.
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H730 — erez (אֶרֶז) — cedar, especially the cedar of Lebanon; royal and temple timber.
G2747 — kedros (κέδρος) — cedar; used in LXX and patristic writing of the Lebanon cedars.
Usage
"A cedar in Lebanon either frames the temple or fuels the fire — the question is whose purpose the tree serves."
"Pride stands tall until the axe of heaven finds it. Do not envy the cedar that forgets its Planter."