The plants of the Bible online

a large species of tamarisk ; and he regards eshel as



124 THYINE-WOOD.

Tamarix orientalis, the Eastern tamarisk -tree.
mentions the tamarisk as occurring in Syria. It is a
tree which thrives in arid, sandy situations. It belongs
to the natural order Tamariscinece, the Tamarisk family.
Tamarix pallasia grows in the arid sands of the Dead
Sea ; and Tamarix gallica is also found near the shores
of Palestine.

THYINE-WOOD.

(Xylon tliyinum, )
"Merchandise of silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood." REV. xviii. 12.

THYINE-WOOD is mentioned in Revelation xviii. 12, as
one of the articles of merchandise in the Apocalyptic
Babylon. This appears to be the citron-iuood of the
Romans, the alerce of the Moors, the Thuja articulata
of Vahl, and the Callitris quadrivalvis of Ventenat.
This tree, called also the arar-tree, belongs to the natural
order Conif ene, or Cone - bearers, and the sub-order
Cupressinese, or the Cypress tribe. It is a native of
Mount Atlas and other hills on the coast of Africa.
The wood of the tree was very valuable, and was used
for inlaid tables, and it is noticed by Greek and Roman
writers. It is still valued in Algiers. The wood is close-
grained and fragrant. It yields the resin of the san-
darach or pounce, used for scattering over manuscripts.

Thyine is from the Greek Ovetv, to sacrifice.

The Arabs call the tree alarz, a word similar to the
name alerce which is applied to the tree.

In 1796 Desf ontaines found the thyine-tree on Mount



THYINE-WOOD. 125

Atlas, where it had been seen previously by Pliny
(Natural History, xm. xxix. 15). Theophrastus speaks of
the imperishable nature of the wood. It was used for
building temples. The roof of the celebrated mosque,
now the Cathedral of Cordova in Spain, built in the
ninth century, was made of this wood.

It was used as fuel in sacrifices to heathen gods and
to idols, and afterwards idols were made of the wood
(Isaiah xliv. 16, 17). It is mentioned by Homer as
acceptable in its perfume to the gods of Greece. Accord-
ing to Pliny, it was used sometimes for emperors' ban-
queting-tables, under the name of citron-wood. The
wood is beautifully grained, and looks like fine maho-
gany. Cicero is said to have possessed a table made of
this wood valued at about 12,000. The largest table
of this wood belonged to Ptolemy, a king of Mauritania
(the present Morocco).

But the thyine-tree, with the cedars of Lebanon, has
been disappearing from the forests. The merchants no
longer visit the marts of Babylon, of Greece, of Rome.
No fires have been kindled upon the altar-stones of Baal,
of Jupiter, and of Ashtaroth for ages. Many of those
sacred altars have been brought down from their heights
to furnish material for the cabins of the peasant and the
hut and sheepcot of the Arab. Great changes, during
centuries, have at last brought down the power of Baby-
lon to the dust ; and it is vanishing from off the earth.
" The merchants of the earth have ceased to weep over
her." "No man buyeth their merchandise any more,"
and " the fruits that their souls lusted after are de-



126 APPLE-TREE TAPPUACH.

parted ; " " the merchandise of gold, and silver, and pre-
cious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and
silk, and scarlet," as well as " all thyine wood." (Rev.
xviii. 11-20.)

How completely has the vision of its beauty faded !
The screech-owl and the bittern sit and mourn where
songs once echoed from fragrant terraces, and where
princes and nobles revelled over luxuries in the splendid
halls of Babylon. (Isa. xiii. 19-22.)



APPLE-TREE.

(See Tappfiach. Pyrus mains, Linn.)



TAPPUACH.

(Translated Apple-tree, and Apples.)

" A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold [golden citrons] in pictures
[baskets] of silver." PROV. xxv. 11.

THE Hebrew word tappdach occurs in Proverbs xxv.
11 ; Song of Solomon ii. 3, 5, vii. 8, viii. 5 ; and in
Joel i. 12. There have been great differences of opinion
respecting the correct translation of this word. Rosen-
muller and others render it " quince," while Royle renders
it " citron," and says that its rich yellow colour (" citrons
of gold," or "golden citrons"), its fragrant odour (" smell
like citrons"), and the handsome appearance of the tree,
whether in flower or in fruit, are particularly suited to
all the passages of Scripture in which the word tapptiach
occurs. The Jews use the citron fruit at the present



TAPPXjTACH. 127

day at the Feast of Tabernacles. This is done from the
idea that the word etz'hadar, translated "boughs of
goodly trees" in Leviticus xxiii. 40, means branches of
the citron-tree, which are thus associated with palm
leaves, branches of thick trees (etz'oiboth), and willows,
in the Feast of Tabernacles.

The marginal reading of " boughs " is " fruit," and
hence some think that citrons were the "goodly fruit" used
along with leaves of palms. This view is taken by many
of the rabbis and by Josephus. The citron is a native
of Media, and is now very common in Palestine. The
flowering branches are regularly used in the services of the
synagogue on account of their sweet odour.

Tristram thinks that the word tapptiach very probably
applies to the apricot, which, though not a native of
Palestine, was early introduced from Armenia, and now
flourishes in Judsea. He says : " Many a time have we
pitched our tents in its shade, and spread our carpets
secure from the rays of the sun. ' I sat down under
his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet
to my taste/ 'The smell of thy nose [shall be] like
tappuach.' There can scarcely be a more deliciously
perfumed fruit than the apricot ; and what fruit can
better fit the epithet of Solomon, 'Apples of gold in
pictures of silver' than this golden fruit, as its branches
bend under the weight in their setting of bright yet
pale foliage ? "

The citron is the produce of Citrus medica (Linn.), and
belongs to the natural order Aurantiacese, or the Orange
family. The apricot is Prunus armeniaca (Linn.), and



128 THORNS AND BRIERS AND BRAMBLES.

belongs to the natural order Rosacese, sub-order Drupi-
ferse. The quince is Pyrus cydonia, and belongs to the
natural order Rosacese, sub-order Pomacese.



THORNS AND BRIERS AND BRAMBLES.

" All the land shall become briers and thorns." ISA. vii. 24.

THE Hebrew words atad, koz, chedek, choach, naazuz, shait,
shamir, sillon, sirim, sirpad, zinnim, and eight others,
have been translated variously "thorns," "briers," and.
"brambles" in the Old Testament ; and the word akantha
is the " thorn " of the New Testament. It is impossible
to say whether or not a particular species of plant was
intended by each of these terms. Most of them apply
generally to thorny plants, of which there are many in
Palestine at the present day. Commentators mention
among the thorny plants of the Holy Land species of
Zizyphus, such as Zizyphus spina-Christi, also Paliurus
aculeatus, Acanthus spinosus, Ononis spinosa, Solanum
spinosum, Tribulus terrestris, Lycium europoeum, and
species of Rhamnus, Centaurea, and Astragalus.

Since man's fall, thorns of all kinds have come up on
the ground, which was cursed (Gen. iii. 18); and God in
chastening Israel often refers to the curse of thorns
Thus Isaiah says, "Upon the land of my people shall
come up thorns and briers " (xxxii. 1 3) ; and Hosea
prophesies that " the thorn and the thistle shall come up
on their altars " (x. 8).

The common bramble occurs in many parts of Palestine.



LOT, OR LADANUM. 129

LOT, OR LADANUM.

(Cistus creticus, Linn.)

THE word lot occurs twice in the Book of Genesis:
" And they sat down to eat bread : and they lifted up
their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeel-
ites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery




L6r, OR LADANUM.

and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt "
(Gen. xxx vii. 25). "And their father Israel said unto
them, If it must be so now, do this ; take of the best
fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the
man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices,
and myrrh, nuts, and almonds " (Gen. xliii. 11). In both
these cases the word lot is translated " myrrh." This is

17



130 STACTE.

a mistake, as myrrh is not a product of Gilead or of any
part of Palestine. The substance referred to seems to
be ladanum, obtained from a species of cistus, and more
especially Cistus creticus. The plant belongs to the
natural order Cistacese, the Rock-rose family. It has a
large rose-coloured flower. The gummy matter which
exudes from the plant is collected and used for its
stimulating qualities.

Cistus villosus (Linn.) and Cistus salvicefolius (Linn.)
are by some considered to be the myrrh referred to in
Genesis xxxvii, 25.

STACTE.

(Hebrew, Nataf.)

"Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum."
Ex. xxx. 34.

THE Hebrew word nataf corresponds with the Greek word
stacte, which is mentioned as one of the ingredients of the
holy incense which Moses was directed to prepare. It is sup-
posed to be the substance called storax, which is procured
from the Styrax officinale of Linnseus. It is a beautiful
shrub, belonging to the natural order Styracacese,the Storax
family. It is a native of Greece, Asia Minor, and Spain.
Its flowers are white and have an orange odour, and the
under side of its leaves is covered with a white down. It
yields a fragrant resin which contains benzoic acid, and is
used as a pectoral remedy. This plant abounds on the
lower hills of Palestine. Tristram says that nothing can
be more beautiful than the appearance of the storax in
March, when covered with a sheet of white blossom,



PINE-TREE. 131



wafting its perfume through the dells of Carmel and
Galilee, where it is the predominant shrub, and contrasts




STACTE.



beautifully with the deep red of the Judas-tree (Cercis
siliquastrum) growing in the same localities. (See also
remarks on Poplar.)



PINE-TREE.

(Hebrew, Tidhar.)

" The glory ot Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and
the box together." ISA. Ix. 13.

THE Hebrew word tidhar has been translated " pine-tree"
in the passage above quoted, and also in Isaiah xli. 19.



132 PINE-TREE.

It must refer to some companion tree on Lebanon ; but
commentators are unable to determine exactly the tree
which is meant. Tristram thinks that the weight of
evidence is in favour of the elm, a species of which
Ulmus campestris (?) grows on Lebanon. We have
already referred to " pine branches," mentioned in Nehe-
miah viii. 15. The Hebrew word thus translated is etz
'shamen, which more properly signifies the oil-tree or
oleaster. (See Oil-tree.)



ANISE OR DILL.

(Peucedanum graveokns, Benth. and Hook., Greek, AnetJwn.)




" Ye tithe mint and anise." MATT, xxiii. 23.

JHE word anethum occurs in Matthew xxiii. 23,
and has been translated " anise." The plant,
however, referred to in this passage seems to
be that known by the name of " dill," Peuce-
danum graveolens of botanists. This plant belongs to the
natural order Umbelliferse. The common dill is a
herbaceous biennial plant, which is a native of the south
of Europe and Egypt, and is also found near Astracan,
Buenos Ayres, and at the Cape of Good Hope. The
name is derived from the old Norse word to dill or
soothe, referring to its carminative qualities in allaying
gripes. It is one of the garden plants of which the
Pharisees were in the habit of paying tithes. The plant
is aromatic. It resembles fennel, and has finely divided
leaves, which are used in pickles and soups. Pliny
mentions it as a condiment (xix. 61, xx. 75). It is used
also medicinally as a carminative in the form of distilled
water of dill. The fruit yields a pale yellow oil, having
a pungent odour, and an acrid, sweetish taste.



134 ANISE OR DILL.

The true anise, Pimpinella anisum, has similar prop-
erties, and is also cultivated in Europe. The tithe of
dill paid most punctually by the Pharisees in this and
in other instances, was in conformity with the letter of




ANISE (Peucedanum graveolens.)

the law, but they neglected more important matters.
These they ought to have done, and not leave the other
undone (Luke xi. 42).



BEANS.

(Viciafaba, Linn.; Hebrew, Pol; Greek, Cyamos: Latin, Fdba
vulgaris. )




" Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and
millet, and fitches." EZEK. iv. 9.

[HE common bean is the Vicia faba of Lin-
naeus, and occurs under the name of pol in
the Hebrew. The plant belongs to the
natural order Leguminosse, and the sub-order
Papilionacese.

Beans are mentioned twice in Scripture: in 2 Samuel
xvii. 28, where they are mentioned among the articles
of food brought to David by Barzillai and others; and
in Ezekiel iv. 9, where the prophet is directed to take
beans along with other vegetable products to make
bread.

Beans ripen in Palestine at the time of the wheat
harvest. Their flowers give off a fragrant perfume, and
they are remarkable for the dark brown, almost black
colour, seen on two of their petals.

Beans are mentioned by Theophrastus, the Greek
philosopher and naturalist. The author of the " Scrip-



136 BEANS.



ture Garden Walk " says : " The meal of the bean was
thought to stupify the senses and disturb the rest ;
certain characters also indicating heaviness and death
were thought to be seen in its flowers. The Eoman




BEAKS. (Vicia /aba.)

tables were furnished with it at funerals and obsequies
of the dead."

Beans are used as food by the poor, who knead the
meal made from this with flour to make coarse bread.



SWEET CANE.

(Andropogon calamus-aromaticus, Royle.)




" The sweet cane from a far country." JEB. vi. 20.

I HE Hebrew words kaneh-bosem and kaneh-
hattob, meaning reed of fragrance and fra-
grant reed, are translated " sweet cane" in our
version of the Bible. The word kaneh is
applied generally to a reed, and seems to be equivalent
to the Latin canna, as well as to the Greek calamos,
whence the name "culm" applied to stems of grasses.
This sweet cane (Isa. xliii. 24) was an aromatic reed-
like plant, remarkable for its fragrance, and imported
from a far country (Jer. vi. 20). It is called " calamus"
in Ezek. xxvii. 19, and "sweet calamus" in Ex. xxx.
23, and was used in compounding the holy ointment.
Solomon mentions " calamus [roosa of India] and cinna-
mon, with all trees of frankincense" (Song of Sol. iv. 14).
In the flourishing days of Tyrus, her merchants imported
calamus. After examining the statements of Dioscorides
and other ancient authors, Royle concluded that the
sweet cane was an aromatic grass which he has called
Andropogon calamus-aromaticus. It is a native of

18



138 SWEET CANE.

India, where it is used in ointments and frankincense.
It yields a fragrant oil called kuskuss, or roosa oil, or
grass-oil. Koyle states that the plant is found in
Central India, that it extends as far north as Delhi, and
as far south as between the Godavery and Nagpore,
where it is called spear-grass. Another species, A.
schoenanthus, is the lemon-grass or ginger-grass, which




SWEET CANE .. (Andropogon calamiis-aromaticus )

some think to be the sweet cane of Scripture. It yields
a fragrant oil. A. citronum supplies the perfume
called citronelle ; while A. muricatus furnishes kum-kus
oil, which is used as medicine in India. All these canes
are thus more or less sweet as regards their fragrance.
They belong to the natural order Graminese (Grasses).



CORIANDER.

(Coriandrum sativum, Linn.)




And the manna was as coriander seed." NUM. xi. 7.

]HE Hebrew word gad occurs in two passages
of Scripture, Ex. xvi. 31, and Num. xi. 7,-
and has been translated " coriander." In both
places the word is used to describe the
manna, which was white and round like gad. There
seems to be good reason for believing that the transla-
tion of the word is correctly given, and that the round
fruit of the coriander is referred to. Coriandrum
sativum is an annual plant, belonging to the natural
order Umbellif erse. The plant is about two feet high ;
its flowers are small and white, and are produced in
umbels; and the fruit (often erroneously called seed)
consists of two hemispherical carpels, which are so com-
bined as to form a little ball or globe of the size of a
pepper-corn. Each of these balls contains two seeds.
The plant is very common in the south of Europe, and
it grows also in India and other Eastern countries. It
is cultivated in Britain on account of its seeds and fruit,



140 CORIANDER.

which are used by confectioners, druggists, and distillers.
About fifteen tons of the fruit are annually imported
from Germany. The leaves are used as a salad. The
Greek name of the plant is korion or koriannon,
whence the English name coriander. The fruit has an
aromatic taste and smell, and yields by distillation a
volatile oil, to which its properties are due.




CORIANDER. (Coriandrum sativum.)

Man, or manna, rendered " manna" in the Bible, is
the name applied to the food with which God fed the
Israelites in the desert (Deut. viii. 3 ; Neh. ix. 20 ; Ps.
Ixxviii. 24; John vi. 31, 49, 58; Heb. ix. 4). The
food was miraculously brought to the encampment. We
know nothing about it except that it was in small round



CORIANDEE. 141

grains like coriander seed or fruit (Ex. xvi. 31 ;
Num. xi. 7), and that it tasted like wafers and honey.
Some authors have supposed that there are similar sub-
stances produced by plants at this day in the East, and
which are now called manna. Among these are reckoned
exudations from Tainarix gallica, French tamarisk, and
Alhagi niaurorum, or camels' thorn. Royle remarks,
" None of these mannas explain nor can it be expected
that they should explain the miracle of Scripture by
which abundance of manna is stated to have been pro-
duced for millions in a country where hundreds cannot
now obtain subsistence."



CORN.




" He will also bless thy corn and thy wine." DEUT. vii. 13.

HERE are various Hebrew words translated
" corn." Among these are bar, dagan, kamah,
and shibboleth, the latter meaning an ear of




WHEAT, BARLEY, AND EYE.



corn (Gen. xli. 5; Ruth ii. 2). The ordinary cultivated
grains in Palestine were wheat, barley, and " spelt "
(translated rye).



CUMMIN.

(Cuminum cyminum, Linn. )




" Ye tithe mint, and anise, and cummin." MATT, xxiii. 23.

]N Matthew xxiii. 23 a plant is mentioned,
under the Greek name of cuminon, as being
tithed by the Pharisees ; and in Isaiah xxviii.
25, 27 the Hebrew word cummin or Jcammon occurs.
Both seem to refer to the plant called cummin at the
present day, the Cuminum cyminum of botanists. The
plant belongs to the natural order Umbellifene. It is
an annual plant, bearing whitish or reddish flowers, and
yielding an aromatic fruit. What are commonly called
cummin-seeds are really single-seeded fruits. They con-
tain a fragrant volatile oil. The plant is said to be a
native of Upper Egypt and Ethiopia, but it is cultivated
in Eastern countries and also in the south of Europe,
and its fruit is used as a medicine and a condiment.
Britain receives its supply of cummin chiefly from Malta
and Sicily.

Isaiah mentions the cultivation of cummin in ancient
times : " When he [the ploughman] hath made plain the



144 CUMMIN.

face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and
scatter the cummin?" (Isa. xxviii. 25.) And he alludes
to the mode in which the fruit was reaped when he
says: " For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing
instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned upon the
cummin ; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and
the cummin with a rod" (Isa. xxviii. 27). This mode




CUMMIN (Cuminum cyminum.)

of preparation is required in the case of cummin, the
fruit of which is easily separated by a light shake;
but if bruised by a wheel, it would be injured, inas-
much as the oil, to which it owes its properties, would
be pressed out. The scribes and Pharisees were con-
demned by our Lord because, while they paid tithe of



CUMMIN. 145

cummin, they neglected the weightier matters of the law,
-judgment, mercy, and faith. The formal offering was
made, but there was no life-giving spirit.

It is said that in nations where the rite of circum-
cision was practised, bruised cummin fruit mixed with
wine was used as a styptic after the operation.

In 1870 there were imported into Britain 2,385 cwts.
of cummin fruits.



19



FITCHES.

(Nigdla sativa, Linn.)




The fitches are beaten out with a staff." ISA. xxviii. 27.

| HE words ketzach, kezach, and ketzdh, or
quetsah, occur in the books of the prophets
Isaiah and Ezekiel, and have been translated
" fitches." These fitches, or vetches, appear to
have been sown like other grain, and Isaiah alludes to
them in speaking of the different occupations of the
husbandman. Thus he says : " Doth the plowman
plow all day to sow ? doth he open and break the
clods of his ground ? When he hath made plain the
face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and
scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat
[that is, the wheat in the principal place] and the
appointed barley [that is, barley in the appointed place]
and the rye in their place?" (Isa. xxviii. 24, 25.)
Reference is here made to the appointed season of hus-
bandry and the variety of the operations carried on; and
thus the Lord calls the attention of his people to his
different modes of dealing with them.



FITCHES.



147



In Ezekiel iv. 9 there occurs the word cussemeth,
which has been translated " fitches" in place of spelt.

There is some difficulty in ascertaining what plant is
meant by the term " fitches." Some have referred it to
the common vetch (Vicia sativa) ; but this does not
seem to be correct.

In the Septuagint the name melanthia is given,




FITCHES (Nigella sativa.)

derived in part from the word melas, " black." The name
is considered as referring to a plant with black seed ;
and after careful comparison of names, Royle and other
authorities have concluded that the plant is the Nigella
sativa of botanists. The vulgar name of kezach is stated
to be nielle, that is, nigelle. This plant is called



148 FITCHES.

melanospermum, or " black seed," by the Greeks ; and its
Arabic name means the same thing, while the Latin,
nigella, also indicates blackness. By old Latin authors
the plant was called git or gith, and it is referred to by
Pliny (lib. xx. cap. 17). The plant is commonly cultivated
in the East. Its seeds have aromatic qualities, and
were used like pepper as a condiment with food. Hence
they are mentioned with other aromatic and carminative
plants, such as cummin and anise. They are sometimes
called black cummin. Dioscorides and Pliny refer to
their use in bread.

The seeds are easily beaten out of the seed-vessel ;
and allusion is made to this in Isaiah xxviii. 27, where
the prophet says, "The fitches are beaten out with a
staff;" whereas the cummin required a rod.

The genus Nigella receives the English name of fennel-
flower, from its leaves resembling those of fennel. It
belongs to the natural order Ranunculacese or Crowfoots,
and the Hellebore section of that family. There are
ten known species. They are erect, annual, herbaceous
plants, found in the Mediterranean region as well as in
Western Asia. Their flowers are solitary at the tops of
the stems or branches, and they are of a whitish blue or
yellow colour. They have a coloured calyx, small petals,
acrid aromatic seeds, and finely-cut leaves. Their seed-
vessel consists of numerous carpels, more or less united
together, and opening on the inner side so as to scatter
the seeds.



FLAX.

(Linum usitatissimum, Linn,)




" Smoking flax shall he not quench.' Is A. xlii, 3 ; MATT. xii. 20.

(HE Hebrew word pishtah has been proved to
mean the flax or lint plant. It is the Linum
usitatissimum of botanists, and the linon of
the Greeks. The plant belongs to the
natural order Linacese, the Flax family. The species are
herbs or under-shrubs, with narrow undivided leaves, and
blue, red, or white flowers, arranged in racemes or
clusters. The number five prevails in the genus. Thus
the plants have five sepals, five petals, five perfect and
five abortive stamens, and five or ten divisions of their
seed-vessel. There are about eighty known species
found in the temperate and warm or intertropical
regions of the Old and New Worlds, and a few in the
tropical parts of South America.

The cultivated flax plant has a blue flower. It yields
fibres which are used in the manufacture of linen. Its
seeds yield oil ; and the substance left, after the oil has