Bay-tree

The bay-tree appears only in Psalm 37:35 in the Authorized Version, where the wicked are compared to a green bay-tree spreading in its native soil—an image of vigorous, well-rooted prosperity. The Hebrew word (ezrach) more literally means a native tree or a tree grown in its own soil, and the Revised Version renders it accordingly. The precise species is uncertain; the image emphasizes the temporary and self-satisfied flourishing of the ungodly before divine judgment.