The Trees

And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The noun is עֵץ (ʿēṣ, H6086) — the ordinary Hebrew word for tree AND for cut wood. Every later stop on this thread uses the same word or its Greek mirror ξύλον (xylon, G3586).

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

Three clauses — good for food, pleasant to the eyes, desired to make wise — a pattern 1 John 2:16 will name again.

And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever— therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Cherubim and a flaming sword guard 'the way of the tree of life' — access is closed eastward. The tabernacle's cherubim will face an eastward entrance.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.

Proverbs names the tree of life four times (3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4) — the figure stays available all through the wisdom books.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The blessed man is 'like a tree planted' — Jeremiah 17:7-8 carries the same planted-by-water image.

And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit.

Tree language turns messianic: a rod from the stem of Jesse, a Branch from his roots; Isaiah 53:2 — 'a root out of a dry ground.'

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thou defile not thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

The hanged man is 'accursed of God' — on the עֵץ. The LXX renders it ξύλον, the word the apostles will choose.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Paul lands Deuteronomy 21:23 on the cross, word for word — 'cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (ξύλον).'

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree.

Five times the NT calls the cross a ξύλον — Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24 — the same noun the Greek OT uses for Eden's trees.

who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.

'Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree' — Peter's word is ξύλον, and his next clause quotes Isaiah 53.