Shittim-wood in Biblical History

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What is Shittim-wood?
SHIT'TIM-WOOD
(from the shittah tree, Isa 41:19) was much used in constructing and furnishing the tabernacle. Ex 25:15-16. The only timber tree of any size now found in the Arabian desert is the seyal (Acacia seyal). The large specimens of this have been mostly destroyed for charcoal and other uses, but the writer saw a seyal in Wady Feiran 3 feet through, and Tristram speaks of trees of this kind on the west of the Dead Sea which would make planks "4 feet in diameter." There can be little doubt that this acacia was once abundant in the Sinai region and is the shittim of Scripture. Shittim-wood (Acacia). The seyal is a very thorny tree, somewhat resembling our apple tree when seen from a distance, but with decompound leaves, small leaflets, and little yellow balls of fibrous bloom, followed by locust-like pods. Its wood is close-grained, hard, brownish-hued, and well adapted for cabinet-work. From cuts or cracks in the trunk and limbs of this and one or two other acacias gum-arabio exudes, and is collected. The burning bush, Ex 3:2, on philological grounds, is believed to be a similar but smaller tree, the sunt (Acacia Nilotien), found occasionally in this region. Several localities mentioned in the Bible were named from the shittim.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'shittim-wood' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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