Shittim

Biblical Account

Shittim was Israel's last encampment after completing its forty years in the wilderness and before crossing the Jordan River. Numbers 22:1 records that Israel pitched camp in the plains of Moab "on this side Jordan by Jericho." Numbers 33:49 describes the extent of this camp as "from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim." The following events took place at Shittim.

• The Baal-peor incident: According to Numbers 25, while Israel was staying at Shittim, the people committed whoredom with the women of Moab and bowed down to Baal-peor. As a result, a plague broke out, and 24,000 people died. The plague stopped when the priest Phinehas killed Zimri, a leader of the tribe of Simeon, and Cozbi, a Midianite woman.
• The sending of the spies: In Joshua 2:1, Joshua sent two spies from Shittim to Jericho, where they lodged in the house of Rahab.
• The starting point of the Jordan crossing: According to Joshua 3:1, Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan River, which they then crossed.

Name and Location

The Hebrew Shittim is the plural of a word for the acacia tree and means "acacia trees." The same word is used for the wood from which the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were made; the King James Version renders it "shittim wood" (Exodus 25:10).

Scholars generally locate Shittim on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River and north of the Dead Sea. The exact site, however, has not been determined. Tell el-Hammam in Jordan is among the proposed candidates.

Significance Across Scripture

In later Scripture, Shittim serves as a place that recalls both Israel's failure and God's deliverance.

• Hosea 9:10 recalls how Israel, at Baal-peor, devoted itself to an idol.
• Micah 6:5 calls the people to remember the matter of Balak and Balaam, as well as what happened "from Shittim unto Gilgal," presenting these as acts in which the righteousness of the LORD was displayed.
• Joel 3:18 declares that in that day a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and "shall water the valley of Shittim."

The New Testament does not mention Shittim by name, but it treats the events that occurred there as a cautionary example. First Corinthians 10:8 warns believers by citing those who committed fornication and "fell in one day three and twenty thousand." Revelation 2:14 states that Balaam taught Balak to cause Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.

Interpretation and Issues

• Balaam's role: Balaam does not appear in Numbers 25 itself. The basis for connecting him with this incident is the phrase "through the counsel of Balaam" in Numbers 31:16, and Revelation 2:14 follows this understanding. Detailed accounts of the specific scheme Balaam devised are later elaborations found in Josephus and Jewish tradition and should be distinguished from the biblical text.
• The discrepancy in the death toll: Numbers 25:9 gives 24,000, whereas 1 Corinthians 10:8 gives 23,000 "in one day." Proposed explanations include the view that Paul counted only those who died within a single day and the view that both figures are round numbers.
• The action of Phinehas: Psalm 106:30–31 praises Phinehas, saying that his act "was counted unto him for righteousness." Christian interpreters generally read this as zeal for the holiness of God. At the same time, they hold that it cannot serve as a basis for justifying individual acts of violence today.
• The valley of Shittim: Interpretations of "the valley of Shittim" in Joel 3:18 differ. Some identify it with Shittim east of the Jordan, while others take it as a general expression for a dry valley where acacias grow. The latter view reads it as a symbol of the water of life reaching even barren land.