The detailed instructions God gave Moses for building the arc begin with "Have them
make a chest of acacia wood - two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide,
and a cubit and a half high." ("That is, about 3 3/4 feet (about 1.1 meters) long
and 2 1/4 feet (about 0.7 meter) wide and high ") (Exodus 25:10 NIV with NIV note.)
In the next chapter God gives instructions for the tabernacle. They include: "Make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle." (Exodus 26:15).
In addition to being mentioned several times in chapters 25 and 26, it appears in Exodus
chapters 27, 30, 35, 37, and 38 and Deuteronomy 10:3, all in regards to the arc, tabernacle, or
altars for the tabernacle. It is also mentioned in Isaiah 41:19 as a tree God put in the desert.
Danielle knew about acacia trees from her time in Iraq. But Jim was completely mystified. In case you are too, we will talk about them a bit.
If you read the above verses in the King James version, you will see the word "shittim" instead "acacia". Apparently its translators had never heard of acacia trees so they just used the Hebrew word for the tree. More modern translations almost always translate the Hebrew word as "acacia".
Despite Jim's ignorance about the subject, there are well over 1000 different kinds of
acacia trees. Over half of the varieties are from Australia but many are from Africa. Some
kinds grow in the deserts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq but some can be grown in the
U. S. The tree has thorns and "pea" pods. Some varieties have pretty blossoms.
It is often assumed that the variety that the
Israelites found during their wanderings in the desert was the
Acacia seyal.
Some additional references to Acadia trees include: Church of God Daily Bible Study and BibleLandTrees.org