Acacia (Heb. shittâh). Any of several species of the genus Acacia and the family Mimosa that grow in biblical lands. It can survive in arid regions where very few plants survive. In the desert, acacias are small, twisted and weather-beaten, but under favorable conditions the tree can reach a height of 4 to 7 m. Its branches have strong, thin, white spines, and the fruit is a narrow, curved pod. The wood of the trunk is hard, small and durable, 5. An acacia in En-gedi, Palestine. 15 much appreciated in the manufacture of furniture (wood that was used in the construction of the tabernacle and its furniture; Exo_25-27; 30:37; etc.; fig 5). The Hebrew plural is often transliterated Shittim* to designate various Palestinian localities. Bib.: PB 24-26.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
Mimosa Nilotica Linn. Sittim, sethim, Hebrew word of Egyptian origin. Mimosaceae tree, with hard and incorruptible wood, scented flowers in a cluster, fruit in legume. Very abundant in Egypt in various varieties, from one of which gum arabic Is 41, 17 is extracted. This wood was used in the making of the tabernacle and other sacred objects Ex 25, 27-28. ® Sittim.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
see PLANTS
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
Tree whose wood (in Heb. Shittim) was used for the construction of the †¢tabernacle in the desert (Exo 25:5, Exo 25:10, Exo 25:13, Exo 25:23). There are several varieties of A. The most abundant in the desert regions of Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula is somewhat spiny, with small leaves and small yellow flowers that grow in clusters, but its trunk is not very wide, which makes it difficult to believe that it was the one used in the construction of the furniture of the tabernacle. That is why one of the rhetorical questions asked by the rabbis was: “From where in the desert were our fathers able to obtain acacia wood?† There is, however, a variety, the acacia albida, which grows in tropical and subtropical, not very tall but with a thick trunk, which produces quite hard but light wood. In addition, it did not absorb moisture and was not very attacked by insects, which is why, in addition to furniture, it was used for the construction of ships. The A. it was considered sacred. On the day of Israel’s redemption, God will give “cedars, acacias, myrtle trees, and olive trees in the wilderness” (Isa 41:19). †¢Plants of the Bible.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, TREE FLOWER (in Hebrew “shittah”). There are several types that grow in Egypt and Palestine, the most common being “Acacia seyal”. Its wood was used extensively in the construction of the tabernacle, and also the ark, the table of showbread, and the altars were made of it (Ex. 25-38; Deut. 10:3). The wood of this tree was and is highly valued for its lightness, hardness, and extreme polishing. It is mentioned by Herodotus; Josephus also mentions its strength and durability; it is virtually incorruptible. Livingstone thought that “Acacia giraffa” was used for the tabernacle, which he called “indestructible wood”. The “Nilotic Acacia”, a kind of wild acacia, has been considered as the bush that Moses saw burning and not being consumed (Heb. “seneh”). Certain varieties of acacia produce gum arabic. It is also mentioned in Isa. 41:19.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
(Heb. schit·tah).
tree that grew well in the desert, where the Israelites temporarily resided. It could provide quite large boards (about fifteen feet long, according to Exodus 36:20, 21), such as those used by the Israelites in the construction of the collapsible tabernacle. Since that term practically disappears from the biblical record after Israel’s entry into the Promised Land, it appears that the tree in question was not common in Palestine. These characteristics fit better with the acacia species known as Acacia seyal and Acacia tortilis than with any other tree in that area. These acacias are still abundant in the Negeb and around Sinai, and some can be found in the Jordan Valley, S of the Sea of Galilee, but not in N Palestine.
It should be noted that the word seyal is the Arabic term for “torrent”, and precisely the habitat of the acacia is the torrential valleys or wadis, through which the water runs during the rainy season, and which are found in arid regions and desert areas around the Dead Sea and, further south, the Arabian desert and the Sinai Peninsula. Therefore, the prophecy at Joel 3:18 says: † œA spring will flow out of the house of Jehovah, and he will have to water the torrential valley of the Acacia trees †, a place that would otherwise be dry. (See SITIM.) At Isaiah 41:19 Jehovah says: “In the wilderness I will put the cedar, the acacia and the myrtle and the oil tree.” Here it is prophesied that three trees that normally grow in fertile soils would come to thrive alongside the acacia as a result of divine provision for their irrigation. (Isaiah 41:17, 18)
The spreading branches of the acacia are armed with long thorns. The branches often intertwine with those of neighboring acacias to form dense thickets, which explains why the plural form schit·tim is almost always used in the Bible record. Although the acacia can grow to heights of 6 to 8 m, it usually has the appearance of a bush. It has compound and soft leaves, it is covered with yellow flowers with a pleasant smell and its fruit is formed by narrow and curved pods. The rough, black bark covers heavy, very hard, fine-grained wood and is immune to insect attack. These characteristics, along with the fact that it was easily found in the desert, made acacia an ideal building material for the tabernacle and its furnishings. It was used to build the ark of the covenant (Ex 25:10; 37:1), the table of showbread (Ex 25:23; 37:10), the altars (Ex 27:1; 37:25; 38 :1), the poles to carry these items (Ex 25:13, 28; 27:6; 30:5; 37:4, 15, 28; 38:6), the columns for the curtain and the screen (Ex 26 :32, 37; 36:36), the frames (Ex 26:15; 36:20), and the bars that connected them. (Ex 26:26; 36:31.)
Acacia wood is still highly prized in cabinetmaking due to its fine grain, orange-brown color, and durability. The ancient Egyptians sealed the coffins of their mummy with acacia wood and also used it in the construction of their ships. Certain species of acacia produce commercial gum arabic.
Acacia, a common tree in the Sinaitic region, whose wood was used in the tabernacle
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
(Hebrew shíttah, plural shíttîm; Theod. pyxos; Vulgate, spina, thorn). The Hebrew shíttah is probably a contraction of Shinttah, and therefore identical with the Egyptian shent; to Coptic shonte, thorn; to arabic sunt. Hence the Greek name akantha, thorn, the Latin acanthus for the Egyptian acacia. Acacia wood is designated “incorruptible wood” in the Septuagint, and lignum setim “acacia wood” in the Vulgate. The biblical acacia belongs to the genus Mimosa, and is doubtless identical with Acacia seyal (Del.) or Acacia tortilis (Hayne); both are called seyyal, or torrent trees; sayl meaning torrent. They grow in the desert wadis, or torrent valleys, of Sinai. The wood is light, hard and durable, growing almost as black as ebony with age. The Ark of the Covenant, the table for the showbread, the altar of burnt offerings, the altar of incense, the wooden parts of the tabernacle, were made of acacia wood (Ex. 25,5).
(See Plants in the Bible).
Bibliography: VIGOUROUX, in Dict. of the Bible (Paris, 1895); CHAPMAN in HASTINGS, Dictionary of the Bible, art. Shittah Tree (New York, 1902).
Source: Maas, Anthony. “Acacia.” The Catholic Encyclopaedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 28 Jan. 2012
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01079a.htm
Translated by Felix Carrera Franco. rc
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia