Shittim Wood

Biblical Text

Shittim wood appears chiefly in the regulations for the tabernacle and the accounts of its construction in Exodus. God instructs Moses to make various parts of the tabernacle from shittim wood, including the following:

• The ark of the covenant and its staves: Exodus 25:10, 13
• The table of showbread: Exodus 25:23. The showbread was the bread set out on the table in the holy place (see showbread).
• The boards, bars, and pillars of the tabernacle: Exodus 26:15, 26, 32, 37
• The altar of burnt offering: Exodus 27:1
• The altar of incense: Exodus 30:1

Most of these items were made of wood overlaid with gold or brass. The actual construction is recorded in Exodus 35–38, and the work was entrusted to Bezaleel. In Deuteronomy 10:3, Moses recalls that he made the ark of shittim wood. In Isaiah 41:19, the same tree ("the shittah tree") is named among the trees God will plant in the wilderness.

Background and Terminology

The Hebrew shittim is the plural of shittah. Scholars generally identify the tree as a species of acacia growing in the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabah wilderness. Its wood is hard, heavy, resistant to decay, and resistant to insects. Its use in the tabernacle is also commonly attributed to its being one of the few kinds of timber available in the wilderness. The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) rendered the term with an expression meaning "incorruptible wood."

The Korean term jogakmok (皂角木) is the rendering used in the New Korean Revised Version and the earlier Korean Revised Version. Its Chinese characters denote a tree of the honey locust group, and the term is reported to follow the rendering used in Chinese Bible translations. Consequently, the name does not necessarily correspond to the actual tree. The New Korean Standard Version and other translations render it "acacia tree." However, the tree commonly called "acacia" in Korea is the North American black locust, a different species from the biblical tree. The place name Shittim, east of the Jordan (Numbers 25:1; Joshua 2:1), is also commonly said to derive from the name of this tree.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The New Testament does not mention shittim wood directly. However, Hebrews 9, in discussing the tabernacle and its furnishings, including the ark of the covenant overlaid with gold, presents these as a "shadow" pointing to the work of Christ. Shittim wood is read in light of this understanding of the tabernacle.

Interpretation and Debate

Preaching and commentary traditions that emphasize typology (an interpretive approach that reads Old Testament objects as shadows prefiguring Christ) have interpreted shittim wood symbolically. For example, gold-overlaid shittim wood has been seen as representing the union of Christ's human nature (the wood) and divine nature (the gold), and the use of an unremarkable wilderness tree as material for the sanctuary has been likened to believers who have been redeemed. Such interpretations have long been widespread. By contrast, interpreters who emphasize the historical-grammatical meaning of the text point out that these readings go beyond what the text itself says. They regard shittim wood as a durable, practical material that was available in the wilderness at the time, and they urge caution in assigning detailed symbolism that Hebrews does not make explicit.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, which has long used the Korean Revised Version, jogakmok is a familiar term in expository sermons on the tabernacle and in Bible studies. Applications such as "Even a life like shittim wood can be put to use once it is overlaid with gold" are common in preaching.