The Tree of Life (עֵץ חַיִּים)

As we walk through Proverbs 13,

we come upon a tree

standing near the middle of the chapter.

The Tree of Life.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

　　　　　　　(Proverbs 13:12)

Proverbs 13 is filled with sayings drawn from everyday life.

Guarding one's mouth.

Diligence.

Disciplining a child.

Riches and poverty.

Yet in the midst of these familiar themes,

the Tree of Life suddenly appears.

The phrase

“Tree of Life” (עֵץ חַיִּים)

appears four times in Proverbs.

(In all of Scripture, it appears only twelve times:three in Genesis, four in Proverbs, and five in Revelation.)

Wisdom is a tree of life. (Proverbs 3:18)

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. (Proverbs 11:30)

A fulfilled desire is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12)

A gentle tongue is a tree of life. (Proverbs 15:4)

Yet the first appearance of this phrase

is not in Proverbs.

It is found in Genesis 2:9.

“The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were

pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life

and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

The Tree of Life does not first appear

as something to admire,

nor merely as something to study.

It appears as a tree to be eaten from.

The LORD placed it

in the center of the garden.

The Tree of Life appears again

in Revelation 22.

ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς

(xylon tēs zōēs)

the Tree of Life.

There it stands

in the center of the city.

The tree that appears

at the beginning and the end of Scripture

also stands within the forest of Proverbs,

near the center of the Bible.

As we walk through Proverbs,

paths continually appear,

leading toward the Garden of Genesis

and the City of Revelation.

Near the middle of Proverbs 13,

the Tree of Life

(עֵץ חַיִּים)

suddenly comes into view.

Do we set our hearts on our hopes?

Or do we turn our thoughts

toward the Tree of Life?

The Tree of Life (עֵץ חַיִּים)