Hebrew word · H815

אֵ֫שֶׁל

'eshel

tamarisk(s)

A tamarisk tree (genus Tamarix). Only three times in the Hebrew Bible: here, 1 Samuel 22:6 (Saul sits under the tamarisk at Gibeah, spear in hand, holding court) and 1 Samuel 31:13 (Saul's bones are buried under the tamarisk at Jabesh). The Arabic cognate ʾathl also means tamarisk.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

tamarisk tree

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 Genesis 21:33

Range of meaning

A tamarisk tree (genus Tamarix). Only three times in the Hebrew Bible: here, 1 Samuel 22:6 (Saul sits under the tamarisk at Gibeah, spear in hand, holding court) and 1 Samuel 31:13 (Saul's bones are buried under the tamarisk at Jabesh). The Arabic cognate ʾathl also means tamarisk. In all three places it is a single, notable tree tied to a place that matters: a seat of authority, a grave, a sanctuary.

Against the English

Modern versions (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB, WEB, NLT) have "tamarisk tree". KJV has "grove", following the Latin Vulgate's nemus. Elsewhere KJV uses "grove" for the Asherah poles of Canaanite worship, so KJV readers can wrongly link Abraham's tree to idolatrous groves.

How it drifted

The drift goes back to ancient translators who were unsure of a rare tree word. The Vulgate made it a grove and the Septuagint a field. KJV took the Latin, and the old English word now suggests a stand of trees, not one tree.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Genesis 21:33 has arouran, "plot of tilled land". The Vulgate has nemus, "grove". The Aramaic Targums take it as a plantation or orchard. The Babylonian Talmud (Sotah 10a) records two rabbis disagreeing: one says an orchard, the other an inn for travellers. Genesis Rabbah 54:6 adds a word-game reading the letters of 'eshel as the first letters of "eating, drinking, lodging", making the tree into Abraham's hospitality. These are later Jewish interpretations. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) and the uses in Samuel support "tamarisk".

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 21:33 אֶ֖שֶׁל a tamarisk tree

    And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

    Here: A single tamarisk tree, a tough desert tree with deep roots that suits the sandy Negev. It grows slowly and lives a long time, so it makes a lasting landmark: you plant one for your grandchildren.

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 22:6 הָאֶ֤שֶׁל the tamarisk tree

    Soon Saul learned that David and his men had been discovered. At that time Saul was sitting under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with his spear in hand and all his servants standing around him.

  2. 1 Samuel 31:13 הָאֶ֖שֶׁל the tamarisk tree

    Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

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