Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(thorny). (1) An Asiatic tree, a species of acacia, producing a close-grained, yellowish wood used in making the sacred furniture of the tabernacle (Ex. 25:10-13; 26:15,26; 27:110And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 11And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. 12And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. 13And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. (Exodus 25:10‑13)
15And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up. (Exodus 26:15)
26And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, (Exodus 26:26)
1And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. (Exodus 27:1); Isa. 41:1919I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: (Isaiah 41:19)). (2) Last encampment of the Israelites before crossing the Jordan. Scene of the completion of the law and farewell of Moses (Num. 25; 31:1-12; Josh. 2:1; 3:11And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. (Joshua 2:1)
1And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. (Joshua 3:1)). The spies were sent out from Shittim to Jericho, and there the final preparations were made for crossing the Jordan. It was also called Abel-shittim, “meadow of acacias,” and was the well-watered, fertile plain stretching from the foot of the mountains of Moab to the banks of the Jordan. (3) “Valley of Shittim” (Joel 3:1818And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. (Joel 3:18)), is doubtless same as Shittim (2), which was also known as Abel-shittim.
“Shittah Tree” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
“Shittim Wood, Shittah Tree” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
Acacia Tree growing in Timna Park, in the Negev.
This is generally understood to be the Acacia, which is adopted in the RV. There are several varieties which grow in Egypt and Palestine, the Acacia seyal being the most common. They differ from the acacias known in England, which are from North America. The wood was extensively used in building the tabernacle, and the ark, the table of shewbread, and the altars were also made of the same (Ex. 25-38); Deut. 10:33And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. (Deuteronomy 10:3)). It is called the SHITTAH TREE (after the Hebrew, which is shittah in the singular) in Isaiah 41:1919I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: (Isaiah 41:19). The “burning bush” (Hebrews seneh), has been considered to be the wild acacia, A. nilotica. Livingstone judged that for the tabernacle the A. giraffa (Camel-thorn) was used, which he calls an “imperishable” wood.
Vachelia Erioloba – Camel Thorn – A. Giraffa
Acacia Nilotica
Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:
Meaning:
feminine of a derivative (only in the plural shittiym {shit-teem'}; meaning the sticks of wood) from the same as 7850; the acacia (from its scourging thorns)
KJV Usage:
shittah, shittim. See also 1029
Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:
acacias