almugn.

Etymology: < Hebrew ălmūg (only in plural ʿăṣē ălmuggīm almug trees: 1 Kings 10:11–12), also (with metathesis, perhaps as scribal error) ălgūm (only in plural ʿăṣē ălgummīm algum trees: 2 Chronicles 2:8, 2 Chronicles 9:10), of uncertain origin, perhaps < Akkadian elammakku, denoting an unidentified tree yielding precious wood; perhaps compare Ugaritic 'lmg, denoting an unidentified tree. See further J. C. Greenfield & M. Mayrhofer ‘The 'Algummīm/'Almuggīm Problem Reexamined’, in Hebräische Wortforschung: Festschrift zum 80. Geburtstag von Walter Baumgartner (1967) 83–9.The tree has often been identified with red sandalwood, based on the statement in 1 Kings 10:11 that almug wood was brought from Ophir along with the gold mentioned in that passage, as well as on the suggestion (frequently repeated since the first half of the 19th cent.) that the Hebrew word derives from a putative Sanskrit or Dravidian etymon (compare quot. 1873 at β. ), and the fact that red sandalwood is native to India. The location of the biblical land of Ophir is uncertain and disputed; it has variously been held to refer to southern Arabia (modern Yemen or Oman), to the east African coast, or to parts of southern India. It has often been assumed that the tree mentioned in 1 Kings was native to Ophir, but the biblical passage merely states that the tree was imported from Ophir, not that it was native to that country. In 2 Chronicles, on the other hand, almug wood is mentioned as an import from Lebanon, which excludes the sense ‘red sandalwood’ for the occurrences in that book, since that tree does not occur in Lebanon; it has been suggested that a species of juniper ( Juniperus phoenicea) is the most likely candidate for the identity of the ‘algum trees’ in that book. The alleged etymon Sanskrit valguka pleasant, attractive ( < valgu pleasant, attractive) is only attested in the sense ‘(white) sandal’ in a medieval text, too late to have influenced the Semitic word. There is no likely Dravidian etymon. Earlier translations of the Bible used thyine adj., after post-classical Latin thyina, neuter plural (Vulgate), the Vulgate's translation of the Hebrew word in all of the above-mentioned passages except in 2 Chronicles 2:8, where arceuthina, neuter plural of arceuthinus ( < Hellenistic Greek ἀρκεύθινος (Septuagint)) is used. In forms in -im after the Hebrew plural forms ălmuggīm and ălgummīm.