From Living Woods Issue 50

GOD’S TREES
Trees, Forests and Wood in the Bible
Julian Evans
Patula Press
198 pages
ISBN 978-1-84625-410-9

The second edition of Julian Evans’ absorbing book is slightly revised and updated with extra material. This is the first authoritative book to focus on arboreal imagery in the Bible, how it is used and sometimes abused. Professor Evans, a forester with a distinguished career both in the UK and abroad, has produced a fascinating book, which deals with the trees of the Biblical regions of the Middle East, and their uses, as well as the symbolism of trees in the Bible.

By the time you get to the end of the book, you realise just how important trees are to the whole fabric of Biblical times – with towns and places named after trees (Gethsemane means olive press) and, in an age before plastics, wood was the main material for making objects of everyday life. The vast array of photos give the woodland enthusiast an armchair tour of the Middle East. This book is something to put under the Christmas tree, another of ‘God’s Trees’.