Deuteronomy 20:19

Deu. 20:19. "For the tree of the field is man's life," etc. It might have been rendered much more agreeable to the original, "For man is a tree of the field." It was God's will that a fruitful tree should not be cut down, but only trees that yielded no meat. Because trees with respect to their bareness or fruitfulness represented man, and therefore he would have men deal with them as He deals with men. This is an argument in the Law of Moses itself, that its commands were given from some typical respect.