Verse 6
Lign aloes which the Lord hath planted - Or, as the tents which the Lord hath pitched; for it is the same word, אהלים ohalim , which is used in the 5th verse. But from other parts of Scripture we find that the word also signifies a species of tree, called by some the sandal tree, and by others the lignum or wood aloes. This tree is described as being eight or ten feet high, with very large leaves growing at the top; and it is supposed that a forest of those at some distance must bear some resemblance to a numerous encampment. As the word comes from the root אהל ahal , which signifies to spread or branch out, and therefore is applied to tents, because of their being extended or spread out on the ground; so when it is applied to trees it must necessarily mean such as were remarkable for their widely-extended branches; but what the particular species is, cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. By the Lord's planting are probably meant such trees as grow independently of the cultivation of man - Nullis hominum cogentibus ; or, as Virgil expresses it,
Sponte sua quae se tollunt in luminis oras .
Virg., Geor. ii., 47.
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