Ash

The ash appears in a passage of Isaiah that describes the felling and working of trees for the purpose of idol-making. The broader context of Isa 44 catalogues the absurdity of cutting timber and using part of it for fuel and part for a carved image. The specific verse records the varieties of wood involved: "He cuts down cedars, and takes the holm-tree and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir-tree, and the rain nourishes it" (Isa 44:14).

A Tree Felled for Idolatry

In Isaiah's polemic against idol-making, forest trees — cedar, holm-tree, oak, and fir — are cut down and shaped into objects of worship. The passage situates the ash-type woods within this critique: the same trees planted and nourished by rain become raw material for images. No other scriptural use of the ash is recorded in this entry.