Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Karl:
 
A “desert oak tree” is an acacia tree.  That’s the type of vegetation one 
might find in the wilderness of Zin, or at least at an oasis in the 
wilderness of Zin.  But )YL at Genesis 14: 6 is not an acacia tree.
 
“Flowers of Israel” discusses the Pistacia palaestina here:
 
_http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Pistaciapalaestina_page.htm_ 
(http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Pistaciapalaestina_page.htm) 
 
The habitat is said to be “Mediterranean maquis and forest”.  The site 
notes:  “The Hebrew word used for Pistacia is ‘elah’, and like that of the 
oak, stems from the Hebrew el (God), associated with strength and sturdiness.”
 
Another source notes:  “MEDITERRANEAN MAQUIS
This is the main vegetation along the Mediterranean coasts, where summers 
are hot and dry, and rain falls abundantly in winter.”
 
The area south of the Dead Sea, such as the wilderness of Zin, is not part 
of the Mediterranean maquis, and never had forests.  Although the summers 
are hot and dry, what is totally lacking is “rain falls abundantly in winter.”
  That’s why oak trees and terebinths have never grown south of the Dead 
Sea, in the wilderness of Zin, or at the Gulf of Aqaba, to the best of my 
knowledge.  
 
Some Israeli sites (that do not reflect the Transjordan) show the terebinth 
as reaching almost to the southern end of the Dead Sea, but not into the 
Negev Desert, and not south of the Dead Sea.  My guess is that because of the 
many terebinths in hill country, just west of the Judean Desert and the west 
bank of the Dead Sea, there are multiple opportunities for some terebinths 
to sprout in those inhospitable, but neighboring, areas.  But once one gets 
south of the Dead Sea, and/or into the Negev proper, there are no more 
terebinths.  I myself have never seen anything in print that asserts that 
terebinths or oak trees (not acacia!) flourished south of the Dead Sea, 
regardless 
of what historical era we are talking about.
 
At p. 33 of “Oxford Bible Atlas” (2007), on the map “Vegetation in 
Biblical Times”, we see that the forest in the Transjordan stops just north 
of the 
northern end of the Dead Sea.  There is no forest south of the Dead Sea.  My 
conclusion is that there are no terebinths or oak trees south of the Dead 
Sea, either now or in Biblical times.
 
In my view, )YL at Genesis 14: 6 is referencing a type of tree that has 
always been non-existent south of the Dead Sea, but that flourished 
abundantly 
north of the Dead Sea in the Transjordan in Biblical times.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois