Broom Tree

Biblical Text

The best-known passage involving the broom tree is 1 Kings 19. After the contest on Mount Carmel, Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah, and he flees to Beersheba in the far south. Leaving his servant there, he goes a day's journey farther into the wilderness, sits down under a broom tree, prays that his life be taken, and falls asleep (1 Kings 19:4-5). An angel touches him and says, "Arise and eat," and at his head are a cake baked on the coals and a cruse of water. This happens twice, and in the strength of that food Elijah travels forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God (1 Kings 19:5-8).

The same Hebrew word also appears in Job 30:4 and Psalm 120:4. In Job it refers to roots that the starving eat; in the Psalm it refers to burning coals, an image of the punishment that will fall on a deceitful tongue. Korean translations render the word differently from one version to another.

Background

The Hebrew name is rotem, which the New Korean Revised Version transliterates in 1 Kings 19 as "rodem tree." Botanists commonly identify the plant as Retama raetam, and English Bibles usually translate the word as "broom tree." It is a shrub that can grow several meters tall, with few leaves and many slender branches. Although it does not cast wide shade, it is one of the few plants in the wilderness that offer any shelter. Its roots are known to yield charcoal that burns hot and long, and the imagery of Psalm 120:4 draws on this property. Many interpreters take Job 30:4 as a depiction of extreme poverty, since the roots are bitter and hard to eat, while some scholars read the verse as referring to the use of the roots as fuel. Some also hold that Rithmah, the name of a campsite on the wilderness journey (Numbers 33:18), derives from the same word.

Significance in the Broader Biblical Context

Elijah's journey of forty days and nights to Horeb is often compared with the forty days Moses spent on the mountain and with the forty days during which Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and angels ministered to him (temptation in the wilderness). The New Testament does not mention the broom tree directly. However, the Epistle of James calls Elijah "a man subject to like passions as we are" (James 5:16-18), and the image of the discouraged Elijah is therefore often discussed in connection with this passage.

Interpretation and Debate

Many interpreters read this scene as a story of God's care, in which he first feeds the weary prophet and lets him sleep before correcting him. Others, focusing on the question that follows, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9), read it as a story in which God corrects Elijah's discouragement and self-pity. A traditional interpretation sees "the angel of the LORD" in verse 7 as an Old Testament appearance of Christ, though many interpreters disagree. Describing Elijah's condition in terms of modern depression or burnout is a contemporary application; the text itself makes no such diagnosis. The tree is also frequently described as giving "broad, cool shade," but this does not match the actual appearance of the plant.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, the broom tree frequently serves as an image of the rest and restoration given to those worn out by ministry. The name "Rodem" is also widely used for prayer rooms, rest spaces, church cafés, prayer retreat centers, and similar places.