Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 120:4

"Sharp arrows of the mighty, With coals of juniper." — Psalms 120:4 (ASV)

Sharp. More accurately, sharpened, whetted, as if for a purpose.

Juniper. Properly, broom. It is the Hebrew rothem, a plant identical with the Arabian retem and Algerian retama (see 1 Kings 19:4–5).

Dr. Tristram mentions the employment of this bush for fuel: “It is ruthlessly uprooted by the Arabs, wherever it is tolerably abundant, for the manufacture of charcoal, which is considered of the finest quality, and fetches a higher price at Cairo than any other kind. Several travelers have mentioned their meeting with Bedouins employed in conveying retem charcoal to the Egyptian markets” (Natural History of the Bible, p. 360; see also Bible Educator, IV, p. 194).

Burckhardt and Robinson also both noticed this trade.

Wonderful stories are told by both Jerome and the rabbis about how travelers, having cooked their food with fires made from the juniper wood, which they suppose to be the wood meant here, and returning a year later to the same spot, still found the embers alive.