ACACIA ə kā’ shə. There are a number of Acacias mentioned in the Bible, i.e. different species under common names.

1. סְנֶה, H6174, (Exod 3:2-4). The word bush here is prob. the thorny Acacia nilotica, i.e. Egyp. mimosa. It is seen around about the Dead Sea. Moffatt tr. the word as “thorn bush,” and this is undoubtedly right.

2. שִׁטָּה, H8847, (sing.), שִׁטִּֽים (pl.), Acacia seyal or Acacia tortilis (Exod 25:5, 10, 13-23, 28; 26:15, 16, 26, 32-37; 30:1, 5; and 35; 36; 37; 38; Num 25:1; 33:49; Deut 10:3; Josh 2:1; 3:1, 18; Isa 41:19; Micah 6:5). It is usually tr. Shittim wood, only once Shittah tree. The two species given above are prob. the ones concerned, because they flourish in barren regions. Tortilis is common even today. The wood is very hard, browny-orange in color, and was used for cabinet-making, and even today is used for furniture. The word “seyal” means “torrent,” and this is because the tree often grows by fast-moving streams. The trees were prob. plentiful in OT times, and were massed in desert valleys which became torrents in the rainy seasons. The wood is said to make the best charcoal. (Acacia tortilis is sometimes referred to as Acacia radiana.)

3. Acacia arabica may possibly be the tree referred to in Exodus 3. This is the tree which yields gum arabic, though this may not have been known to the ancient Hebrews.

Probably the Acacia was not a native of N Pal., as it is not mentioned at all in the later Biblical books.

If the camphire (כֹּ֤פֶר׃׀) referred to in Song of Solomon 1:14 is henna (see Camphire), then it may be that there is some reference to Acacia catechu—for henna paste is made by mixing the henna leaves when dried and powdered with an extract of the wood of this particular tree.