Shittim Wood, Shittah Tree

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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. Giraffa1
Acacia Nilotica
 
1. JonRichfield, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons