ארז

Cognate with Arabic أَرْز (ʔarz, “cedar”), Aramaic אַרְזָא (“cedar”) and Classical Syriac ܐܪܙܐ (ʾarzā, “cedar”). The figurative sense derives from the fact that cedars were celebrated for their durable and aromatic wood, ultimately leading to extensive deforestation of their habitat in the Levant.

אֶרֶז • (érez) m (plural indefinite אֲרָזִים, singular construct אֶרֶז־, plural construct אַרְזֵי־) [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. cedar (chiefly Cedrus libani)
   • Tanach, Numbers 19:6, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן עֵץ אֶרֶז וְאֵזוֹב וּשְׁנִי תוֹלָעַת וְהִשְׁלִיךְ אֶל־תּוֹךְ שְׂרֵפַת הַפָּרָה׃

     And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud. Ta'anit, 20a.16:

     לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם רַךְ כְּקָנֶה וְאַל יְהֵא קָשֶׁה כְּאֶרֶז.

     A person should always be soft like a reed, and he should not be stiff like a cedar.

2. (figuratively) scholar, renowned person
   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud. Shabbat, 118b.9:

     אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי: חָמֵשׁ בְּעִילוֹת בָּעַלְתִּי, וְנָטַעְתִּי חֲמִשָּׁה אֲרָזִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל. וּמַאן אִינּוּן — רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי, וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי, וְרַבִּי חֲלַפְתָּא בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי, וְרַבִּי אַבְטִילָס בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי, וְרַבִּי מְנַחֵם בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי.

     Rabbi Yosei said: I engaged in relations five times, and I planted five cedars in Eretz Yisrael. And who are they? Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, and Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Yosei, and Rabbi Ḥalafta, son of Rabbi Yosei, and Rabbi Avtilas, son of Rabbi Yosei, and Rabbi Menaḥem, son of Rabbi Yosei.

3. (taxonomy) a tree of the genus Cedrus

• אָרוּז (arúz, “made of cedar”)

אֶרֶז • (érez) m [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. a male given name

• H730 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987) “אֶרֶז”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 54b
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 117b

• ארז on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

אָרַז • (aráz) (pa'al construction)

1. to pack

• אוֹרֵז (órez, “a packer (a person whose business is to pack things)”)

אֹרֶז • (órez) m

1. defective spelling of אורז.