Hebrew word · H7851

שִׁטִּים

bashitim

Shittim

Naḥal is a wadi, a torrent valley that carries a winter stream. Shittim is the plural of shittah, the acacia, a thorny desert tree whose wood built the ark and tabernacle ('shittim wood,' Exodus 25:10).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Shittim = "the acacias"

place of Israel's encampment between the conquest of the transjordanic region and crossing the Jordan into Canaan

Also named: a.vel hash.shit.tim (אָבֵל הַשִּׁטִּים "Abel-shittim" H0063)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joel 3:18

Range of meaning

Naḥal is a wadi, a torrent valley that carries a winter stream. Shittim is the plural of shittah, the acacia, a thorny desert tree whose wood built the ark and tabernacle ('shittim wood,' Exodus 25:10). Shittim (also Abel-shittim, 'meadow of acacias') was also Israel's last camp on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan (Numbers 25:1; 33:49; Joshua 2:1; 3:1).

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV keep 'valley of Shittim' as a place name. BSB and NIV translate it as 'Valley of Acacias.' NLT describes it as a dry valley of acacia trees. 'Valley' can suggest a lush lowland, but a naḥal is a seasonal ravine.

Used elsewhere in the period

Acacias grow in the Arabah and the Jordan rift, the hot, dry lowlands around the Dead Sea. The Septuagint renders the phrase 'the winter-torrent of the rushes' (ton cheimarroun tōn schoinōn) and the Vulgate 'torrentem Spinarum,' 'the torrent of thorns.' Neither treats it as a known place name.

From the study of Numbers 25:1

Range of meaning

Plural of shiṭṭâ, 'acacia', the hardwood of the wilderness from which the ark and tabernacle were built (Exod 25:10). As a place name, 'the Acacias' or Abel-shittim, 'meadow/stream of the acacias' (Num 33:49), Israel's last camp in the plains of Moab.

Against the English

English versions transliterate 'Shittim' and lose the image of acacia groves along a watered plain.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 33:49; Joshua 2:1 and 3:1 (the spies are sent from Shittim and the crossing starts there); Micah 6:5 ('from Shittim to Gilgal') uses the name as shorthand for this stretch of Israel's story; Hosea 9:10 remembers Baal-peor; Joel 3:18 mentions the 'valley of Shittim'. Usually placed in the Jordan valley NE of the Dead Sea; Tell el-Hammam is a common, though not certain, identification.

From the study of Joshua 2:1

Range of meaning

'The Acacias.' The acacia is a hardy tree of the Jordan valley, the same wood used for the ark and tabernacle in Exodus. Here it is a place name, short for Abel-shittim, 'meadow of the acacias' (Numbers 33:49).

Against the English

Most versions transliterate it as 'Shittim'. The NLT translates it as a place description, 'Acacia Grove', and adds 'the Israelite camp'. That helps clarity but hides the place name that links back to Numbers 25.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 25:1: 'While Israel stayed at Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality (liznot, the same root as zonah) with the daughters of Moab.' Micah 6:5 looks back on the stretch 'from Shittim to Gilgal' as a memory of God's saving acts.

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 25:1 בַּשִּׁטִּ֑ים in <the> Shittim

    While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,

    Here: A place name with the article, literally 'in the Acacias'. It is the camp in the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan opposite Jericho, called Abel-shittim in Numbers 33:49.

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 2:1 הַשִּׁטִּ֞ים <the> Shittim

    Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

    Here: 'The Acacias.' This was the camp in the plains of Moab (Abel-shittim, Numbers 33:49). It was also where Israel had sinned with the women of Moab (Numbers 25:1). An Israelite hearer would remember that.

  2. Joshua 3:1 מֵֽהַשִּׁטִּ֗ים from <the> Shittim

    Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

    Here: "From the Acacias" (the place name has the article and means "acacia trees"). This is Abel-shittim on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan. It was Israel's last camp, the place of the Baal-Peor apostasy (Numbers 25), and the place the spies were sent from (Joshua 2:1).

Joel · 1

  1. Joel 3:18 הַשִּׁטִּֽים׃ <the> Shittim

    And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.

    Here: 'The acacias.' Acacia is a thorny tree that grows in hot, dry ground. 'Shittim' is also the name of Israel's last camp before crossing the Jordan. Either way, it points to the driest edge of the land.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 6:5 הַשִּׁטִּים֙ <the> Shittim

    My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

    Here: Israel's last camp east of the Jordan, where the Balaam episode ended and where Israel fell into idolatry with Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:1). It was also where Joshua set out for the crossing (Joshua 3:1).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.