Tamarisk
Tamarisk
Tamarisk. A small tree with thick foliage and spikes of pink blooms. It provided ample shade for desert travelers ( 1Sa 22:6). The word for tamarisk is translated tree, grove, or oak by the KJV.
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Tamarisk
SEE GROVE
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Tamarisk
Heb. ‘eshel (Gen. 21:33; 1 Sam. 22:6; 31:13, in the R.V.; but in A.V., “grove,” “tree”); Arab. asal. Seven species of this tree are found in Palestine. It is a “very graceful tree, with long feathery branches and tufts closely clad with the minutest of leaves, and surmounted in spring with spikes of beautiful pink blosoms, which See m to envelop the whole tree in one gauzy sheet of colour” (Tristram’s Nat. Hist.).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Tamarisk
TAMARISK (shel).This name occurs in RV [Note: Revised Version.] (only) three times; Gen 21:33 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] grove, mg. tree; 1Sa 22:6 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] tree, mg. grove; 1Sa 31:13 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] tree. The RV [Note: Revised Version.] rendering is based upon an identification of the Heb. shel with the Arab. [Note: Arabic.] thl. RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] gives tamarisk for heath of EV [Note: English Version.] in Jer 17:6 (cf. Jer 48:6), but probably a species of juniper is intended here. There are some eight species of tamarisks in Palestine; they are most common in the Maritime Plain and the Jordan Valley. Though mostly but shrubs, some species attain to the size of large trees. They are characterized by their brittle feathery branches and minute scale-like leaves.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Tamarisk
tama-risk: (1) , ‘eshel (Gen 21:33, the King James Version grove, margin tree; 1Sa 22:6, the King James Version tree, margin grove; 1Sa 31:13, the King James Version tree). The Revised Version (British and American) translation is due to the similarity of’eshel to the Arabic ‘athl, the tamarisk. (2) , arar (Jer 17:6 margin (compare Jer 48:6), English Versions of the Bible heath (which see)). The tamarisk (Tamarix, with various species in Palestine, chiefly T. Syriaca) is a very characteristic tree of Palestine, especially in the Maritime Plain, near the sea itself, and in the Jordan Valley. Eight species are described. They are characterized by their brittle, feathery branches and by their tiny scale-like leaves. Some varieties flourish not infrequently in salty soil unsuited to any ordinary vegetation.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Tamarisk
Fig. 327Tamarisk: Tamarix orientalis
This is supposed to be the meaning of the word eshel, which occurs in three places of Scripture, in one of which, in our Authorized Version, it is rendered grove, and in the other two tree. The first notice of this tree is in Gen 21:33, ‘And Abraham planted a grove (eshel) in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord.’ The second notice is in 1Sa 22:6 : ‘Now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree (eshel) in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.’ Under such a tree also he and his sons were buried, for it is said (1Sa 31:13), ‘And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree (eshel) at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.’
From the characteristics of the tamarisk-tree of the East, it certainly appears as likely as any to have been planted in Beersheba by Abraham, because it is one of the few trees which will flourish and grow to a great size even in the arid desert. It has also a name in Arabic, asul, very similar to the Hebrew eshel. Besides the advantage of affording shade in a hot country, it is also esteemed on account of the excellence of its wood, which is converted into charcoal. It is no less valuable on account of the galls with which its branches are often loaded, and which are nearly as astringent as oak-galls. It is also one of those trees which were esteemed by the ancients.
It is very remarkable that the only tree which is found growing among the ruins of Babylon is a tamarisk. Thus, on the north side of the Kasr, where Ker Porter thought he saw traces of the hanging gardens, there stands upon an artificial eminence a tree to which the Arabs give the name of athela. It is a species of tree altogether foreign to the country. Two of the attendants of Ker Porter, who were natives of Bender Bushire, assured him that there are trees of that kind in their country, which attain a very great age, and are called gaz. ‘The one in question is in appearance like the weeping-willow, but the trunk is hollow through age, and partly shattered. The Arabs venerate it as sacred, in consequence of the Caliph Ali having reposed under its shade after the battle of Hillah.’