"For Man is as a Tree in a Field"

A man is like a tree of the field

Deuteronomy, XX:19

A soothing tongue is a tree of life

Proverbs XV:4

And he* shall be like a tree planted by streams of water [* the righteous man]

Psalms I:3

A righteous man like the palm tree shall flourish, Like the Cedar of Lebanon shall he grow

Psalms XCII:13

For as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people

Isaiah LXV:22

Thy stature is like to a palm tree

Song of Songs VII:8

For wickedness.... kindleth [fire] in the thickness of the woods

Isaiah IX:17

... but the righteous shall flourish like foliage

Proverbs XI: 28

The fruit of the righteous is the tree of life;

Proverbs XI:30

He who sees a beautiful tree and a handsome man shall say:
"Blessed is He who indeed made beautiful creations in His world"

Talmud Yerushalmi, Brakhot IX:1

In a town without greenery, a learned person may not dwell

Eruvin, LV

Those who cut down good trees shall see never sign of blessing

Tosefta, B'khorim II

As for man, his days are like grass:
like a flower of the field, so he blooms.

Psalms, CIII:15

[The Torah] is a tree of life to those who hold to it

Morning Prayer

Acknowledgment

Although the sayings below are all to be found in Jewish sources, our search was made considerably easier by being able to locate them in three major collections:

1. "Tu B'Shvat", folder kit produced and printed by the Youth & Hechalutz Dept., W.Z.O., 197?
2. Zvi Sharpstein, "Hebrew Sayings", 3 volumes, Hebrew
3. "Jewish Festivals as Reflected in the Hebrew Language", Pedagogic Center, Education Department of the Jewish Agency for Israel, 1993