Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SHITTIM

(Hheb. šiṭṭîm)

1. The last campsite of the Israelites on the plains of Moab before crossing the Jordan River (Num. 33:49). The name is the abbreviated form of the full toponym Abel-shittim, “Meadow of Acacias” (Num. 33:49). Here, the Moabite king Balak tried to curse Israel through Balaam (Num. 22–24), Israel’s men participated in idolatrous relations and immoral practices with Moabite and Midian women (ch. 25), the census was taken (ch. 26), and Joshua was publicly proclaimed the successor of Moses (27:12-23), who delivered his final address to the people here (Deut. 31–33). From here Joshua dispatched two spies (Josh. 2:1) before the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan (3:1). The prophet Micah urged Israel to remember what God had done for them during the people’s journey from Shittim to Gilgal while they entered the Promised Land (Mic. 6:5).

Josephus mentions a place “Abila” in this area. F.-M. Abel first equated Shittim with Tell el-Kefrein (210139), but Nelson Glueck argued for the larger Tell el-µammâm (214138), which during the Iron Age consisted of a fortress with massive towers and a strong glacis.

Bibliography. N. Glueck, “Some Ancient Towns in the Plains of Moab,” BASOR 91 (1943): 7-26.

2. The “Valley of Shittim” (Joel 3:18[MT 4:18]), an area W of the Jordan. It is probably Wadi en-Nâr, a continuation of the Kidron Valley which extends through the wilderness of Judah up to the Dead Sea.

Friedbert Ninow

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SHITTIM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)