ESHEL (esh'rn, ar's/tel), which should he translated tamarisk, as in R. V. (Gcn. xxi:33; I Sam. xxii.6, marg.).
(1) The first notice of this tree is in Gcn. xxi : 33, 'And Abraham planted a grove (eshel) in 13.-!ersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord.' The second notice is in I Sam. xxii: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 (I Sam. xxxi :13) : 'And they took their bones and buried them under a tree (eshel) at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.' In the parallel passage of I Chron. x :12, the word alah is em ployed. This signifies a 'terebinth tree, ' but is translated oak in the Authorized Version.
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, be cause it is one of the few trees which will flour ish 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 es teemed 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. The only difficulty is to ascertain the exact species. But as they are all so similar, any of the arboreous species or vari eties which flourish in the most barren situations would have the name and applied to it, and this name would appear to an Arab of those regions the most appropriate translation for eshel, in the passage where Abraham is described as planting a tree and calling on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. (See OAK; TAMARISK.) J. F. R.
(2) ESIiEL, also Eschel and Aisliel, occurs in three places in the Scriptures, in one of which, in our Authorized Version, it is rendered grove, and in the other two tree. if we compare the pas sages in which the word eshel occurs, we shall see that there is no necessity for considering it a generic term.