Juniper

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Juniper.  1 Kings 19:4-5;  Job 30:4;  Psalms 120:4. A sort of broom, Genista monosperma , Genista raetam of Forskal, answering to the Arabic rethem . It is very abundant in the desert of Sinai, and affords shade and protection, in both heat and storm, to travellers. The rethem is a leguminous plant, and bears a white flower. It is found also in Spain. It is an erect shrub, with no main trunk, but many wand-like, slender branches, and is sometimes twelve feet high. Its use is very great in stopping the sand. - Editor).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Juniper ( rôthem ) is undoubtedly the Arab. [Note: Arabic.] ratam , a species of broom very common in desert places in Palestine and Sinai. This broom ( Retama retem ) is in many such places the only possible shade; it sometimes attains a height of 7 to 8 feet (  1 Kings 19:5 ). The root is still burned to furnish charcoal (  Psalms 120:4 ). In   Job 30:4 mention is made of the roots being cut up for food. As they are bitter and nauseous and contain very little nourishment, this vividly pictures the severity of the famine in the wilderness.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Rothem , the Spanish broom, Genista Monosperma , white blossoming ( 1 Kings 19:4-6;  Job 30:4;  Psalms 120:4). Abundant in the desert of Sinai. The bushy shrub, eight or ten feet high, shaded Elijah from the heat. The Bedouins still make charcoal of the wood, as the psalmist describes. The eating of its bitter roots for food is Job's illustration of the degradation and famine to which the outcasts he describes were reduced.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

rothem. This is supposed to refer, not to the juniper (see Heath but to the Arabic ratam, the Retama raetam, a 'broom' that grows twelve feet high, under which a person could sit for shelter.  1 Kings 19:4,5 . In  Job 30:4 reference is made to its roots being used for food by the poor. Its roots were also burnt for charcoal, and   Psalm 120:4 says that sharp arrows of the mighty with coals of juniper were to be applied to a false tongue.

King James Dictionary

JU'NIPER, n. L. juniperus. A tree or shrub bearing berries of a bluish color, of a warm, pungent, sweet taste, yielding when fresh, by expression, a rich, sweet, aromatic juice. They are useful carminatives and stomachics. The wood of the tree is of a reddish color, hard and durable, and is used in cabinet work and veneering. The oil of juniper mixed with that of nuts makes an excellent varnish and the resin powdered is used under the name of pounce.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Juniper. Unquestionably, the original intends the Rçlem ( Rçtama R¿Tam ), a shrub of the broom family, attaining a height of about 12 feet. Under its shade travellers are glad to creep on a sultry day for a noontime nap, and thus Elijah lay and slept after his long journey.  1 Kings 19:4-5.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 1 Kings 19:4 (c) This is a tree which probably represents a defeated spirit, a disappointed life, and a depressed soul. We should always have an axe handy to cut down the juniper tree.

 Job 30:4 (c) This indicates that these disappointed and depressed people were feeding on their miseries.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Is found in the English Bible,  1 Kings 19:4,5;  Job 30:4;  Psalm 120:4 . The Hebrew word, however, signifies the plant Genista, or Spanish broom, which is common in the desert regions of Arabia, and has yellowish blossoms and a bitter root.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 1 Kings 19:4,5 Psalm 120:4 Job 30:4 Numbers 33:18

"The Bedawin of Sinai still burn this very plant into a charcoal which throws out the most intense heat."

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Kings 19:4 Job 30:4  Psalm 120:4Broom Tree

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) Any evergreen shrub or tree, of the genus Juniperus and order Coniferae.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

jōō´ni - pẽr ( רתם , rōthem  ; ῥαθμέν , rhathmén ,   1 Kings 19:4 f, margin "broom";   Psalm 120:4 , m "broom";  Job 30:4 translated "broom"): This is quite certainly the Arabic ratam ( Retama retem , Natural Order, Leguminosae ), a variety of broom which is one of the most characteristic shrubs of the deserts of Southern Palestine and southward to Egypt. Though the shade it affords is but scanty, in the absence of other shrubs it is frequently used by desert travelers as a refuge from the sun's scorching rays (compare  1 Kings 19:4 ). The root yields good charcoal, giving out much heat ( Psalm 120:4 ). For people to be reduced to chew it for nourishment betokens the lowest depth of starvation ( Job 30:4 ). Indeed so hopeless is this root as a source of food that many commentators believe that the accepted text is in error, and by altering a single letter, substituting the Hebrew letter, cheth, ח for he ה , they get a reading, which has been adopted in the Revised Version margin, "to warm them" instead of "their meat," which certainly is much more probable.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Juniper'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/j/juniper.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.