shittim wood

American  

[shit-im] / ˈʃɪt ɪm /

noun

1. the wood, probably acacia, of which the ark of the covenant and various parts of the tabernacle were made. Exodus 25, 26.

2. cascara.

3. false buckthorn.

---

shittim wood British  

/ ˈʃɪtɪm /

noun

1. Old Testament a kind of wood, probably acacia, from which the Ark of the Covenant and parts of the tabernacle were made

---

Etymology

Origin of shittim wood

First recorded in 1580–90; ultimately from Hebrew shiṭṭīm, plural of shiṭṭāh “the acacia tree” (probably) ; see shittah)

Example Sentences

The promise of the new covenant is to put the Law into the mind, not in an ark of shittim wood, and to write it in the heart, not on tables of stone.

From The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews by Edwards, Thomas Charles

Shittim furthermore signifies "follies," hence Israel were to construct the place of penance for their folly in adoring the Golden Calf, out of shittim wood, to atone for this "folly."

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 3 by Radin, Paul

Peter Harrison, an annotator on the Pentateuch, observed of Moses' two tables of stone that they were made of shittim wood.

From Literary Blunders by Wheatley, Henry Benjamin

The ties appear to have been of the tamarisk or shittim wood, of which the ark was constructed—a sacred tree in ancient Egypt, and now very rarely found in the valley of the Nile.

From Harper's Young People, June 1, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly by Various

Calmet, Parkhurst, Gesenius, Clarke, Shaw, and all the best authorities, concur in saying that the otzi shittim, or shittim wood of Exodus, was the common acacia or mimosa nilotica of Linnæus.

From The Symbolism of Freemasonry by Mackey, Albert G.