This Persian loan-word (related to 'paradise') denotes an enclosed park, orchard, or preserve—typically royal estates with trees, fruit, and cultivated beauty. Nehemiah 2:8 requests timber from 'the king's forest'—likely a managed woodland preserve. Ecclesiastes 2:5 describes Solomon's extensive building projects: 'I made gardens and parks' planted with fruit trees. Song of Songs 4:13 uses it metaphorically: 'Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates'—comparing the beloved to a luxuriant garden. The term entered many languages (Greek 'paradeisos,' Armenian, Arabic) and eventually became associated with Eden and heavenly paradise, though originally it simply meant a cultivated enclosure.