<f^?>^^tXSCHOOL. 
 
 ,HEAD MASTER 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
tt 
 
 V 
 
THE PLANTS OF THE BIBLE. 
 
ARBOUR COVERED WITH A GOURD. 
 
 Page 2fj. 
 
THE PLANTS OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 THE GRAPE VINE. 
 
 Page 103. 
 
 THOMAS NELSON AND SONS, 
 
 LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK. 
 
PLANTS OF 
 THE BIBLE 
 
 By 
 
 JOHN HUTTON BALFOUR, MA., M.D., 
 
 F.R.S.S.L. & ., F.L.S., F.R.C.S.E. 
 
 T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YORK. 
 1885. 
 
EVERYTHING mentioned in the Bible is worthy of our attentive 
 consideration. The very words of the original text, written by 
 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, call for diligent study ; and 
 the more we examine them in dependence on the aid of that 
 Spirit, the more light do we find shining upon them. The 
 student of God's Word cannot search too deeply or too minutely 
 into its hidden treasures. The most learned linguist finds here 
 ample scope for all his lore, and the accomplished naturalist 
 may bring to bear upon this work all the resources of science. 
 
 In the Sacred Writings there are frequent allusions made to 
 the Vegetable Kingdom. Our blessed Saviour drew beautiful 
 illustrations from plants, and he calls upon us to consider the 
 lilies of the field. While plants, like the other works of the 
 Almighty Creator, are well worthy of study, they are especially 
 so when we view them in connection with Scripture. In order 
 to see fully the lesson which is to be taught, it is necessary that 
 we should be acquainted with the plant to which reference is 
 made. Want of knowledge in this respect has hid much of the 
 beauty and force of many a parable. 
 
 At the time when our excellent English version was made, 
 there was comparatively little known in regard to the plants 
 of Palestine, and hence the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek 
 names was often doubtfully given. As the science of Botany 
 has advanced, and more particularly as the knowledge of the 
 Flora of the East has increased, additional light has been thrown 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 on the plants noticed in the Bible. Celsius, Kosenmiiller, Royle, 
 and many others, have done much to elucidate Scripture Botany ; 
 and although there are still many difficulties in the way of a 
 complete Bible Flora, still there has been a great advance in 
 this department of Biblical learning. It has been thought that 
 such a work as the present might be useful in calling attention 
 to this important subject, and in inducing those who may visit 
 Palestine to turn their powers of observation to useful account. 
 It is to be regretted that, of the numerous visitors to the Holy 
 Land in recent times, few have turned their thoughts in this 
 direction, and that thus many valuable opportunities for ac- 
 quiring botanical information have been lost. The Botany of 
 the Bible can be fully worked out only by those who travel in 
 Eastern countries, and who are acquainted with Hebrew, Syriac, 
 Arabic, and other cognate languages. A great deal of valuable 
 information may be gathered on the spot, which cannot be other- 
 wise obtained. Let us hope that, ere long, travellers will have 
 greater facilities for prosecuting with safety their researches in 
 that interesting, although now deserted, land ; and that some 
 botanist may soon arise who will be able to write with scientific 
 accuracy on all the Scripture plants, from the Cedar on Lebanon 
 even to the Hyssop that groweth out of the wall. 
 
 NOTE BY THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
 Dr. Balfour died while this book was passing through the 
 press. The whole of it had passed under his eye in proof sheet 
 before his death. To the last he continued to take great in- 
 terest in it, as representing a union of the two departments of 
 study which had chiefly occupied his life. The little book will 
 have a special interest for his friends, as the revision of these 
 pages was the last literary work in which their author engaged. 
 
 PARKSIDE, EDINBURGH, 
 January 1885. 
 
@fmt tents. 
 
 ALMOND-TREE (Amygdalus communis; Prunus amygdalus) 9 
 
 BOX-TREE (Boxus sempervirens) 14 
 
 BAY-TREE (Laurus nobilis) 18 
 
 CEDAR-TREE OF LEBANON (Cedrus Libani) 21 
 
 HEATH-TREE SAVIN (Juniperus Sabina) 28 
 
 CINNAMON-TREE AND CASSIA-TREE (Cinnamomum zeylanicum; and C. Cassia) ... 30 
 
 FIR-TREE (Cupressus sempervirens) 34 
 
 FIG-TREE (Ficus Carica) 40 
 
 HYSSOP (Capparis spinosa; Caper plant and its variety, Capparis cegyptiaca) 44 
 
 ASPEN, OR TREMBLING POPLAR (Populus tremula) 48 
 
 OAK-TREE (Quercus JEgilcps) 51 
 
 MUSTARD-TREE (Salvadora persica; Sinapis nigra) 57 
 
 MYRTLE-TREE (Myrtus communis) 62 
 
 OLIVE-TREE (Olea europcea) 65 
 
 OIL-TREE (Elceagnus angustifolia) 70 
 
 PALM-TREE (Phoenix dactylifera) 72 
 
 POMEGRANATE-TREE (Punica Granatum) 77 
 
 SHITTAH-TREE (Acacia Seyal) 80 
 
 SYCOMORE-TREE (Ficus sycomorus) 85 
 
 TEIL-TREE, OR TEREBINTH- TREE (Pistacia Terebinthus) 89 
 
 HUSK-TREE (Ceratonia Siliqua) 93 
 
 PLANE-TREE (Platanus orientalis) 97 
 
 NUTS (Juglans regia; Pistacia vera) 100 
 
 VINE (Vitis vinifera) 103 
 
 WILLOW-TREE (Salix babylonica) 108 
 
 CAMPHIRE (Lawsonia inermis) 113 
 
 ALMUG OR ALGUM TREE (Santalum album; Pterocarpus santalinus) 115 
 
 ALOES-TREE, OR LIGN-ALOES TREE (Aquilaria Agallochum) 116 
 
 ASH-TREE 117 
 
 EBONY-TREE (Diospyros ebcnus) 117 
 
 JUNIPER-BUSH (Genista monosperma) 119 
 
 POPLAR (Populus alba) 120 
 
 MYRRH-TREE (Balsamodendron Myrrha). 121 
 
 ESHEL (Tamarix orientalis) 122 
 
 THYINE-WOOD (Xylon thyinum) 124 
 
 APPLE-TREE (Pyrus malus) 126 
 
 THORNS AND BRIERS AND BRAMBLES 128 
 
 LOT, OR LADANUM (Cistus creticus) 129 
 
viil CONTENTS. 
 
 STACTE (Nataf) 130 
 
 PINE-TREE (Tidhar) 131 
 
 ANISE OB DILL (Peucedanum graveolens; Anethon) 133 
 
 BEANS (Viciafaba; Pol ; Cyamos; Fdba vulgaris) 135 
 
 SWEET CANE (Andropogon calamus-aromaticus) 137 
 
 CORIANDER (Coriandrum sativum) 139 
 
 CORN , 142 
 
 CUMMIN (Cuminum cyminum) 143 
 
 FITCHES (Nigella sativa) 146 
 
 FLAX (Linum usitatissimum).. 149 
 
 FRANKINCENSE (Boswellia thurifera) 154 
 
 GALBANUM (Polylophium officinale) 156 
 
 WILD GOURD (Citrullus colocynthis) 158 
 
 HEMP (Cannabis sativa) 162 
 
 SAFFRON (Crocus sativus) 165 
 
 LENTILES (Ervum lens) 167 
 
 RUE (Ruta graveolens) 170 
 
 MINT (Mentlia sylvestris). 173 
 
 ROSE (Narcissus tazetta) 175 
 
 MILLET (Panicum miliaceum) 178 
 
 TARES (Lolium temulentum) 180 
 
 LILY OLD TESTAMENT (Nymphcea lotus) 183 
 
 LILY NEW TESTAMENT (Anemone coronaria) 187 
 
 MELON (Cucumis melo) 191 
 
 NETTLE (Urtica urens) 194 
 
 GARLIC (Allium sativum). 197 
 
 GRASS 198 
 
 LEEK (Allium porrum) 200 
 
 ONION (Allium cepa). 202 
 
 WHEAT (Triticum sativum; var. compositum) 204 
 
 SPELT (Triticum spelta) 209 
 
 BARLEY (Hordeum distichon) 211 
 
 COCKLE (Baoshati) 214 
 
 GOURD (Ricinus communis ; Cucurbita pepo). 215 
 
 CUCUMBER (Ciicumis sativus) 219 
 
 BULRUSH AND RUSH (Papyrus antiquorum) 222 
 
 SPIKENARD (Nardostachys jatamansi) 226 
 
 COTTON (Gossypium herbaceum). 229 
 
 REED (Arundo donax) 233 
 
 FLAG {Cyperus esculentus) 235 
 
 DOVE'S DUNG (Ornithogalum umbellatum) 237 
 
 MANDRAKE (Atropa mandragora; Mandragora officinalis) 239 
 
 THISTLE (Tribulus terrestris) 242 
 
 HEMLOCK 244 
 
 WORMWOOD 246 
 
 BITTER HERBS 247 
 
 CONCLUSION. ... .248 
 
THE PLANTS OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 ALMOND-TREE. 
 
 (Amygdalus cornmunis, Linn.; Prunus amygdalus, Stokes.) 
 
 The almond tree shall flourish." ECCLES. xii. 5. 
 
 | HE almond-tree is the Amygdalus communis 
 of botanists. It is referred to in Scripture 
 under the Hebrew name of shaked, apparently 
 derived from the word shakad, meaning haste 
 or waking early, with reference to its early blossoming. 
 The Hebrew word luz (from the Arabic louz), which 
 occurs in Genesis xxx. 37, and which has been translated 
 "hazel," is considered to be another name for the almond. 
 Luz is supposed to refer to the tree, and shaked to the 
 fruit of the almond. Rosenmuller thinks that the 
 former name designates the wild tree, and the latter 
 the cultivated one. The tree belongs to the natural 
 order Rosacese, the Rose family. It is included under 
 the section (sub-order) Amygdalae or Drupiferse of that 
 family, distinguished by the nature of the fruit, which 
 
 2 
 
10 ALMOND-TREE. 
 
 has a kernel, enclosed in a shell or stone, as it is called, 
 and surrounded by a more or less succulent covering. 
 In this section are included also the peach, the nec- 
 tarine, the apricot, the plum, and the cherry. The leaves 
 of the tree are long and narrow, with an acute point 
 
 BRANCH OF ALMOND-TREE. 
 
 and saw-like margin. The tree is a native of Asia and 
 Barbary. It is cultivated extensively in the south of 
 Europe, and is also met with in gardens in Britain. 
 It was probably not a native of Egypt; for Jacob, 
 when sending his sons to that country, told them to 
 take almonds (shaJcedim) as a present to Joseph (Gen. 
 xliii. 11). The tree appears also to have continued to 
 
ALMOND-TREE. 
 
 11 
 
 produce fruit during the period of famine in the land of 
 Canaan. 
 
 The almond-tree blossoms very early in the season. 
 Kitto mentions it among the trees of Palestine that 
 flower in January. The flowers are of a pinkish colour, 
 
 -~~^^:^<&**&*e 
 
 Amox-D-TREE.(Amygdaluscommunis.') 
 
 and are produced before the leaves, and are therefore very 
 conspicuous. This hastening of the period of flowering 
 seems to be alluded to in Jeremiah i. 11, 12 "What 
 seest thou ? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree 
 [shaked]. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well 
 seen : for I will hasten [shaked] my word to perform it." 
 
12 ALMOND-TREE. 
 
 In Ecclesiastes xii. 5, it is said, " The almond tree 
 shall flourish." This has often been supposed to refer 
 to the resemblance between the flowers of the almond 
 and the hoary locks of old age. But this interpretation 
 is not borne out by an examination of the blossom of 
 the almond, which is pinkish, and not pure white. The 
 passage rather appears to refer to the hastening of old 
 age. As the almond -tree ushers in spring, so do the 
 signs referred to in the context indicate the coming of 
 old age and death. In both passages the tree is taken 
 as denoting the speedy approach of marked epochs or 
 events. 
 
 The almond-tree was associated in the minds of the 
 children of Israel with the choosing of the house of 
 Levi for the service of the tabernacle. Moses, we are 
 told in Numbers xvii., laid up the twelve rods of the 
 princes of Israel before the Lord, in the tabernacle of 
 witness ; and on the morrow the rod of Aaron, which 
 represented the house of Levi, brought forth buds and 
 blossoms, and yielded almonds. Thus the Lord made to 
 cease the murmurings of the children of Israel against 
 Moses. This rod was deposited, as a memorial, in the 
 ark of the covenant (Heb. ix. 4). 
 
 In Northern Europe almonds are mentioned about the 
 middle of the second century before Christ. They 
 were produced largely in the islands of the Greek 
 Archipelago. The Knights Templars in Cyprus levied 
 tithes of almonds in 1411. In medieval cookery the 
 consumption of almonds was very great. 
 
 The fruit of the almond was used to furnish a model 
 
ALMOND-TREE. 13 
 
 for certain kinds of ornamental carved-work. Thus, in 
 speaking of the candlestick in the tabernacle, Moses 
 says that its bowls were made like unto almonds (Exod. 
 xxv. 33, 34; xxxvii. 19, 20). Pieces of crystal called 
 " almonds " are still used by manufacturers in the 
 adorning of cut-glass chandeliers. The kernel of the 
 almond is used for food, and for supplying oil. There 
 are two varieties of the tree, one yielding sweet and the 
 other bitter almonds. These two varieties are very like 
 each other, and can scarcely be distinguished at first 
 sight. Sweet almonds (Amygdalus communis, variety 
 dulcis) contain a fixed oil and emulsine; while bitter 
 almonds (Amygdalus communis, variety amara) contain, 
 in addition, a nitrogenous substance called amygdaline, 
 which, by combination with emulsine, produces a volatile 
 oil and prussic acid. Bitter almonds, when eaten in 
 small quantity, sometimes produce nettle-rash, and when 
 taken in large quantity they may cause poisoning. 
 
 Let the almond-tree be the means of calling our 
 attention to the hasting of God's Word, so that we may 
 be ready, having our loins girt and our lamps burning, 
 when the Lord comes. 
 
 In the figures a representation is given of the almond- 
 tree, and of its blossoms and fruit. 
 
 Almonds of all kinds imported into the United 
 Kingdom are reported as follows : 
 
 Cwts. 
 
 1876 77,196 
 
 1877 60,547 
 
 1878 58,360 
 
 1879 46,319 
 
 1880 86,763 
 
BOX-TREE. 
 
 (Buxus sempervirens, Linn.) 
 
 " I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box-tree 
 together." ISA. xli. 19. 
 
 ]HE box- tree is the Buxus sempervirens of 
 botanists. According to some the Palestine 
 plant differs from the common box in the 
 form and size of its leaves. It is mentioned 
 in the Bible under the Hebrew name of teasshur. The 
 tree belongs to the natural order Euphorbiacese, the 
 Spurgewort family. The plants of this order have 
 peculiar involucrate flowers, often without any perianth, 
 and their fruit is usually composed of three carpels, 
 which separate in an elastic manner when ripe. They 
 abound in milky juice, which has in general acrid and 
 poisonous qualities. Starch, as well as oils and caout- 
 chouc, are procured from many of the species. 
 
 The box is a native of most parts of Europe, and 
 grows well in England, as at Boxhill, in Surrey. It is 
 prized as an ornamental evergreen ; and in a dwarf state 
 is used for garden borders. Its wood, imported from 
 
BOX-TREE. 
 
 15 
 
 the Levant, is used by the wood-engraver, the turner, 
 the mathematical instrument maker, the comb and toy 
 maker, and others. The wood is hard and durable, and 
 was formerly made into tablets which were covered with 
 wax and used for writing. The practice of inlaying 
 
 BOX-TEEE. (Buxus sempervireiis.') 
 
 box-wood with ivory is noticed by ancient authors. 
 Thus Virgil says : 
 
 " Aut collo decus, aut capiti; vel quale per artem 
 Inclusum buxo, aut Oricia' terebintho, 
 Lucet ebur." ^Eneid, x. 135. 
 
 [An ornament, either for the neck or for the head ; or as shines the ivory 
 by art enchased in boxwood or Orician ebony.] 
 
 The prophet Isaiah refers to the box as one of the 
 
16 BOX-TREE. 
 
 trees fitted to beautify the wilderness and the desert: " I 
 will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree 
 [Acacia Seyal], the myrtle, and the oil tree [olive tree] ; 
 I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine, and the 
 box tree together " (xli. 19). Again, in referring to the 
 glory of the latter days, he speaks of the box as adorning 
 the Lord's temple : " The glory of Lebanon shall come 
 unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, 
 to beautify the place of my sanctuary " (Ix. 13). Eoyle 
 says : " The box-tree, being a native of mountainous 
 regions, was peculiarly adapted to the calcareous forma- 
 tions of Mount Lebanon, and therefore likely to be 
 brought from thence with the coniferous woods for the 
 building of the temple; and it was well suited to change 
 the face of the desert." The prophet's prediction, how- 
 ever, seems to have reference to the trees of righteous- 
 ness, the planting of the Lord (Ixi. 3), and to bring 
 before us the members of Christ's true Church, differing 
 in many particulars, but all enjoying sweet communion, 
 and worshipping the Lord together. 
 
 The prophet Ezekiel (xxvii. 6), when describing the 
 commerce of Tyre, uses the word ashur, which, by most 
 , commentators, is supposed to be a contraction of teasshur, 
 or box. The translation of the passage should probably 
 be " Of the oaks of Bashan have they made their oars; 
 the benches of the rowers have they made of ashur-wood 
 [box- wood], inlaid with ivory, brought out of the isles of 
 Chittim [the isles of Greece]." Thus, in place of Ashur- 
 ites, as in our Authorized Version, the word ashur-iuood 
 ought to be substituted. It is conjectured that Corsica 
 
BOX-TREE. 17 
 
 and Sardinia may have been included among the isles of 
 Chittim whence box-wood was brought to Judea. Pliny 
 and Theophrastus mention that Corsica was famous for 
 its box-trees. Another species, called Buxus balearica, 
 Turkey-box, is found in the Balearic Isles. Its wood is 
 also much used. 
 
 By some the teasshur has been confounded with the 
 sherbin, which is in reality a species of juniper (Juniperus 
 phcenicea), found on Lebanon, and sometimes erroneously 
 called cedar. By some the Palestine-box is thought to be 
 a small species or variety named Buxus tenuifolia, with 
 more slender leaves. 
 
BAY-TREE. 
 
 (Laurus nobilis, Linn.) 
 
 " Spreading like a green bay tree." Ps. xxxvii. 35. 
 
 (HE plant called bay-tree in the Bible is sup- 
 posed to be the sweet-bay, the Laurus 
 nobilis of botanists. It belongs to the 
 natural order Laurinese, the Laurel family. 
 The laurels are aromatic and fragrant plants, yielding 
 fixed and volatile oils, as well as camphor. They have 
 dotted leaves; stamens partly fertile and partly abortive, 
 the former having anthers opening by valves; and their 
 fruit is a berry or drupe. The sweet-bay the ezracli 
 of the Hebrew is an evergreen tree, attaining the height 
 of twenty or thirty feet, common in the south of Europe, 
 and found also in Palestine. At the present day it is 
 said to luxuriate in the old gardens of Tyre and Sidon, 
 and beside some forgotten towers and deserted wine- 
 presses in the Holy Land. 
 
 The tree yields a green oil, denominated oil of bays. 
 Its branches were used for crowning the victors in the 
 ancient games of Greece and Rome, .as well as for 
 decorating the brow of the poet. 
 
BAY-TJREE. 
 
 19 
 
 This and the other species of true laurel must not be 
 confounded with the plants commonly called laurels in 
 gardens. The latter consist of the cherry laurel and the 
 Portugal laurel, which belong to a totally different order 
 of plants namely, to the same section of the rose 
 family as the almond and the plum. The ratafia odour 
 
 BAY-TREE. (Laurus nobilis.') 
 
 emitted by the bruised leaves of these garden laurels is 
 very different from the aromatic perfume given out by 
 the sweet-bay leaves. The cherry-laurel water furnished 
 by the large-leaved bay-laurel contains prussic acid, and 
 has consequently poisonous qualities. In this respect 
 the plant resembles the bitter almond. Another garden 
 plant, denominated Laurustinus, must also be distin- 
 
20 BAY-TREE. 
 
 guished from the sweet-bay ; it is the Viburnum Tinus 
 of botanists, and belongs to the natural order Capri- 
 foliacece. 
 
 The psalmist, in Psalm xxxvii. 35, thus alludes to the 
 laurel now under consideration : " I have seen the 
 wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a 
 green bay tree." The vigour and beauty of the tree 
 made it a fit emblem of prosperity; and its association 
 with the fame of the victor and the poet suggested the 
 idea of the honour which cometh from man. 
 
 Royle says : " The cause why the laurel is not more 
 frequently mentioned in Scripture is probably because it 
 was never very common in Palestine; as otherwise, from 
 its pleasing appearance, grateful shade, and the agreeable 
 odour of its leaves, it could hardly have failed to attract 
 attention." In the neighbourhood of Antioch the tree is 
 said to be abundant. Hasselquist suggests that the rose- 
 bay, the Nerium Oleander of botanists, might be the 
 plant referred to by the psalmist. It grows by the 
 sides of streams in some parts of Judea, and is con- 
 spicuous alike for its foliage as for its showy flowers. 
 The perfume of the oleanders around the Lake of Tiberias 
 has attracted the notice of travellers. Koyle and others 
 think that the oleander is the rJwdon, or rose, of the 
 Apocrypha. 
 
 Some commentators suppose that the term ezrach 
 applies to a tree grown in its native soil, and not to any 
 special tree, such as the bay. 
 
CEDAK-TREE OF LEBANON. 
 
 (Cedrus Libani, Linn. ) 
 
 " The boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars." Ps. Ixxx. 10. 
 
 ]HE cedar-tree of Lebanon is noticed in the 
 Bible under the Hebrew name of eres or 
 ceres. It is probable, however, that this 
 name was also applied to other allied plants. 
 The Arabs call the tree arz or ars. It is the Cedrus 
 Libani of botanists, and belongs to the natural order 
 Coniferse, the Cone-bearing family, in which it is associ- 
 ated with the pines, firs, spruces, and larches. 
 
 In early times, the cedar appears to have grown abun- 
 dantly on Lebanon, and to have proved its distinguishing 
 feature. Hence it was called " the glory of Lebanon " 
 (Isa. xxxv. 2 ; Ix. 13). In various passages of the Old 
 Testament, we read of the cedars of Lebanon sent by 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, for the building of David's house, 
 of the temple at Jerusalem, and of Solomon's house (2 
 Sam. v. 11, vii. 2, 7 ; 1 Kings v. 6, 8, 10, vi. 9, 10, 
 15, 16, 18, 20, vii. 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, ix. 11; 1 Chron. 
 xvii. 6 ; 2 Chron. ii. 8). Beams, boards, pillars, walls, 
 
22 CEDAR-TREE OF LEBANON. 
 
 floor, ceiling, throne, and altar of cedar are mentioned. 
 This timber was employed in consequence of its superior 
 quality. It is stated that Solomon " made cedars to be 
 as the sycomore trees [sycomore fig-trees] that are in the 
 vale [or in the low plains], for abundance" (1 Kings x. 27; 
 2 Chron. ix. 27). Travellers tell us that there are 
 
 CEDAR CONES. 
 
 still numerous cedars on Lebanon. There are at least 
 nine distinct localities, containing many thousand trees 
 and numerous saplings. Sir J. D. Hooker says that 
 " cedars are found on the mountains of Algeria, on the 
 whole range of Taurus, and in the Kedesha valley of 
 Lebanon. In the Kedesha valley the number of trees is 
 about four hundred. They are of various sizes, from 
 about eighteen inches to upwards of forty feet in girth." 
 He calculates the age of the Kedesha cedars at eight hun- 
 dred years. 
 
 Robinson says : " Cedars of Lebanon, still called arz, 
 stand mostly on four small contiguous rocky knolls, within 
 a compass of less than forty rods in diameter. They 
 
CEDAR-TREE OF LEBANON. 23 
 
 form a thick forest without underbrush. The older 
 trees have each several trunks, and thus spread them- 
 selves widely around." Some of the older trees are 
 much broken, and will soon be destroyed. 
 
 Burckhardt, in 1810, says of this spot : " Of the oldest 
 and best-looking trees I counted eleven or twelve, 
 twenty-five very large ones, about fifty of middling size, 
 and more than three hundred smaller and young ones. 
 In 1843 Dr. Wilson counted twelve of the ancient 
 trees not standing together, and of the younger growth 
 three hundred and twenty-five." (Lands of the Bible, 
 ii. 389.) 
 
 In 1853 Bitter numbers four hundred in all, of which 
 twelve are spoken of as the largest. 
 
 During the last three centuries the number of the 
 older trees has diminished by about one-half. 
 
 In 1550 Belon counted twenty-eight; in 1556 Fiiren 
 counted twenty-five; in 1575 Rauwolf counted twenty- 
 four, and two others the boughs of which were broken 
 off by age ; in 1596 Dandini counted twenty- three ; in 
 1632 Roget counted twenty- two ; in 1660 D'Arvieux 
 counted twenty- three ; in 1688 De la Roque counted 
 twenty; in 1696 Maundr ell counted sixteen; in 1738 
 Korte counted eighteen very old and large; in 1739 
 Pococke counted fifteen, and one recently blown down ; 
 in 1755 Schulz counted twenty. (Busching Edbeschr, 
 xi. i. 314.) 
 
 The cedars stand in a magnificent amphitheatre on 
 Lebanon, about 6,400 feet above the level of the sea, with 
 the ridges of the mountains rising two to three thousand 
 
24 CEDAR-TREE OF LEBANON. 
 
 feet above it. The amphitheatre fronts the west, and 
 the snow extends round from south to north. It appears, 
 according to Ehrenberg, that cedars are found on the 
 northern parts of Lebanon also. 
 
 The cedar of Lebanon is a wide-spreading evergreen 
 tree, from fifty to eighty feet in height, with numerous 
 large horizontal branches. Ezekiel, when describing the 
 cedar, speaks of its high stature, " its top among the thick 
 boughs, its multiplied boughs, its long branches, and its 
 shadowing shroud" (Ezek. xxxi. 3-9). The "goodly cedars," 
 or cedars of God, are mentioned in Ps. Ixxx. 10; and 
 "excellent cedars," in Song of Sol. v. 15. Isaiah speaks 
 of the cedars of Lebanon being "high and lifted up" 
 (ii. 13); and of the "tall cedars" (xxxvii. 24). As the 
 branches extended so did the roots, and thus the tree 
 was firmly fixed in the soil, and enabled to withstand 
 the violence of storms. Hence the prophet Hosea says, 
 "He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon" (xiv. 5). 
 The watering of the roots by means of the streams of 
 Lebanon is referred to by Ezekiel in the passage already 
 noticed. The tree was distinguished for its exalted and 
 vigorous growth ; hence it is singled out among those of 
 which Solomon wrote : " He spake of trees, from the 
 cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop 
 [caper-bush] which springe th out of the wall " (1 Kings 
 iv. 33). The righteous are represented as growing like 
 the cedar-trees of Lebanon (Ps. xcii. 12); and Israel like 
 the cedar-trees beside the waters (Num. xxiv. 6). The 
 wood of the cedar is reddish white, and is easily worked. 
 The tree yields a sweet-smelling resin, which is alluded 
 
CEDAR-TREE OF LEBANON. 27 
 
 to in Scripture as " the smell of Lebanon " (Song of Sol. 
 iv. 11 ; Hos. xiv. 6). 
 
 It has been supposed that the cedar-wood mentioned 
 in Leviticus xiv. 4, and Numbers xix. 6, was the produce 
 of a fragrant species of juniper plentiful in the desert, 
 and growing in crevices of Sinai. The cedar-wood used 
 for pencils at the present day is the produce of Juniperus 
 bermudiana, a native of the West Indies. In some 
 heathen countries species of juniper are used as incense 
 on account of their fragrance. Pinus halepensis and 
 Juniperus excelsa grow along with cedars on Lebanon. 
 
 Other cedars are Cedrus deodara of the Himalaya 
 and Cedrus atlantica of the Atlas Mountains. By some 
 the three cedars are supposed to belong to one species. 
 
 Cedar is also mentioned in the following passages : 
 2 Kings xix. 23; Ezra iii. 7; Song of Sol. v. 17, viii. 9; 
 Isa. ix. 10, xiv. 8. xliv. 14; Jer. xxii. 7, 14, 23; Ezek. 
 xvii. 3, 22, 23, xxvii. 5 ; Amos ii. 9 ; Zech. xi. 1, 2. 
 
HEATH-TREE (SAVIN). 
 
 (Juniperus Sabina, Linn.) 
 
 He shall be like the heath in the desert." JEK. xvii. 6. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word arar, translated "heath," 
 occurs in two passages in the Bible Jeremiah 
 xvii. 6, already quoted, and Jeremiah xlviii. 6, 
 where it is said, " Flee, save your lives, and 
 be like the heath in the wilderness." The best authorities 
 refer this to a species of juniper which grows in the 
 rocky parts of the desert, and is called Juniperus Sabina, 
 known as savin. It belongs to the natural order 
 Coniferse, the Cone-bearing family, and the sub-order 
 Cupressinese (cypresses). It is a stunted shrub, which, 
 like the other juniper, bears a succulent cone, and has a 
 strong turpentine flavour. The volatile oil procured 
 from its branches and leaves has dangerous qualities. 
 Dr. Tristram remarks : " Its gloomy, stunted appearance, 
 with its scale-like leaves pressed close to its gnarled 
 stem, and cropped close by the wild goats, as it clings to 
 the rocks about Petra, gives great force to the contrast 
 suggested by the prophet between him that trusteth in 
 
HEATH-TKEE. 
 
 HEATH-TREE. (Juniperus Sabina.) 
 
 man, naked and destitute, and the man that trusteth in 
 the Lord, flourishing as a tree planted by the waters." 
 
CINNAMON-TREE AND CASSIA-TREE. 
 
 (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Breyne; and Cinnamomum Cassia, Bl.) 
 
 " Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense." 
 SONG OF SOL. iv. 14. 
 
 |INNAMON is mentioned in several places in 
 the Old Testament, under the Hebrew name 
 of kinnamon. The plant is Cinnamomum 
 zeylanicum of botanists. It belongs to the 
 natural order Laurinese, the Laurel family. In this 
 order are found many aromatic plants, yielding 
 volatile oils and tonic barks. (See the description of 
 the Say-tree.) The plant grows in India ; and its bark, 
 under the name of cinnamon, is imported at the present 
 day from Ceylon, and also from the Malabar coast, in 
 bales and chests, the bundles weighing about one pound 
 each. It was imported into India by the Phoenicians or 
 the Arabians. It is distinguished from other allied 
 species by its acuminated tricostate leaves, the ribs com- 
 ing into contact at the base, but not uniting. The best 
 cinnamon is procured from branches three years old. 
 The outer bark is of a whitish-gray colour, and is nearly 
 
CINNAMON-TREE AND CASSIA-TREE. 
 
 81 
 
 tasteless, while the inner bark constitutes the cinnamon, 
 which is imported in a quilled form into Britain. Oil 
 of cinnamon is obtained from the bark by distillation, 
 after it has been macerated in sea- water ; and a fatty 
 matter is procured from the fruit by boiling. This fat 
 was used by the Portuguese in making candles. 
 
 CINNAMON-TREE. (Cinnamomum zeylanicum.') 
 
 Cinnamon was highly valued as a spice and perfume. 
 It was one of the principal spices employed in the manu- 
 facture of precious ointment for the tabernacle (Ex. 
 xxx. 2225). Solomon speaks of it also as one of the 
 frankincense plants : " Calamus and cinnamon, with all 
 
32 
 
 CINNAMON-TREE AND CASSIA-TREE. 
 
 trees of frankincense" (Song iv. 14). Its use as a per- 
 fume is referred to in Prov. vii. 17: "I have perfumed 
 my bed with myrrh, aloes [Aquilaria Agallochum], and 
 cinnamon." And the merchandise of it is noticed in the 
 account of the destruction of the Apocalyptic Babylon: 
 
 CASSIA-TREE. (Cinnamomum Cassia.) 
 
 " Cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankin- 
 cense" (Kev. xviii. 13). 
 
 Besides the true cinnamon plant, we must also refer 
 to another species known under the name of cassia. It 
 is mentioned in Scripture as kiddah. It constituted one 
 of the ingredients in the holy ointment already referred 
 to (Ex. xxx. 24) ; and it is -recorded by Ezekiel among 
 
CINNAMON-TREE AND CASSIA-TREE. 33 
 
 the merchandise of Tyre (Ezek. xxvii. 19). The plant 
 referred to in these passages appears to be the Cinna- 
 momum Cassia of botanists, which is distinguished from 
 the Cinnamomum zeylanicum by its oblong-lanceolate 
 triplicostate leaves, the three ribs uniting together for 
 some extent at the base of the leaf. The bark of the 
 tree is known as cassia-bark. It is inferior to cinnamon, 
 being coarser and more pungent, with a certain amount 
 of bitterness. The leaves when chewed have a true 
 cinnamon flavour, while the leaves of Cinnamomum 
 zeylanicum when similarly treated taste like cloves. 
 Cassia-oil and cassia-buds appear to be produced by the 
 same tree. It grows in India and China. 
 
 The word Jcetzioth, translated " cassia," in Ps. xlv. 8, is 
 by Boyle conjectured to mean the costus of the ancients, 
 the boost of the Arabs, and the Aplotaxis auricula of 
 botanists. 
 
FIR-TREE. 
 
 (Cupressus sempervirens, Linn,) 
 
 " I am like a green fir tree." Hos. xiv. 8. 
 
 1HE fir- tree is noticed in the Bible under the 
 Hebrew names of berosh and beroth. Most 
 commentators believe that the tree alluded to 
 is the cypress, Cupressus sempervirens of 
 botanists. It belongs to the natural order Coniferse, 
 the Cone-bearing family, sub-order Cupressinese. These 
 coniferous trees are resinous in their nature; their leaves 
 are very narrow and sharp-pointed (hence called needle- 
 trees by the Germans) ; their staminate flowers are in 
 deciduous catkins ; and their pistillate flowers in cones, 
 the scales of which cover one, two, or more naked seeds. 
 The wood of the tree is marked with remarkable dots or 
 discs, which are easily seen under the microscope. The 
 tree has a tapering form not unlike that of the Lombardy 
 poplar ; and in southern latitudes it attains a height of 
 fifty or sixty feet. Its fruit is a more or less rounded 
 cone, flattened at the apex, and composed of peltate 
 (shield-like) scales, covering numerous winged seeds. Its 
 
FIR-TREE. 
 
 35 
 
 timber is durable. The gates of Constantinople, which 
 stood for more than a thousand years, were made of it. 
 The tree is a native of Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and 
 Palestine. The Mohammedans plant it in their burying- 
 grounds. 
 
 Allusion is frequently made in the Bible to the vigorous 
 
 BRANCH OF CYPRESS-TREE. (Fir-tree of Scripture.) 
 
 growth of the fir-tree. Thus Ezekiel, when describing' 
 the power of the Assyrian, selects the fir-tree on account 
 of its noble growth, and says, " The fir-trees were not 
 like his boughs" (xxxi. 8). For the same reason it is 
 associated with the cedar of Lebanon. Sennacherib, the 
 king of Assyria, is represented as saying, " With the 
 multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of 
 
36 FIR-TREE. 
 
 the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut 
 down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees 
 thereof" (2 Kings xix. 23 ; Isa. xxxvii. 24). 
 
 The wood was used for various purposes, such as in 
 house-building, ship -building, the formation of musical 
 instruments, etc. It was one of the kinds of timber 
 sent by Hiram to Solomon for the construction of the 
 temple (1 Kings v. 8, 10, ix. 11 ; 2 Chron. ii. 8). The 
 floor of the house was covered with planks of fir; and the 
 two doors at the entrance of the temple, and the ceiling, 
 were made of the same kind of wood (1 Kings vi. 15, 34; 
 2 Chron. iii. 5). Eafters of berosh are also referred to 
 (Song i. 17). David and all the house of Israel played 
 on musical instruments made of berosh wood. 
 
 Fir-trees are mentioned in connection with the future 
 renovated earth. Isaiah says, " I \vill set in the desert 
 the fir tree" (xli. 19); "Instead of the thorn shall 
 come up the fir tree" (Iv. 13); "The glory of Lebanon 
 shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the 
 box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary" 
 (Ix. 13). 
 
 The word tirzah, translated "cypress" in Isa. xliv. 14, 
 is supposed by many to mean the evergreen oak, Quercus 
 .Ilex, the wood of which was constantly employed by the 
 ancients in making images. (See Oak-tree.) 
 
 The gopher-wood of which the ark was constructed 
 (Gen. vi. 14) is supposed to be the produce of the 
 cypress, or of some other tree belonging to the pine tribe. 
 
 Along with the cedars on Lebanon there is found a 
 fir-tree called Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine), and it may 
 
CYPRESS-TREE (FIR-TREE OF SCRIPTURE). 
 
FIR-TREE. 
 
 39 
 
 be referred to in some passages in the Bible. It is 
 common in Western Palestine, and is one of the charac- 
 teristic trees of Lower Lebanon. It is said to be espe- 
 
 ALEPPO PINE. 
 
 cially the fir-tree of Palestine, and is only inferior to the 
 cedar in size. Another fir, Pinus maritima, is found 
 on the sandy plains near the coast, and helps to keep 
 the loose sand from being blown over the country. 
 
FIG-TREE. 
 
 (Ficus Carica, Linn.) 
 
 " Learn a parable of the fig tree." MATT. xxiv. 32. 
 
 " Now from the fig tree learn her parable." New Translation. 
 
 [HE Hebrew word teenah, and the Greek word 
 syce or suce, are translated " fig" and "fig-tree" 
 in Scripture. The tree is called by botanists 
 Ficus Carica. It belongs to the natural 
 order Artocarpacese, the Bread-fruit family, and the sub- 
 order Morese, which includes also the mulberry. The 
 tree is characterized by its fruit, which is formed by 
 an enlarged succulent hollow receptacle, containing the 
 flowers in its interior. Hence the flowers of the fig-tree 
 are not visible until the receptacle is cut open. The 
 tree is a native of the East, and has been transported 
 into Europe. It is grown in the south of Europe, in- 
 cluding Greece and Italy ; and in Northern and Western 
 Africa. A wild type is known in Italy by the name of 
 Caprifico. 
 
 Figs have been cultivated from the earliest times. 
 The fig is the first tree mentioned by name in Scripture 
 
FIG-TREE. 
 
 41 
 
 (Gen. iii. 7). The figs of Athens were celebrated for 
 their flavour. Figs at the present day are brought to 
 this country from Smyrna in small boxes called drums ; 
 the quantity imported in 1858 was nearly seventeen 
 hundred tons. 
 
 The fig-tree was common in Palestine, which was 
 
 BRANCH OF FIG-TREE. 
 
 described as being " a land of wheat, and barley, and 
 vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates" (Deut. viii. 8). 
 The parties who went from the wilderness of Paran to 
 search the land "brought of the pomegranates and of 
 the figs" (Num. xiii. 23). The fig-tree is employed to 
 indicate the peace and prosperity of a nation, 1 Kings 
 
 6 
 
42 FIG-TREE. 
 
 iv. 25; also Micah iv. 4, where it is said, "They 
 shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig- 
 tree." Sennacherib, king of Assyria, employs the 
 same metaphor in order to induce the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem to surrender (2 Kings xviii. 31 ; Isa. 
 xxxvi. 16). No tree furnishes better protection from 
 the rays of the sun in Eastern countries than the fig-tree. 
 Figs constitute an important article of food in Eastern 
 countries, and are eaten both in a fresh and in a dried 
 condition. In the latter state they are spoken of as 
 being made into cakes, called debelim. Abigail brought 
 two hundred cakes of figs to David and his men (1 Sam. 
 xxv. 18) ; and the armies that came to David in Hebron 
 brought cakes of figs (1 Chron. xii. 40). A piece of a 
 cake of figs was given to the Egyptian who was found in 
 a famishing state in the field (1 Sam. xxx. 12). Good 
 and bad figs are used by Jeremiah as emblems of good 
 and evil (Jer. xxiv.). Tristram mentions that in the 
 island of Cyprus there are clumps of fig-trees round 
 each door, and that he enjoyed rest and food beneath 
 the shade of the Cyprian fig-tree. Under such a fig- 
 tree, he remarks, Nathanael had wrestled in prayer, and 
 was convinced at once of the Messiahship of Jesus by 
 His knowledge of his retirement (John i. 48, 49). 
 
 The failure, destruction, and falling of the figs are 
 mentioned as indications of the judgments of the Lord 
 (Ps. cv. 33; Isa. xxxiv. 4; Jer. v. 17, viii. 13; Hosea 
 ii. 12; Joel i. 7, 12; see also Eev. vi. 13). Figs were 
 used as a laxative, and also as a poultice. Thus Isaiah 
 ordered a lump of figs to be laid on the boil with which 
 
FIG-TREE. 43 
 
 Hezekiah was afflicted, and he recovered (2 Kings xx. 7 ; 
 Isa. xxxviii. 21). 
 
 Different crops of figs are produced during the year. 
 Early figs appeared in spring before the leaves ex- 
 panded (Jer. xxiv. 2). Isaiah, Hosea, and Nahum 
 refer to the early or first ripe figs [bikhurah], or the 
 hasty fruits before the summer (Isa. xxviii. 4 ; Hosea 
 ix. 10; Nahum iii. 12). "When his branch is yet 
 tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is 
 nigh" (Matt. xxiv. 32). The early green fruit is alluded 
 to in the Song of Solomon, ii. 13. Besides the forward 
 figs of spring, there were also summer and autumn figs. 
 When Jesus was proceeding from Bethany to Jerusalem, 
 "he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the 
 way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon,, but 
 leaves only" (Matt. xxi. 18, 19). The period was 
 early (end of March or beginning of April), and, accord- 
 ing to Mark, " the time of figs was not yet " (Mark xi. 
 13); still, as the tree was in full leaf, it might have 
 been expected that some early figs would have been 
 found. Finding no appearance whatever of fruit, how- 
 ever, our Saviour said to the tree, " Let no fruit grow 
 on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig 
 tree withered away." 
 
HYSSOP. 
 
 (Capparis spinosa, Linn.; Caper-plant and Us variety, Capparis 
 ceyyptiaca, Lam.) 
 
 He spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the 
 hyssop that springeth out of the wall." 1 KINGS iv. 33. 
 
 I HE Hebrew word esobh or ezob and the Greek 
 hyssopos are translated "hyssop" in the Bible. 
 There have been great differences of opinion 
 regarding the nature of the plant thus men- 
 tioned by the sacred writers of the Old and New Tes- 
 taments. Some have thought that it was a minute moss 
 or fern, or some other wall-plant; others, that it was 
 the plant called hyssop at the present day, or one allied 
 to it, such as rosemary, marjoram, or thyme. Some 
 authors (as Eoyle) think that the word abizonah (trans- 
 lated "desire"), which only occurs in Ecclesiastes xii. 5, is 
 the caper-plant. The passage is as follows : " When 
 the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper 
 shall be a burden, and desire [abizonah] shall fail: 
 because man goeth to his long home." The rabbins 
 apply the term abunott to the small fruit of trees 
 and to berries as well as to that of the caper-bush, 
 
HYSSOP. 
 
 45 
 
 which is common in Syria and Arabia. The fruit 
 was apparently calculated to excite desire. Celsius, 
 however, in his " Hierobotanicum," does not agree with 
 this interpretation of "desire." He remarks that Solomon 
 never speaks of capers, but of wine and perfumes. After 
 a careful examination, Dr. Eoyle has come to the con- 
 
 BRANCH OF HYSSOP. 
 
 elusion that the hyssop of the Bible is the caper-plant 
 (Capparis spinosa of botanists) ; that the name of the 
 plant in Arabic, azaf, corresponds with the Hebrew 
 esobh ; and that the shrub is fitted for all the purposes 
 mentioned in the Scriptures. 
 
 The caper-bush belongs to the natural order Cappari- 
 
46 HYSSOP. 
 
 dacese, or the Caper family. The plants of this order 
 have pungent, stimulant, and antiscorbutic qualities. 
 The caper-bush grows in Lower Egypt, in the deserts 
 of Sinai, and in Palestine. The localities in which the 
 plant delights are barren soils, rocky precipices, and the 
 sides of walls. The caper-plant grows on walls in many 
 southern countries. I have gathered it on walls in Italy. 
 Tristram saw it hanging from the walls of Jerusalem, 
 also in steep rocks in the gorge of the Kidron. He 
 also says that the variety called cegyptiaca has a trail- 
 ing habit on the sandy plain between Jericho and Jordan, 
 as well as at the south-east end of the Dead Sea, and 
 on the plains of Shittim. 
 
 Hyssop is mentioned in several passages of the Old 
 Testament in connection with cleansing and purification. 
 The first mention of it is in Exodus xii. 22, at the in- 
 stitution of the passover, where it is directed that the 
 blood of the lamb shall be sprinkled by means of hyssop 
 on the dwellings of the Israelites. In the cleansing of 
 the leper and of the house affected with the plague of 
 leprosy, hyssop was also employed in a similar way 
 (Lev. xiv. 4-7, 4952). It was also used in the burn- 
 ing of the heifer from the ashes of which the water of 
 separation was prepared, as well as in the sprinkling of 
 the water (Num. xix. 6). It seems to be in allusion to 
 this sprinkling that the psalmist says, "Purge me with 
 hyssop, and I shall be clean " (Ps. li. 7). Royle, however, 
 thinks that David here refers to the detergent quality 
 of the flower-buds of the plant, which constitute the 
 capers of commerce, and are supposed to have cleansing 
 properties. 
 
HYSSOP. 47 
 
 Reference is made to hyssop in the New Testament 
 also. Thus St. Paul alludes to the use of it in purifica- 
 tion (Heb. ix. 1921). The evangelist John, in the 
 account which he gives of the crucifixion of our Lord, 
 says, " Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar : and 
 they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, 
 and put it to his mouth " (John xix. 29). Here we have 
 vinegar mentioned along with hyssop, probably as being 
 the material used in the preparation of capers. It is 
 obvious, also, from this passage, that the hyssop must 
 have been a plant capable of furnishing a rod of moderate 
 length, so that the sponge might be raised to the Saviour's 
 lips. Such a statement, then, seems to exclude all those 
 translations which would make the hyssop a minute plant 
 or a small herb. The caper-bush would suit the purpose, 
 as a stick of three or four feet long could be obtained 
 from it. In the parallel passages of the Gospels accord- 
 ing to Matthew and Mark, it is said that the sponge was 
 put on a reed (Matt, xxvii. 48 ; Mark xv. 36), and the 
 word hyssop is not introduced. This may be explained 
 either by supposing that the word kalamos, translated 
 " reed," was a stick of hyssop, or that part of a hyssop- 
 bush was fastened upon the end of a reed or stick, and 
 the sponge placed on it. 
 
ASPEN, OR TREMBLING POPLAR. 
 
 (Populus tremula, Linn. ) 
 
 ' The sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees." 2 SAM. v. 24. 
 
 JHE Hebrew word becalm has been translated 
 " mulberry trees." It is the plural of the word 
 baca, which occurs in Psalm Ixxxiv. 6. It is 
 supposed by able commentators that the trees 
 noticed under these names were poplars, several species 
 of which occur in the Holy Land. Kitto says : " We 
 know that the black poplar, the aspen, and the Lom- 
 bardy poplar grew in Palestine. The aspen, whose long 
 and flat leaf-stalks cause the leaves to tremble with 
 every breath of wind, unites with the willow and oak 
 in overshadowing the water-courses of Lower Lebanon, 
 and with the oleander and acacia in adorning the ravines 
 of Southern Palestine. The Lombardy poplar is de- 
 scribed as growing with the walnut-trees and weeping- 
 willow under the deep torrents of the Upper Lebanon." 
 The Arabic word bale, which means "poplar," is very 
 similar to the Hebrew baca. 
 
 The aspen (Populus tremula of botanists) is supposed 
 
ASPEN, OR TREMBLING POPLAR. 
 
 49 
 
 to be the tree indicated by the Hebrew words we have 
 noticed. The quaking of its leaves has given origin to 
 the name " trembling poplar " which is applied to it. 
 The moving of the leaves seems to be referred to in the 
 following passage : " And the Philistines came up yet 
 again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 
 
 ASPEN, OK TREMBLING POPLAR. (Mulberry -tree of Scripture.) 
 
 And when David enquired of the Lord, he said, Thou 
 shalt not go up, but fetch a compass behind them, and 
 come upon them over against the mulberry trees [beeaim]. 
 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in 
 the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir 
 thyself" (2 Sam. v. 23, 24; 1 Chron. xiv. 14, 15). 
 The poplar gave the name to the valley of Baca, which 
 
 7 
 
50 ASPEN, OR TREMBLING POPLAR. 
 
 is sometimes called the Valley of Weeping. Here the 
 tree was associated with the willow and other plants 
 which delight in a moist soil : " Who passing through the 
 valley of Baca make it a well ; the rain also filleth the 
 pools " (Ps. Ixxxiv. 6). In this shady valley the trav- 
 eller to Zion was refreshed by the wells and pools of 
 water. 
 
 The aspen belongs to the natural order Salicinese, the 
 Willow family. The plants of the order have their 
 flowers in catkins, and their seeds covered with silky 
 hairs. The trembling of the aspen leaf in the slightest 
 breeze seems to depend on the flattening of the petiole 
 or leaf-stalk in a vertical direction. The tree extends 
 to northern countries, and is found in the alpine dis- 
 tricts of Scotland. The sycamine-tree is the black 
 mulberry. (See Sycamine.) 
 
OAK-TREE. 
 
 (Quercus jffigilops, Linn.) 
 
 "And he [the Amorite] was strong as the oaks." AMOS ii. 9. 
 
 I HE Hebrew word allon has been translated 
 " oak." It is probable that under this name 
 were included several species, such as Quer- 
 cus Ilex or evergreen oak, Quercus cocci/era 
 or kermes oak, Quercus pseudo-coccifera or prickly 
 evergreen oak, Quercus infectoria or dyer's oak. A very 
 abundant oak in Palestine is Quercus pseudo-coccifera. 
 It covers the rocky hills with a dense brushwood eight to 
 twelve feet high. It abounds on Mount Carmel and on 
 the west flank of Anti-Lebanon, and in many of the 
 valleys and slopes of Lebanon. The so-called Abraham's 
 oak, near Hebron, is the species. Tristram says that 
 this has for several centuries taken the place of the 
 once renowned terebinth or teil-tree, which marked the 
 site of Mam re on the other side of the city. The tere- 
 binth existed at Marnre in the time of Vespasian ; and 
 under it the captive Jews were sold for slaves. It 
 disappeared about A.D. 330. The Abraham oak is the 
 
52 OAK-TKEE. 
 
 finest tree in Farther Palestine, being twenty-three feet 
 in girth. Quercus jEgilops, or valonia oak, the great 
 prickly-cupped oak, is another species, which we have 
 figured. It is a handsome tree, common in the Levant. 
 It is found on Carmel and Tabor, and is the true oak of 
 Bashan. It belongs to the natural order Corylaceae or 
 
 OAK-TREE. (Quercus JZgilops.) 
 
 Cupuliferse, the Hazel and Oak family. The plants of 
 this order have their flowers in catkins, and their fruit 
 is a nut having a cup-like covering, as in the acorn ; or 
 a husk-like covering, as in the hazel nut. The cups of 
 the Quercus ^Egilops are used by dyers under the name 
 of valonia. Yalonia is largely imported into Britain. 
 Another Hebrew word, elah or ailah, has also been 
 
OAK-TREE. 55 
 
 translated " oak" in the Bible, but it is more properly con- 
 sidered as meaning the terebinth-tree. Our translators 
 have also rendered other Hebrew words by the name 
 oak. The word translated " plain," for instance, in some 
 passages, means an oak-grove. Thus, in 1 Samuel x. 3, 
 in place of " the plain of Tabor," the translation ought 
 to be, a grove of oaks at Tabor. Also in Judges ix. 37, 
 instead of " plain of Meonenim," we should read an oak 
 or oak-grove of the magicians. Other texts in which 
 "plain" occurs in place of "oak" are Gen. xii. 6, 
 xiii. 18, xiv. 13, xviii. 1; Deut. xi. 30; Judges iv. 
 11, ix. 6. f 
 
 In some parts of Palestine, oaks must have occupied 
 a conspicuous place in the landscape. We read of the 
 oaks of Bashan as being famous for strength, beauty, 
 and utility. When the children of Israel departed from 
 the Lord, they appear to have performed idolatrous rites 
 in oak-groves. Thus we read in Hosea iv. 13 of the 
 burning of incense upon the hills and under oaks. Isaiah 
 (xliv. 14) speaks of the people taking the oak to make 
 a god. When the Lord threatens judgment upon the 
 nations, he refers often in a special manner to the oaks : 
 u The day of the Lord shall be upon all the oaks of 
 Bashan " (Isa. ii. 12, 13) ; " Howl, ye oaks of Bashan " 
 (Zech. xi. 2). Porter, in his interesting travels, when 
 speaking of the mountains of Bashan, says, " Bleak and 
 rocky at the base, they soon assume bolder outlines 
 and exhibit grander features. Ravines cut deeply into 
 their sides ; bare cliffs shoot out from tangled jungles of 
 dwarf ilex (oak), woven together with brambles and 
 
56 OAK-TREE. 
 
 creeping plants ; pointed cones of basalt, strewn here and 
 there with cinders and ashes, tower up until a wreath of 
 snow is wound round their heads ; straggling trees of 
 the great oaks of Bashan dot thinly the lower decliv- 
 ities, high up little groves of them appear, and higher 
 still, around the loftiest peaks, are dense forests." 
 
 Solemn covenants were made under an oak. Joshua, 
 when he solemnly charged the people, and announced to 
 them the law of God, put up a stone of witness under 
 an oak (Josh. xxiv. 26). In old times persons were 
 sometimes buried under the shade of an oak. Thus it 
 is stated in regard to Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, that 
 she was buried under an oak in Beth-el, and the name of 
 it was called Allon-bachuth, or the oak of weeping (Gen. 
 xxxv. 8). The strength of the oak is referred to by 
 Amos in speaking of the Amorite (Amos ii. 9). In the 
 maritime city of Tyre, in its days of prosperity, the oak 
 was used for making oars (Ezek. xxvii. 6). 
 
MUSTARD-TREE. 
 
 (Salvadora persica, Linn., according to some ; Sinapis nigra, Linn., 
 according to others.) 
 
 "A grain of mustard seed... when it is grown... becometh a tree." 
 MATT. xiii. 31, 32. 
 
 [E word sinapi is met with in the Gospels 
 according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and 
 it has been translated " mustard-tree." Much 
 difference of opinion has existed as to the 
 plant here intended. It is thought that it cannot be the 
 common mustard of this country, which is an herb of 
 annual growth ; whereas the evangelists speak of the 
 plant as a tree having branches in which the fowls of 
 the air lodged. Thus, in Matt. xiii. 31, 32 it is said, 
 " The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard 
 seed, which a man took and sowed in his field ; which 
 indeed is the least of all seeds : but when it is grown it 
 is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that 
 the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches 
 thereof." Again, Mark describes it as a tree " shooting 
 out great branches ; so that the fowls of the air lodge 
 under the shadow of it" (Mark iv. 31) ; and Luke says, 
 
 8 
 
58 MUSTARD-TREE. 
 
 " The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, 
 which a man took and cast into his garden ; and it grew, 
 and waxed a great tree ; and the birds of the air lodged 
 in the branches of it" (Luke xiii. 19). Our Lord also 
 alludes to the smallness of the seed in Matt. xvii. 20, 
 and Luke xvii. 6. The mustard-plant, then, was a 
 branching tree with a small seed. Dr. Royle has ex- 
 amined this subject with his usual care and acuteness, 
 and finds that the mustard-plant of Palestine at the 
 present day is a tree which answers in every respect to 
 the description of the sacred writers. The tree grows 
 near Jerusalem, and most abundantly on the banks of 
 the Jordan, and round the Sea of Tiberias. The seed is 
 called chardal or kkardal, which is the Arabic name for 
 mustard. It is known to botanists as Salvadora persica, 
 and belongs to the natural order Salvadoraceae, which is 
 considered as being nearly allied to the Olive family. 
 It is found in Persia, Arabia, Palestine, and North 
 Africa. An Indian species, Sinapis indica or Koenigii, 
 has similar qualities, and receives the name of JcharjaL 
 The black mustard (Sinapis nigra) belongs to the 
 natural order Cruciferse. 
 
 The trunk of the salvadora is sometimes twenty-five 
 feet high, with a diameter of one foot. Its branches 
 are very numerous, spreading, and with their extremities 
 pendulous, like the weeping-willow. The flowers are 
 minute. The berry is very small much less than a 
 grain of black pepper smooth, and red. Each fruit 
 contains one seed, which is pungent, and is used as mus- 
 tard. The fruit has an aromatic smell, and tastes like 
 
MUSTARD-TREE. 
 
 59 
 
 garden-cress. The bark of the root is acrid, and is used 
 in India for causing blisters. 
 
 Some, however, still think that the black mustard- 
 plant (Sinapis nigra) is referred to in Scripture, inas- 
 much as Salvadora persica is a sub-tropical plant found 
 in the valley of En-gedi, and not a common plant in 
 
 MUSTARD-TREE. 
 
 Palestine. Tristram differs from Koyle, and considers 
 the common black mustard to be the plant referred to 
 in the New Testament. He says that the Salvadora 
 persica does not enter into Palestine. It is compara- 
 tively a foreign tree, and is confined to the north-east 
 end of the Dead Sea. Travellers have noticed the great 
 height of the common black mustard on the banks of 
 
60 MUSTARD-TREE. 
 
 the Jordan ; and Dr. Thomson, in the plain of Acre, has 
 seen it as tall as a horse and its rider. 
 
 In the New Testament the term " tree " is applied as 
 well as the term " herb." The former may merely imply 
 
 WILD MUSTARD. 
 
 that it becomes taller than ordinary herbs. Flocks of 
 birds frequent the mustard-plant for the sake of the 
 seeds. The parable illustrates the increase of Christ's 
 kingdom, which from small beginnings is destined finally 
 to extend over the whole Earth. 
 
MUSTARD-TREE. 61 
 
 Professor Hackett tells us that when crossing the 
 plain of Akka, in Palestine, he saw before him a little 
 grove of trees. On coming nearer they proved to be a 
 grove of mustard-plants. Some of the trees were full 
 nine feet high, with a trunk two or three inches in cir- 
 cumference, throwing out branches on every side. He 
 wondered whether they were strong enough for the 
 birds to "lodge in the branches thereof." Just then 
 a bird stopped in its flight through the air, alighted 
 on one of the limbs, which hardly moved beneath the 
 weight, and began to warble forth a strain of sweetest 
 music. The professor was delighted with the incident. 
 His " doubts were charmed away ; " the " least of all 
 seeds " had actually grown into a substantial tree. 
 
MYRTLE-TREE. 
 
 (Myrtus communis, Linn.) 
 
 Instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree." ISA. Iv. 13. 
 
 |HE Hebrew word hadas, translated "myrtle," 
 occurs in a few passages in the Old Testa- 
 ment. Royle says that the berries of the 
 myrtle are at the present day sold in bazaars 
 in India under the name of hadas. It is the Myrtus 
 communis of botanists ; and belongs to the natural order 
 Myrtacese, the Myrtle family. The common myrtle is 
 the most northern species of the order. It seems to 
 have been in high repute in Eastern countries on account 
 of its beautiful snow-white flowers, its dark-green foli- 
 age, and its pleasant odour. Its buds and berries have 
 been used as spices, and a fragrant distilled water is pre- 
 pared from its flowers. The bark and root are used for 
 tanning Russian and Turkish leather, to which they 
 communicate a peculiar odour. The leaves are also 
 used to dress skins. They contain much oil, and have 
 a dotted appearance when seen by transmitted light. 
 Within the margin of each leaf there is a small vein 
 
MYRTLE-TREE. 63 
 
 running from the base to the apex. The myrtle grew 
 abundantly in Palestine and Syria, and it is noticed by 
 Nehemiah as one of the trees which supplied branches 
 for the construction of booths at the Feast of Taber- 
 nacles : " Go forth unto the mount [of Olives], and fetch 
 olive branches, and pine branches [oil-tree branches], and 
 myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of 
 thick trees to make booths, as it is written" (Neh. viii. 
 15). The Hebrew word etz'abotli, translated "thick 
 trees " (Lev. xxiii. 40 ; Ezek. xx. 28), is supposed by rab- 
 binical writers to refer to the myrtle. In the passage 
 already quoted from Nehemiah, both myrtle branches 
 and thick trees are spoken of, so that there is some 
 doubt as to the rabbinical view. Zechariah in his vision 
 speaks of the angel of the Lord standing among the 
 myrtle-trees, implying that they were well known and 
 common in the country (Zech. i. 8, 10, 11). The myrtle 
 is not a native of Britain, although it is generally culti- 
 vated in green-houses. 
 
 In this country it rarely becomes a tree, and does not 
 blossom freely. In the north of Europe it is frequent. 
 At the present day it occurs on the hills around Jeru- 
 salem, and in the valley of Lebanon, and it sometimes 
 forms extensive thickets. Harris mentions myrtles 
 growing in the valleys to the height of ten feet, and 
 emitting an exquisite perfume. The tree sometimes 
 attains a height of twenty feet. Horace speaks of 
 myrtle crowns, and mentions the myrtle as a garden- 
 plant ; and Virgil states that the odour of Corydon's 
 garden arose from the laurel and myrtle that were 
 
64 MYRTLE-TREE. 
 
 planted together (Eel. ii. 54). Milton, describing the 
 bower of Paradise, says, 
 
 "Thereof 
 
 Of thickest covert was inwoven shade, 
 Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grow 
 Of firm and fragrant leaf." 
 
 The tree is used by the prophets to indicate a change on 
 the face of the earth, when " the knowledge of the Lord 
 shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." Thus 
 Isaiah, when speaking of that blessed epoch, says, " In- 
 stead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead 
 of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree ; and it shall 
 be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that 
 shall not be cut off" (Isa. Iv. 13). Again, the Lord says 
 by the prophet, " I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, 
 the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree " (Isa. 
 xli. 19). 
 
 It has been stated that Hadassah, the original name 
 of Esther, is derived from the word hadas, meaning 
 myrtle. It has also been conjectured that Esther is 
 formed from the word as, an Arabic name for myrtle, 
 and tur, meaning fresh. The Jews employed the myrtle 
 as an emblem of justice. They still use the myrtle 
 in their synagogues at the Feast of Tabernacles. The 
 dried flowers, leaves, and succulent part of the myrtle 
 are sold in the bazaars at Jerusalem and Damascus. 
 
OLIVE-TREE. 
 
 (Olea europcea, Linn.) 
 
 His beauty shall be as the olive tree." Hos. xiv. 6. 
 
 1HE olive-tree and olives are mentioned between 
 thirty and forty times, oil-olive four times, 
 and oil eighty times, in the Old and New 
 Testaments. It is one of the earliest of 
 the plants noticed in the Bible. In Genesis viii. 11 
 the dove is described as bringing the olive-branch to 
 Noah : " Lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt 
 off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from 
 off the earth." The olive-tree occurs in the first parable 
 recorded in history (Judges ix. 9). Being associated with 
 the assuaging of the waters of the Flood, the olive-branch 
 is used as an emblem of peace and reconciliation. Oil 
 running down from the head to the skirt of the gar- 
 ment is an emblem of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 
 The children of a good man are spoken of as seated as 
 olive branches around his table. It can remain a long 
 time under water without being injured. An experiment 
 of this kind was made in the Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 OLIVE-TREE. 
 
 The name of the tree in Hebrew is zait or eait, or in 
 Greek elaia. It is the Olea europcea of botanists, and 
 belongs to the natural order Oleacese, the Olive family. 
 The plants of this order have four divisions of their 
 corolla, usually two stamens, a two-celled and two-seeded 
 ovary, and a fleshy or dry fruit, which is often by abor- 
 
 OLIVE-TKEE. (Olea europcea.) 
 
 tion one-seeded. Tristram remarks that " to our Western 
 eyes the olive is scarcely a beautiful tree ; but to the 
 Oriental the coolness of the pale-blue foliage, its ever- 
 green freshness, spread like a silver sea along the slopes 
 of the hills, speaks of peace and plenty, food and glad- 
 ness." The olive-tree produces a large quantity of blos- 
 som. " He shall cast off his flower as the olive " (Job 
 
OLIVE-TREE. 67 
 
 xv. 33). Olive-oil is an important article of produce in 
 Syria. The tree is common throughout Syria, but 
 chiefly on the plains of Safet, Nazareth, and Nablous. 
 Harvest usually takes place in September and October, 
 the fruit being knocked off the trees with sticks. The 
 oil is now exported in large quantity from Syria. The 
 olive-tree has a drupaceous fruit, which was gathered 
 for the purpose of furnishing oil, and seems to have been 
 shaken off by beating the branches ; hence in Deut. xxiv. 
 20 it is said, "When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou 
 shalt not go over the boughs again ; it shall be for the 
 stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow." Isaiah 
 also alludes to the shaking of the olive-tree and the 
 fruit left (Isa. xvii. 6). The outer, fleshy part of the 
 fruit, yields the oil under pressure. A tree will yield 
 ten to fifteen gallons. The finest oil at the present day 
 is imported from Florence and Provence. In 1879 
 there were imported into Britain 36,198 tuns of olive- 
 oil. The fruit of the olive is one of the first necessaries 
 of life in the East. 
 
 The olive-tree is common in the south of Europe, and 
 it abounded in the Holy Land, which was hence called 
 a land of olive-trees, of olive-yards, and of olive-oil 
 (Ex. xxiii. 11; Deut. vi. 11, viii. 8, xxviii. 40; Josh, 
 xxiv. 13). Solomon gave to the servants of Hiram 
 twenty thousand baths of oil (2 Chron. ii. 10). The 
 Mount of Olives, so called from the abundance of these 
 trees, is often referred to as the spot to which our 
 Saviour retired alone or with his disciples (Matt. xxi. 1, 
 xxiv. 3, xxvi. 30; Mark xiii. 3, xiv. 26; Luke xix. 29, 
 
68 OLIVE-TREE. 
 
 xxi. 37, xxii. 39 ; John viii. 1) ; and it was from the 
 Mount Olivet that the disciples witnessed the ascension 
 of their Master (Acts i. 12). In the prophecies regard- 
 ing the glorious latter days, allusion is also made to the 
 Mount of Olives (Zech. xiv. 4). Some very old olive- 
 trees still exist on the mount. In the garden of Gethsem- 
 ane some are said to have existed from the time of our 
 Lord. The tree is of slow growth, and seldom attains a 
 greater height than twenty or thirty feet. 
 
 There are two varieties of olive-trees, distinguished as 
 the long-leaved, which is cultivated in the south of 
 France and Italy, and the broad-leaved in Spain. The 
 wild olive, called by the Greeks agri-daw, was a low 
 spiny tree, the branches of which were grafted on the 
 cultivated olive. Hence the allusion by St. Paul in 
 Romans xi. 17, 24. In this case the Gentiles are repre- 
 sented as the wild olive, which is grafted, contrary to 
 nature, into the good olive, and thus bring forth fruit 
 unto eternal life. The evergreen nature of the tree 
 causes the psalmist to exclaim, " I arn like a green olive 
 tree in the house of God " (Ps. Hi. 8) ; and Jeremiah 
 says, " The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree " 
 (Jer. xi. 16). The timber of the tree was used for 
 furniture, and for ornamental carvings. The wood of 
 the tree is beautifully grained, and it is still used for 
 fine cabinet-work. In the temple it was used in the 
 carvings, in forming the posts of the doors, and in the 
 construction of the cherubim (1 Kings vi. 23, 31, 32). 
 Its branches were employed at the Feast of Tabernacles 
 (Neh. viii. 15). The bark of the tree has tonic prop- 
 
OLIVE-TREE. 69 
 
 erties. The oil expressed from the fruit was used in 
 the temple and for anointing (Ex. xxv. 6, xxx. 2325, 
 xxxv. 14, xxxix. 37; Lev. viii. 12). The treading of 
 the olive, and the expressing of its oil and the collecting 
 of it in vats, are alluded to by Micah and Joel (Micah 
 vi. 15; Joel ii. 24, iii. 13). The fatness of the olive- 
 tree is noticed in Judges ix. 9, and in Romans xi. 17. 
 The value of the trees required that there should be 
 overseers to attend to them (1 Chron. xxvii. 28). 
 
 Zechariah in vision saw the two anointed ones repre- 
 sented as two olive-trees (Zech. iv. 1114); and in 
 Revelation xi. 4, the two witnesses are represented as 
 " two olive trees... standing before the God of the earth." 
 
 The following are emblematical uses of the olive- 
 tree : ^- 
 
 1. Emblem of peace and reconciliation Noah in the 
 ark ; Christ on the Mount of Olives. 
 
 2. Emblem of beauty in its flowering the beauty of 
 holiness. 
 
 3. Emblem of fructification bringing forth fruit to 
 the praise and glory of God. 
 
 4. Emblem of the anointing of the Holy Spirit oil 
 running down from the head to the skirt of the gar- 
 ment. God shall anoint with the oil of gladness. 
 
OIL-TREE. 
 
 angustifolia, Linn.) 
 
 11 1 will plant in the wilderness... the oil tree." ISA. xli. 19. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word etz'sliamen, or oil-tree, occurs 
 in three passages of the Bible. In the 
 passage quoted above from Isaiah it is trans- 
 lated "oil- tree;" in Nehemiah viii. 15, it is 
 translated "pine-branches ;" and in 1 Kings vi. 23, "olive- 
 tree." In the passage quoted from Nehemiah he tells the 
 people to " go forth unto the mount, and fetch olrve 
 branches, and pine branches" (oil-tree branches). There is 
 some difficulty in identifying the tree. From the best 
 authorities it appears to be the Elceagnus angustifolia, 
 the oleaster belonging to the natural order Elseagnacese, 
 the plants of which order are marked by their scaly 
 leaves. 
 
 The plant is abundant in Palestine, and yields a kind 
 of oil which is much inferior to that of the olive. The 
 lower sides of the leaves have a silvery appearance from 
 the presence of scales. The flowers are minute, and the 
 fruit is a green, bitter berry. 
 
OIL-TKEE. 
 
 71 
 
 OIL-TREE. (Ehmgnus angustifolia.) 
 
 Some authors consider the oil-plant of Scripture the 
 Balanites cegyptiaca, and it is figured in Smith's "Dic- 
 tionary of the Bible." 
 
PALM-TREE. 
 
 (Phoenix dactylifera, Linn.) 
 
 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." Ps. xcii. 12. 
 
 | HE palm-tree is called in Hebrew tamar, and 
 in Greek phoenix. The date-palm is called 
 Phoenix dactylifera. It is a dioecious tree, 
 and belongs to the natural order Palmacese. 
 The plants of this interesting family are characterized 
 by their tall, usually unbranched stems ; their pinnate or 
 fan-shaped leaves ; their flowers growing on a single or 
 branched spadix, covered by a spathe ; their fruit being 
 a nut, drupe, or berry ; and their seeds containing carti- 
 laginous or hard albumen, with a small embryo in a 
 cavity remote from the hilum. It has been calculated 
 that some spathes contain two hundred thousand flowers. 
 Palms are valuable plants, and furnish to man most 
 important products, such as starch, sugar, oil, wax, fruit, 
 coverings for habitations, materials for manuscripts, etc. 
 Date-palms were common in Palestine ; and some 
 cities were famous for the abundance of them. The 
 name Phoenicia was given to the country by the Greeks 
 
PALM-TREE. 
 
 73 
 
 and Romans, indicating " the land of palms." A town in 
 Crete was called Phoenix (Acts xxvii. 12). The capture 
 of Jerusalem by Titus was commemorated by Vespasian on 
 his coins by the representation of a woman sitting dis- 
 
 consolate under a palm-tree, and marked Judcea capta. 
 Jericho was called "the city of palm-trees" (Deut. 
 xxxiv. 3; Judges i. 16, iii. 13; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15). 
 These palm-trees are referred to by Josephus, Strabo, 
 Horace, and Pliny. The name Tamar is applied to a 
 city in Palestine, near the south-west end of the Dead 
 Sea, probably from the palm-trees near it (Ezek. xlvii. 
 19; xlviii. 28). Perhaps from the beauty of the palm 
 
 10 
 
74 PALM-TKEE. 
 
 the name Tamar was used as a woman's name (Gen. 
 xxxviii. 6 ; 2 Sam. xiii. 1, xiv. 27). Some say that 
 Tamar was Tadmor in the wilderness (2 Chron. viii. 4), 
 afterwards called Palmyra. Hazezon-tamar and Baal- 
 tamar are also mentioned (Gen. xiv. 7 ; Judges xx. 
 33). The former is the well-known En-gedi, on the 
 western shore of the Dead Sea, long celebrated for its 
 palm-groves, and mentioned by Josephus and Pliny. 
 It is the present Ain Jidy, where there are no longer 
 any palm-trees, although palm stems and leaves are found 
 incrusted with carbonate of lime. Baal-tamar was near 
 Gibeah in Benjamin. Bethany, on the eastern side of 
 the Mount of Olives, means " the house of dates." The 
 tree extends along the course of the Euphrates and 
 Tigris, across to Palmyra and to the Syrian coast of the 
 Mediterranean. It grows also in the northern parts of 
 Africa. When growing in the desert, it indicates the 
 presence of water. The Israelites in their journey " came 
 to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and three- 
 score and ten palm trees, and they encamped by the 
 waters" (Ex. xv. 27). In Numbers xxxiii. 9, these 
 wells are called fountains. Tristram says that the 
 station has generally been identified as the Wady Ghu- 
 rundel, where there are palm-trees and springs. Palm- 
 trees are now scarce in Palestine. Stanley says that the 
 palm breaks the uniformity of the Syrian landscape by 
 the rarity of its occurrence : " Two or three in the 
 gardens of Jerusalem, some few at Nablus, one or two 
 in the plain of Esdraelon, comprise nearly all the in- 
 stances of the palm in Central Palestine." Tristram 
 
PALM-TREE. 75 
 
 says : " In the gardens of Jenin (En-gannim, the ' garden- 
 house,' 2 Kings ix. 27), at Nablous (Shechem), at Beisan 
 (Bethshean), and at several sheltered villages near Naza- 
 reth, the palm still exists." 
 
 The stem of the date-palm exhibits what is called the 
 endogenous mode of growth, the hardest part being on 
 the outside. The leaves are pinnate, and are sometimes 
 called branches in Scripture (Lev. xxiii. 40; Neh. viii. 
 15). They were used at the Feast of Tabernacles for 
 covering the booths. They were also used as emblems of 
 victory or triumph. Thus palm-leaves, from trees grow- 
 ing on the Mount of Olives, were employed by the mul- 
 titude when they went forth to meet Jesus coming to 
 Jerusalem (John xii. 13). The custom in England of 
 carrying branches of willow on Palm Sunday seems to 
 have reference to this event. In the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, the great multitude who stood before the throne 
 and before the Lamb are represented by the apostle John 
 as " clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands " 
 (Rev. vii. 9). The flowers are produced on a branching 
 spadix covered by a sheath. The tree having staminate 
 flowers on one plant and pistillate on another, requires 
 to be fertilized by the application of the pollen of the 
 one to the pistil of the other ; and unless both kinds are 
 cultivated, the fruit may not be perfected, and the tree 
 may ultimately fail. This may account in part for the 
 disappearance of the palm. The fruit hangs in clusters. 
 This is supposed to be alluded to in Song of Solomon 
 vii. 7 : " This thy stature is like a palm tree, and thy 
 breasts to clusters of dates " (not grapes, as given by our 
 
76 PALM-TREE. 
 
 translators). Dates constitute an important article of 
 food. It is said that nineteen-twentieths of the popula- 
 tion of Fezzan, in Africa, live on dates during nine 
 months of the year ; and that many of the animals 
 also feed on them. It is also stated that in Fezzan 
 every door and every post is made of date-palm wood, 
 and that the poorer classes live in huts (booths) entirely 
 made of date-palm leaves. Dates are imported into 
 Britain from Barbary and Egypt, and are usually of the 
 variety called Tafilat. 
 
 Figures of palm-trees were introduced by Solomon 
 into the carvings of the temple (1 Kings vi. 29, 32, 35, 
 vii. 36 ; 2 Chron. iii. 5) ; and they are also referred to 
 by Ezekiel in his description of the second temple (Ezek. 
 xl. 16, 22, 26, 31, 37; xli. 18-20, 25). The palm-tree, 
 from its erect and noble growth, and its heavenward 
 direction, is used in Psalm xcii. 12 as an illustration of 
 the righteous. 
 
POMEGRANATE-TREE. 
 
 (Punica Granatum, Linn.) 
 
 " Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits." 
 SONG iv. 13. 
 
 |HE pomegranate-tree and its fruit are noticed 
 in Scripture under the Hebrew name of 
 rimmon. The plant is the rhoa of Dio- 
 scorides and the side of Homer. It is a 
 native of Asia, and, according to Royle, may be traced 
 from Syria through Persia and the mountains of 
 Northern India. It was common in Palestine. Thus 
 Moses, speaking of the Promised Land, calls it " a land of 
 wheat and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pome- 
 granates " (Deut. viii. 8) ; and the spies who searched the 
 land " brought of the pomegranates and of the figs " 
 (Num. xiii. 23). Several towns and villages in Pales- 
 tine bore the name of Rimmon or Pomegranate (Josh. 
 xv. 32; 1 Chron. iv. 32, vi. 77; Zech. xiv. 10). Saul 
 tarried under a pomegranate-tree (1 Sam. xiv. 2) ; and 
 the prophets Joel and Haggai refer to the pomegranate 
 (Joel i. 12 ; Haggai ii. 19). The tree must have grown 
 
78 POMEGKANATE-TKEE. 
 
 in Egypt during the time the Israelites sojourned there ; 
 for when in the wilderness of Zin, they lamented the 
 loss of the pomegranates (Num. xx. 5). 
 
 The tree is the Punica Granatum of botanists, the 
 generic name indicating a Carthaginian origin. The 
 English name pomegranate is derived from the words 
 pomum granatum, or grained apple of the Romans ; so 
 called from the arrangement of the red seeds in different 
 
 POMEGKANATES. 
 
 and in separate divisions in the interior of the fruit. The 
 tree belongs to the natural order Lythracese, the Loose- 
 strife family. It has a dark green foliage resembling 
 that of the olive and the myrtle ; its flowers are of a 
 beautiful crimson colour ; and its fruit is red-coloured, as 
 large as an orange, and contains a juicy pulp, which is 
 particularly refreshing in warm countries. The calyx 
 forms part of the fruit. Delicious seedless pomegranates 
 are grown near Cabul. 
 
POMEGRANATE-TREE. 79 
 
 The beauty of the flower and fruit, and the use of the 
 latter as an article of food, caused the plant to be culti- 
 vated in gardens (Song iv. 13; vi. 11; vii. 1 2). The 
 delicate colour of the pulp of the fruit is referred to in 
 the following passage : " Thy temples [or rather thy 
 cheeks] are like a piece [section] of a pomegranate with- 
 in thy locks " (Song iv. 3 ; vi. 7). The pulp of the 
 fruit is eaten alone or with sugar, and the juice is ex- 
 pressed to furnish a refreshing drink, or to form wine. 
 The wine of the pomegranate is mentioned in Song 
 viii. 2. 
 
 The pomegranate was selected as a pattern of various 
 ornamental carvings and embroiderings in ancient times. 
 The fruit and the flower furnished beautiful models for 
 the purpose. The chapiters or capitals of the pillars in 
 the temple were covered on the top with carved pome- 
 granates (1 Kings vii. 18, 20, 42 ; 2 Kings xxv. 17; 
 2 Chron. iii. 16, and iv. 13; Jer. lii. 22). Embroidered 
 pomegranates, with golden bells between them, were put 
 on the bottom of the high priest's blue robe and ephod 
 (Ex. xxviii. 33, 34, xxxix. 24-26). 
 
 Various parts of the pomegranate-tree have been used 
 medicinally, especially for the cure of tape-worm. 
 The bark of the root, the flowers, and the rind of the 
 fruit, have been used for this purpose. The rind was 
 employed for tanning and preparing the finer kinds of 
 leather in early times. It is the principal material 
 used at the present day in the manufacture of morocco 
 leather. 
 
SHITTAH-TREE. 
 
 (Acacia Seyal, Delile.) 
 
 " I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, 
 and the oil tree." ISA. xli. 19. 
 
 [HE shittah-tree of the Bible is the plant which 
 yielded shittim-wood. This wood is men- 
 tioned among the offerings of the children of 
 Israel (Ex. xxv. 5 ; xxxv. 7, 24). It was 
 used in making the various parts of the tabernacle in 
 the wilderness, such as the ark and its staves (Ex. 
 xxv. 10, 13, xxxvii. 1, 4; Deut. x. 3); the table for 
 the shew-bread and its staves (Exod. xxv. 23, 28 ; 
 xxxvii. 10, 15) ; the boards for the tabernacle and their 
 bars (Ex. xxvi. 15, 26; xxxvi. 20, 31); the pillars 
 for the veil and for the hanging of the door (Ex. xxvi. 
 32, 37 ; xxxvi. 36) ; the altar of burnt-offering and the 
 altar for incense and their staves (Ex. xxxvii. 25, 28 ; 
 xxxviii. 1, 6). 
 
 Considerable differences of opinion have existed rela- 
 tive to the tree which is referred to in these passages of 
 Scripture. It grew apparently in abundance in the 
 
SHITTAH-TEEE. 81 
 
 desert, so as to be easily procured by the Israelites. 
 Dr. Shaw, in speaking of Arabia Petrsea, says : " The 
 acacia-tree, being by much the largest and most common 
 tree in these deserts, we have some reason to conjecture 
 that the shittim-wood was the wood of the acacia, espe- 
 cially as its flowers are of an excellent smell ; for the 
 shittah is, in Isaiah xli. 19, joined with the myrtle and 
 fragrant shrubs." Kitto thinks that the tree is the 
 Acacia Seyal of botanists. This tree belongs to the 
 natural order Leguminosae, and sub-order Mimosas. 
 
 The plants of this sub-order of Leguminosae produce a 
 legume or pod; and their flowers are regular, their petals 
 being valvate in aestivation. 
 
 The acacia-tree is thorny, and bears pinnate leaves. 
 Its flowers grow in round yellow clusters, and the long 
 thread-like projecting stamens give a peculiar character 
 to the inflorescence. The poet speaks of the acacia as 
 waving " its yellow hair." Its wood is hard and durable, 
 and is susceptible of a fine polish. The plant grows in 
 dry situations, is a native of Egypt, and is scattered 
 over the whole Sinaitic peninsula. It grows also near 
 the Dead Sea. It is one of the trees which yield gum 
 arabic, which is exported in great quantities from the 
 Red Sea. The gum exudes from the bark, which is 
 astringent, and is used for tanning. The tree appears 
 to have grown near Jerusalem, for Joel, in speaking 
 of the glory of the latter days, says, "And it shall 
 come to pass in that day that the mountains shall 
 drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with 
 milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with 
 
 11 
 
82 SHITTAH-TKEE. 
 
 waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of 
 the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim;" probably 
 so called from the shittah or acacia trees growing in it 
 (Joel iii. 18). Shittim is also noticed by Micah (vi. 5) ; 
 and in the journey ings of the children of Israel a place 
 
 SHITTAH-TREE. (Acacia Seyal.) 
 
 named Abel-shittim is mentioned in the plains of Moab 
 (Num. xxxiii. 49). 
 
 It has been supposed that the bush mentioned in 
 Exodus iii. 24, and Deuteronomy xxxiii. 16, was a 
 species of acacia, allied to the shittah-tree. It is called 
 in Hebrew seneh. 
 
SYCAMINE-TREE. 
 
 (Morus Nigra, Linn. ; Black mulberry. ) 
 
 " If ye had faith... ye might say to this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked 
 up by the root. " LUKE xvii. 6. 
 
 JHE Greek word sycaminos, translated "syca- 
 mine-tree," occurs in one passage in the New 
 Testament namely, in Luke xvii. 6 : " And 
 the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of 
 mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be 
 thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the 
 sea ; and it should obey you." The tree must not be 
 confounded with the sycamore. It is obvious from Dio- 
 scorides, Galen, and other Greek authors, that by sycamine 
 the mulberry-tree was meant. Celsius states this also 
 very distinctly. Sibthorp, who examined carefully the 
 plants of Greece, and published the " Flora Grseca," says 
 that in that country the white mulberry-tree is, at the 
 present day, called mourea, and the black mulberry-tree, 
 sycamenia. Judging, then, from the use of the term at 
 the present day in Greece, it is believed that the Morus 
 nigra, or black mulberry, is the species referred to. 
 Both the white and the black mulberry are common 
 
84 SYCAMINE-TREE. 
 
 in Palestine, and are much cultivated, as the leaves 
 supply food for silkworms. The mulberry belongs to 
 the natural order Artocarpacese, the Bread-fruit family, 
 and sub-order Morese, Mulberry section. The leaves of 
 the black mulberry are large, the flowers are in clusters, 
 and the fruit is the product of many flowers ; but though 
 it is thus like a bramble-berry, it is totally different in 
 structure. 
 
 Our Lord, in the passage from Luke, refers evidently 
 to some tree which was well known to all his hearers. 
 The mulberry would be a fit tree for such an illustration. 
 
 The black or purple, and the white mulberry, are 
 natives of Persia and the adjacent countries. The former 
 produces the best fruit. The latter is the handsomer tree, 
 but it is pruned and lopped for the purpose of furnishing 
 a larger quantity of leaves for the silkworms, which are 
 bred in large quantities in Syria. Lady Callcott says 
 that " in the neighbourhood of Mount Lebanon the land- 
 tax of the peasants is assessed according to the number 
 of mule-loads of mulberry leaves their little farms pro- 
 duce ; so that the cultivation of the tree is directed to 
 favour the growth of the leaf, at the expense of the 
 fruit In the southern part of the Holy Land a palm- 
 tree is usually planted in the court ; while towards the 
 north it is replaced by the purple mulberry, the pleasant 
 juice of whose fruit, mingled with water, in which the 
 sweet-scented violet has been infused, forms one of the 
 most grateful kinds of sherbet." (Scripture Herbal, 283, 
 284.) The word translated "mulberry-tree" in the 
 Bible is the name of the trembling poplar, or aspen. 
 
SYCOMORE-TREE. 
 
 (Ficus sycomorus, Linn. ) 
 
 " I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit." AMOS vii. 14. 
 
 ]HE sycomore or sycamore tree of the Bible is 
 quite distinct from that usually called syca- 
 more at the present day in Britain. The 
 latter is a species of maple, and is the Acer 
 pseudo-platanus of botanists, often called in Scotland 
 plane-tree. The specific name indicates that the plant 
 has some resemblance to the true plane (platanus). 
 This resemblance is seen in the leaves only, for in all 
 other respects the trees are totally different. The syco- 
 more of Scripture, however, is a kind of fig-tree, produc- 
 ing fruit similar in structure to the common fig, and 
 having leaves like the mulberry. Hence the name syco- 
 more, which is derived from sycon, a fig, and moron, a 
 mulberry. It is the Ficus sycomorus or the Sycomorus 
 antiquorum of botanists. In Hebrew the sycomore-trees 
 are called shikmoth and shikmim. These are two 
 plural words which occur in several places in the Old 
 Testament. In the New Testament the plant is mentioned 
 
86 
 
 SYCOMORE-TREE. 
 
 under the Greek name of sycomoros. The tree belongs 
 to the natural order Artocarpaceee, the Bread-fruit family; 
 which by some is considered a sub-division of the 
 Urticacese, the Nettle family. It is separated from 
 the latter family by its milky juice and the nature 
 
 SYCOMORE-TREE. (Flcus sycomorus.) 
 
 of its fruit, which is formed by numerous flowers on an 
 elongated or hollow receptacle. The juice usually con- 
 tains caoutchouc, and the fruit is generally edible. 
 
 The sycomore-fig was common in the plains of Egypt, 
 and in the valleys of Palestine. Hence it has been 
 
SYCOMORE-TREE. 87 
 
 sometimes called Pharaoh's fig; and it is said that Solomon 
 made cedar trees " to be as the sycomore trees that are 
 in the vale for abundance" (1 Kings x. 27 ; 2 Chron. i. 
 15, ix. 27). It is still cultivated near Cairo for its 
 shade. It was not valued much either for its timber or 
 for its fruit. Isaiah represents Ephraim and the inhabi- 
 tants of Samaria as saying in the pride and stoutness of 
 their heart, " The sycomores are cut down, but we will 
 change them into cedars" (Isa. ix. 10); or, in other 
 words, in place of houses built with the common sycomore 
 fig-tree, we will build palaces of cedar. The wood of the 
 sycomore is coarse-grained. In Egypt, where there were 
 few native trees of value, the timber was used to form 
 mummy cases. On account of the dry climate of that 
 country; and the means used for the preservation of the 
 timber, the wood of these cases is 
 very durable. 
 
 The fruit of the sycomore grows 
 in clusters on the trunk and main 
 branches. It is edible, and is 
 hence mentioned along with the 
 olive and the vine as one of the 
 products of Canaan, parties being 
 appointed to take care of the 
 
 trees (1 Chron. xxvii. 28 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 47). It has 
 a sweetish taste, and is still used as food. It is said 
 to furnish a considerable portion of the food of the 
 field labourers in Rhodes, Cyprus, and Egypt. In order 
 that the fruit might ripen well and be palatable, it was 
 necessary to make incisions into it or to scrape off a part 
 
88 SYCOMORE-TREE. 
 
 at the end of it; and this practice is supposed to be 
 alluded to by Amos when he says, " I was an herdman, 
 and a gatherer of [literally, one who scraped or cut] the 
 sycomore fruit" (Amos vii. 14). This mode of fig-ripen- 
 ing is noticed by Pliny. The fruit of this tree might be 
 referred to by Jeremiah when he saw in the vision a 
 second basket " very naughty figs, which could not be 
 eaten, they were so bad " (Jer. xxiv. 2). The tree was 
 lofty and shady, and hence probably was planted along 
 the road-sides. The stem sometimes attains fifty feet in 
 circumference. Into a sycornore-tree Zaccheus climbed 
 to see Jesus, on that memorable occasion when salvation 
 came to him and to his house (Luke xix. 4). It is easy 
 to climb, as it has a short trunk, dividing into forking 
 branches, which fork out in all directions. 
 
TEIL-TREE, OR TEREBINTH-TREE. 
 
 (Pistacia Terebinthus, Linn.) 
 
 ' As a teil tree [terebinth-tree], or as an oak, whose substance is in them." 
 ISA. vi. 13. 
 
 feminine Hebrew word elah or ailah, 
 denoting a strong hardy tree, occurs in several 
 passages of the Bible, and has been variously 
 translated. It is rendered in different ver- 
 sions terebinth, teil-tree, elm, oak, and plain. The word 
 also occurs in the masculine form as el or ail. It is 
 now generally assumed that the plant indicated is the 
 terebinth-tree, the buthma of the Syriac or Chaldee, 
 the butm or botom of the Arabs, and the Pistacia 
 Terebinthus oic turpentine-tree of botanists. It belongs 
 to the natural order Anacardiacese or Terebinthacese, the 
 Cashew family, the plants belonging to which abound in 
 a resinous or milky acrid juice. 
 
 The tree is the source of the Chian turpentine, which 
 is procured by incisions in the trunk, and is collected 
 chiefly in the island of Scio : a single tree yields about 
 ten ounces. It is common in Palestine. Dr. Robinson 
 states that the tree is found also in Asia Minor (many 
 
 12 
 
90 
 
 TEIL-TREE, OR TEREBINTH-TREE. 
 
 near Smyrna), Greece, Italy, the south of France, Spain, 
 and in the north of Africa ; and that it sometimes attains 
 the height of thirty or thirty-five feet. He noticed 
 a very large specimen between Gaza and Jerusalem. 
 The tree appears to be long-lived, and was consequently 
 frequently employed to designate places where important 
 
 TEIL-TREE, OB TEREBINTH-TKEE. (Pistacia Terebinthus.) 
 
 events occurred. The favourite burying-place of a 
 Bedouin sheik is under a solitary terebinth-tree. 
 
 The valley of Elah or the Terebinth valley is men- 
 tioned in 1 Samuel xvii. 2, 19 ; xxi. 9. It was by this 
 valley that Israel encamped, and it was in this valley 
 that David slew Goliath. In Genesis xiv. 6, El-paran 
 is noticed. This is rendered by the Septuagint "the 
 
TEIL-TREE, OR TEREBINTH-TREE. 91 
 
 terebinth of Paran ; " by some commentators it is called 
 " the oak of Paran," and by others " the plain of Paran," 
 which is given in our Bibles as a marginal reading. In 
 other places the word is also translated " plain." This 
 variety of translation has given rise to much confusion. 
 It would appear, also, that the name has been con- 
 
 BRANCH OF TEIL-TREE, OR TEREBINTH-TREE. 
 
 founded with allon and the feminine allali, which mean 
 "oak." The difference between the words is well seen in 
 some passages where both occur. Thus in Isaiah vi. 13 
 it is said, " As a teil tree [elah, or terebinth-tree] and an 
 oak [allon]." So also in Hosea iv. 13, "They sacrifice 
 upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon 
 the hills, under oaks [allon], poplars [libneh], and elms 
 
92 TEIL-TREE, OR TEREBINTH-TREE. 
 
 [elah]." The term "oak" is used instead of terebinth in 
 many other passages, such as the following : The angel 
 appeared to Gideon under a terebinth at Ophrah (Judges 
 vi. 11, 19); idols were worshipped in groves of tere- 
 binth (Isa. i. 29 ; Ezek. vi. 13); idolaters are compared 
 to a terebinth whose leaf fadeth (Isa. i. 30). See also 
 1 Kings xiii. 14; 1 Chron. x. 12. Abraham's oak at 
 Mamre was also a terebinth-tree. (See Oak.) In figur- 
 ing the restoration of the mourners in Zion, Isaiah says, 
 " That they might be called trees [terebinths] of right- 
 eousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be 
 glorified " (Isa. Ixi. 3). 
 
HUSK-TREE. 
 
 (Ceratonia Siliqua, Linn.) 
 
 ; The husks that the swine did eat." LUKE xv. 16. 
 
 | HE Greek word keratia, or ceratia, occurs in 
 Luke xv. 16, and has been translated " husks." 
 The prodigal son, it is said, " would fain 
 have filled his belly with the husks, that the 
 swine did eat." In Arabic, the word is rendered charnub, 
 or charub, which seems to refer to the pods or legumes 
 of the carob-tree, caroba of the Italians, algaroba of the 
 Spaniards and Moors, Ceratonia Siliqua of botanists. 
 The tree belongs to the natural order Leguminosse, the 
 legume-bearing family, and section Csesalpinese, in which 
 the petals have a pea-like arrangement, but the upper 
 one is interior. 
 
 The tree is common in the south of Europe as well as 
 in Syria and Egypt. Its pods or husks received the 
 name of keratia from their fancied resemblance to a 
 slightly curved horn, or keras. These husks were 
 formerly used in large quantity to feed cattle and swine, 
 and they are often mentioned in this point of view by 
 
N 
 
 HUSK-TREE. 
 
 old authors. Horace, in his Epistles, alludes to living 
 upon husks as upon vile food 
 
 ' ECTM. IL L 123. 
 
 Persius and Juvenal also allude to them. Pliny describes 
 
 them as the food of pigs (lib. xv., cap. 23, 24;. At the 
 present day, they are employed in Spain and other 
 countries to feed horses, asses, and mules ; and they were 
 frequently given to horses by the British soldiers during 
 the Peninsular War. The pods are imported into Britain 
 
HTSK-TREE. 
 
 in small quantity, as food for horses and cattle. The 
 locust beans, as they are called by farmers, are mixed 
 with oil-cake and a little meal They do not require to 
 be crushed: for, being very palatable, the animAk masti- 
 cate them well before swallowing them. Camels are also 
 fed on them. Hence they are called by the Turks deuxh 
 ctmeghi, or "the bread of the cameL" A tree will some- 
 times produce eight hundred to nine hundred pounds of 
 pods. 
 
 The pod is six to eight inches in length, and about an 
 inch in breadth. It is flattened 
 on the sides, and is about a 
 quarter of an inrh in thickness. 
 The seeds are of a reddish brown 
 colour, and are immersed in a 
 sweetish pulp. In times of scar- 
 city, the pod has been used by 
 man as food. Some have called 
 the tree locust-tree, and St. John's 
 bread-tree, from a mistaken notion 
 that its pods were the locusts 
 referred to in Matt, iii 4, and 
 Mark L 6, as forming part of the 
 
 food of the Baptist. The German name for the fruit, 
 for the same reason, is Johannisbrod. 
 
 Rawolf, in his account of a journey from Bethlehem 
 to Jerusalem, says: " Along the roads were a good many 
 of the trees which are called by the inhabitants cfomwW 
 (the Arabic cfaimui), and the fruit of which we cafl St 
 John's bread ; it was brought to us in great quantities.* 
 
96 HUSK-TREE. 
 
 In the case of the prodigal son, the feeding on husks 
 pointed out the low and miserable condition to which he 
 was reduced when he wandered from his father's house. 
 He would fain have been content with the most miserable 
 fare, and was in a very degraded situation, although, in 
 his madness and folly, he knew it not. His condition 
 represents that of the sinner who has wandered from 
 God, and who is content with the unsatisfying husks of 
 this world's enjoyments. 
 
PLAN E-T REE. 
 
 (Platanus orientalis, Ait.) 
 
 The chesnut trees [plane-trees] were not like his branches." EZEK. xxxi. 8. 
 
 |N two passages of the Old Testament we meet 
 with the Hebrew word armon, and in both 
 of them it has been translated "chesnut." 
 Thus, in Genesis xxx. 37, it is said, "And 
 Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and 
 chesnut tree ; " and again, in Ezekiel xxxi. 8, " The 
 cedars in the garden of God could not hide him ; the fir 
 trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees 
 were not like his branches." The best commentators 
 consider the tree to be the Eastern plane-tree, the 
 Platanus orientalis of botanists. It is so rendered in 
 the Septuagint. It is a large tree, with spreading 
 branches. Ovid speaks of " platano conspectior alta ; " 
 and Martial alludes to the tree thus : " Ramis sidera 
 celsa petit." De la Roque, in his " Travels in Syria and 
 Mount Lebanon," says: "We dined in the midst of this 
 little forest. It is composed of twenty cedars, of such 
 enormous size that they far exceed the more beautiful 
 
 13 
 
98 PLANE-TREE. 
 
 plane-trees, sycomores, and other large trees, which we 
 had been in the habit of seeing during our journey." 
 Royle says : " It may be remarked that this tree is in 
 Genesis associated with such trees as the willow and 
 poplar, which, like it, grow on low grounds, where the 
 soil is rich and humid. Russel names the plane, willow, 
 
 PLANE-TREE. (Chesnut-tree of Scripture. ) 
 
 and poplar as trees which grow in the same situations 
 near Aleppo. This congruity would be lost if the chest- 
 nut were understood, as that tree prefers dry and hilly 
 situations." 
 
 The plane-tree belongs to the natural order Platanacese, 
 or the Plane-tree family, which are catkin-bearing plants, 
 with the flowers in clusters of rounded balls, pendulous 
 
PLANE-TREE. 99 
 
 on a common stalk. The leaves of the Oriental plane 
 are palmate, resembling those of our common sycamore, 
 which is a species of maple. The resemblance in the 
 form of the leaves has caused the latter to be denominated 
 in Scotland the plane-tree, and to be named botanically 
 false plane (Acer pseudo-platanus). The wood of the 
 true plane is hard and fine-grained, and when old 
 resembles walnut-wood in its dark veining. The timber 
 was used for making vessels for the vintage, and for 
 other purposes. 
 
 The tree is a native of the western parts of Asia, and 
 it extends as far as to Cashmere. It was held sacred in 
 the East, and was valued for its shade by the Greeks 
 and Romans. Themistius speaks of disputations under 
 the lofty platanus. Belon says that the plane-trees of 
 Mount Athos may be compared in height to the cedars 
 of Lebanon, and to the lofty pines of Mount Olympus 
 and Aman. He also notices the occurrence of fine 
 plane-trees at the entrance to- Antioch ; and De la Roque 
 refers to the forest of plane-trees and cypresses which 
 border the river Orontes, in the plains of Antioch. 
 Xerxes is said to have paid homage to a large plane- 
 tree in Lydia. 
 
NUTS; 
 
 INCLUDING THE WALNUT TREE (J^glans regia, Linn.} AND 
 THE PISTACIA NUT (Pistada vera, Linn). 
 
 "The garden of nuts " [walnuts]. SONG OF SOLOMON vi. 11. 
 
 " Carry down... myrrh, nuts [pistacia nuts], and almonds." GEN. xliii. 11. 
 
 |HE Hebrew word egoz has been rendered, in 
 our version of the Bible, " nuts." It occurs in 
 the Song of Solomon (vi. 11): "I went down 
 into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of 
 the valley." It is the Arabic gjaus or ghaus, and the 
 Syriac gusa, which were names given to the walnut. 
 Hence the plant is believed to be the walnut-tree, the 
 Juglans regia of botanists. The fruit is the caruon 
 basilicon or royal nut of the Greeks, the nux of the 
 Romans, and the noix of the French. The Latin term 
 Juglans is a corruption of Jovis-glans, or Jupiter's nut. 
 It appears to have been one of the many kinds of fruits 
 which Solomon introduced into his gardens and orchards 
 (Eccles. ii. 5). 
 
 The walnut-tree belongs to the natural order Juglan- 
 dacese, the "Walnut family, in which the flowers are in 
 catkins, and the fruit is a drupe, usually with a two- 
 valved endocarp or shell, and a peculiarly lobed and 
 
NUTS. 101 
 
 divided seed. The latter character is well seen in the 
 common walnut. The tree is wide-spreading, and- affords 
 a grateful shade. It flowers in April, and has ripe fruit 
 in September and October. Its leaves are fragrant when 
 bruised. The outer covering of the fruit is astringent, 
 and dyes the fingers black during the process of peeling. 
 
 WALNUT-TREE. (Juglans regia.) 
 
 The thin outer covering of the seed immediately under 
 the shell is bitter, and in its fresh state requires to be 
 removed before the kernel is eaten. The seed yields a 
 large quantity of drying oil. The timber is valued for 
 carpenter-work. 
 
 The tree extends from Greece and Asia Minor through 
 Persia to the Himalaya. In Cashmere walnuts are 
 
102 NUTS. 
 
 cultivated for their oil. Josephus says that the walnut- 
 trees were very productive around the Lake of Gennesa- 
 ret. Schulz also mentions large walnut-trees between 
 Ptolemais and Nazareth. Travellers record the occurrence 
 of the tree in Syria ; Thevenot found it near Mount 
 Sinai, and Belon alludes to it as abundant near Lebanon. 
 
 Another Hebrew word, botnim, has been also rendered 
 " nuts" in our version of the Bible. It occurs in Genesis 
 xliii. 11, where Israel says to his sons, "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." Various plants 
 have been considered as yielding the nuts referred to in 
 this passage. Considering that the fruit was the com- 
 mon produce of Syria, and that the allied Arabic word, 
 batam or botin, is applied to a species of terebinth, it 
 is now supposed that Bochart was correct in saying that 
 the nuts were the pistacia or pistachio nuts of commerce, 
 the produce of the Pistacia vera of botanists. Betonim, 
 a name applied to a town of the Gadites (Josh. xiii. 26), 
 is probably a modification of the same word. 
 
 The pistacia-nut tree belongs to the natural order 
 Anacardiacese or Terebinthacese, the Cashew family. 
 The green-coloured kernels yield oil. Koyle says : " Pis- 
 tachio nuts are much eaten by the natives of the coun- 
 tries where they are grown, and they form an article of 
 commerce from Afghanistan to India. They are also 
 exported from Syria to Europe. They might, therefore, 
 well have formed a part of the present intended for 
 Joseph." Aleppo is still famous for pistachio nuts. 
 
VINE. 
 
 ( Vitis vinifera, Linn. ) 
 
 I am the tme vine, and my Father is the husbandman." JOHN xv. 1. 
 
 J HE vine is expressed in Hebrew by the word 
 gephen, and in Greek by the word ampelos ; 
 while the grape or the fruit of the vine is the 
 anul or yayin of Hebrew, and the staphyle 
 of Greek writers. The plant is called by botanists Vitis 
 vinifera. It belongs to the natural order Vitacese or 
 Ampelidese, the Vine family. 
 
 The vine, its fruit, and the wine made from it, are 
 often referred to in the Bible. The plant is said to be 
 a native of the hilly region on the southern shores of 
 the Caspian, of the Persian province of Ghilan, and of 
 Armenia. It has been distributed extensively over the 
 world, and its cultivation is noticed in the earliest times. 
 Noah planted a vineyard after the Deluge, probably in 
 Armenia, and made wine from the grapes (Gen. ix. 20, 
 21). Wine is mentioned in the interview between 
 Abraham and Melchizedek (Gen. xiv. 18). In the bless- 
 ing of Judah, Jacob says, " He washed his garments in 
 
104 VINE. 
 
 wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes " (Gen. xlix. 
 11), as indicative of prosperity. The vine was known 
 to the Egyptians (Gen. xl. 9-11), and is represented 
 on their monuments. The Israelites, in their journey 
 through the wilderness, longed for the vines of Egypt 
 (Num. xx. 5) ; and the psalmist, in alluding to God's 
 judgments on Pharaoh, introduces the vines as being 
 destroyed (Ps. Ixxviii. 47 ; cv. 33). 
 
 Vineyards abounded in Canaan when the Israelites 
 took possession of it, and the vines were very productive. 
 The Promised Land seems specially the country of the 
 vine, and the climate is still fitted for its cultivation. 
 The evidences of terraced vineyards, of wine-presses and 
 vats, still remain. The men who were sent by Moses to 
 search the land, cut in Nachal-Eshcol that is, the Valley 
 of Eshcol. or the Grape Valley, near Hebron a cluster 
 of grapes which was so large that it was carried by two 
 upon a staff (Num. xiii. 23). In Syria, at the present 
 day, clusters weighing ten or twelve pounds have been 
 gathered. Frequent allusions occur in the Bible to vine- 
 yards, to vine-dressers, to the rejoicing at the vintage, the 
 gathering and the gleaning of grapes, the treading of the 
 grapes, the wine-presses and the wine-fats all indicating 
 the important place which the vine occupied among the 
 vegetable productions of Palestine. In that country the 
 vintage extended from the beginning of September to 
 the end of October. In speaking of the future pros- 
 perity of Israel, Amos says that the days will come when 
 " the treaders of grapes shall overtake him that soweth 
 seed" (Amos ix. 13), thus indicating a long-continued 
 
VINE. 105 
 
 vintage; while, in speaking of desolation, Isaiah says, 
 " In the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall 
 there be shouting : the treaders shall tread out no wine 
 in their presses ; I have made their vintage shouting to 
 cease" (Isa. xvi. 10). 
 
 The treading of the grapes is often mentioned as a 
 joyful occasion : " He shall give a shout, as they that 
 tread the grapes " (Jer. xxv. 30). The treaders had their 
 feet and legs bare, but when first leaping on the grapes 
 the juice often dyed their clothes. Hence the allusion 
 in Isaiah Ixiii. 2, 3, where the Lord speaks of treading the 
 wine-press alone, and of staining all his raiment 
 
 In gathering the grapes, the Israelites were told to 
 leave gleanings for the poor and the stranger (Lev. xix. 1 0). 
 
 Some choice vines are mentioned under the name of 
 sorek (Gen. xlix. 11 ; Isa. v. 2 ; Jer. ii. 21). The vine- 
 yards of Eshcol, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sibmah, Jazer, En- 
 gedi, and Helbon, were celebrated (Song of Sol. i. 14 ; 
 Isa. xvi. 8-10 ; Jer. xlviii. 32, 33 ; Ezek. xxvil 18). 
 
 The wine of Helbon is still famous ; and Damascus 
 must always have been the natural channel for its 
 export. Ezekiel says : " Damascus was thy merchant in 
 the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the 
 multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and 
 white wool." The "wine of Lebanon" is also mentioned 
 in Hosea xiv. 7, and it is still in repute. 
 
 Vineyards were specially protected. In the Mosaic 
 law there was an injunction against trespassing on vine- 
 yards. Isaiah thus speaks of a vineyard : " My well- 
 beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill : and he 
 
 14 
 
106 VINE. 
 
 fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted 
 it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst 
 of it [for watchers], and also made a winepress therein" (Isa. 
 v. 1, 2). In Psalm Ixxx. 12, allusion is made to the hedges 
 of the vineyard ; and in the New Testament it is said, " A 
 householder planted a vineyard, and hedged it round 
 about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower " 
 (Matt. xxi. 33 ; Mark xii. 1). Jackals (called foxes in 
 Scripture) were apt to injure the vines. Hence, in the 
 Song of Solomon, we have, " Take us the foxes, the little 
 foxes, that spoil the vines : for our vines have tender 
 grapes" (ii. 15). Vines were trained in various ways in 
 Palestine. Sometimes they were trained over walls or 
 trellises, so as to form a complete bower almost like a 
 tree. Perhaps the patriarch Jacob alluded to this in the 
 blessing of Joseph, when he spoke of " a fruitful bough, 
 whose branches run over the wall" (Gen. xlix. 22); and 
 the psalmist when he speaks of "a fruitful vine by the 
 sides of thine house " (Ps. cxxvii. 3). 
 
 The vine has followed the footsteps of man, and has 
 been transplanted by him into all parts of the world. 
 The juice of the young fruit, called verjuice, is very sour ; 
 that of the riper fruit is called must, and is used as a 
 refreshing drink in some countries. It is probably 
 referred to in those passages of Scripture in which the 
 expression " the blood of the grape " occurs. There was 
 a thin sour wine used by the poorer classes, which is often 
 translated "vinegar" (Ruth ii. 14). It might be this which 
 was offered to the Saviour on the cross (Matt, xxvii. 48). 
 The dried fruit, known as " raisins," is also noticed in the 
 
VINE. 107 
 
 Bible (1 Sam. xxv. 18, xxx. 12 ; 2 Sam. xvi. 1 ; 1 Chron. 
 xii. 40). Many illustrations are taken from the vine. 
 Israel is represented as a vine brought from Egypt, and 
 planted by the Lord (Ps. Ixxx. 8 11 ; Isa. v. 7; Jer. ii. 21). 
 Dwelling under the vine and fig-tree is an emblem of peace 
 and tranquillity (Micah iv. 4 ; Zech. iii. 10). A fruitful 
 vine is associated with domestic happiness (Ps. cxxviii. 3). 
 The production of wild grapes and of grapes of gall, an 
 empty vine, and a strange vine, are figurative expres- 
 sions used to illustrate the departure of Israel from God 
 (Deut. xxxii. 32, 33 ; Isa. v. 2, 4 ; Jer. ii. 21 ; Hos. x. 1). 
 The phrase " wild grapes " is by some translated " putrid 
 grapes." They are considered by Berkeley as grapes 
 affected with rot or mildew. Our Saviour calls himself 
 the true vine, into which his disciples are grafted, so as 
 to bring forth much fruit (John xv.). 
 
 Robinson mentions an ancient wine-press at Hableh. 
 " Advantage had been taken of a ledge of rock ; on the 
 upper side, towards the south, a shallow vat had been 
 dug out eight feet square and fifteen inches deep, its 
 bottom inclining slightly towards the north. The thick- 
 ness of the rock left on the north was one foot, and two 
 feet lower down on that side another smaller vat was 
 excavated four feet square by three feet deep. The 
 grapes were trodden in the shallow upper vat, and the 
 juice drawn off by a hole at the bottom into the lower 
 vat." (Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1856, p. 137.) 
 In Isaiah xvi. 7, it is written, " For the foundations of Kir- 
 hareseth shall ye mourn;" but it should be, "For the raisin- 
 cakes of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn." (See Hosea iii. 1.) 
 
WILLOW-TREE. 
 
 (Salix babylonica, Linn.) 
 
 " They shall spring up.. .as willows by the water courses." ISA. xliv. 4. 
 
 | HE Hebrew words oreb and orebim, which 
 are also written 'arab and 'arabim, occur in 
 the Old Testament, and have been translated 
 "willow," or "willows." Several species may 
 have been included under the name orebim. We have 
 figured Salix babylonica, the weeping-willow, as being 
 probably one of them, and as being that more especially 
 referred to in Psalm cxxxvii. 1, 2, when Israel in cap- 
 tivity says, " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat 
 down ; yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We 
 hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst 
 thereof." 
 
 Willows belong to the natural order Salicinese, the 
 Willow family, consisting of useful timber trees having 
 a tonic and astringent bark, flowers in catkins, and seeds 
 covered with silky hairs. 
 
 Willows are found in moist situations, beside running 
 brooks as well as by still waters. In the Bible, the locality 
 
WILLOW-TREE. 
 
 109 
 
 of their growth is usually associated with them. Thus, 
 on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Israelites 
 are enjoined to take " boughs of goodly trees, branches 
 [leaves] of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, 
 and willows of the brook" [wady or ravine], and to 
 "rejoice before the Lord... seven days" (Lev. xxiii. 40). 
 
 
 WILLOW-TREE. (Sato babylonica.) 
 
 These were employed in the construction of booths 
 (Lev. xxiii. 42). Job, in describing behemoth (probably 
 the hippopotamus), says : " The shady trees cover him 
 with their shadow ; the willows of the brook compass 
 him about" (Job xl. 22). In the seventeenth verse of 
 the same chapter, the word " cedar " ought to be willow 
 " He moveth his tail like a willow." In proclaiming 
 
110 WILLOW-TREE. 
 
 the burden of Moab, the prophet says : " Therefore the 
 abundance they have gotten, and that which they have 
 laid up, shall they carry away to the brook [valley] 
 of the willows" (Isa. xv. 7). Again, in comforting 
 the Church with his gracious promises, God speaks thus 
 by the mouth of his prophet : " And they [their off- 
 spring] shall spring up as among the grass, as willows 
 by the water courses " (Isa. xliv. 4) ; indicating a con- 
 stant supply of refreshing water, when the Lord " will 
 pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon 
 the dry ground " (Isa. xliv. 3). 
 
 Willows were thus associated both with the joyous and 
 the sorrowful days of the children of Israel. When 
 captives in Babylon, their grief was poured forth under 
 the willows ; and in contemplating God's purposes of 
 mercy towards them, they are directed to the willows as 
 emblems of their growth, and as recalling the willows of 
 the brook with which they rejoiced in their feast-days 
 of old. 
 
 Another Hebrew word, teaphtzapka, or zaphzapha, 
 has been translated " willow-tree." It occurs in Ezekiel 
 xvii. 5 : " He took also of the seed of the land, and 
 planted it in a fruitful field ; he placed it by great 
 waters, and set it as a willow tree." This appears to 
 be a species of willow called by the Arabs safsaf, which 
 is the generic name. This may be Salix cegyptiaca of 
 botanists. This tree was noticed by Hasselquist in his 
 journey from Acre to Sidon. 
 
 There are other species of willow in the Holy Land, 
 such as Salix octandra, Salix viminalis, the common 
 
WILLOW-TREE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 osier. The word safsaf is found in the names of places. 
 Thus there is Wady Safsaf, " the valley of the willow ;" 
 and Ain Safsaf, " the fountain of the willow." 
 
 Tristram, from his observations in Palestine, is dis- 
 posed to think that the " willow by the water-courses" is 
 
 OLEANDER. 
 
 more especially applicable to Nerium Oleander, the rose 
 bay oleander. This is a native plant of Palestine, and 
 is a very conspicuous one, and could hardly be omitted 
 in the Bible. " It fringes the whole Upper Jordan, dip- 
 ping its wavy crown of red into the spray in the rapids 
 under Hermon, and is nurtured by the oozy marshes in 
 
112 WILLOW-TREE. 
 
 the Lower Jordan nearly as far as to Jericho. The im- 
 mediate basin of the Dead Sea is too hot for it ; every- 
 where else it demands but moisture, and springs up by 
 the water-courses." This plant, the Nerium Oleander of 
 Linnaeus, belongs to the natural order Apocynacese, the 
 Dog-bane family, which contains many poisonous plants. 
 Some think that it corresponds to the Rhodon, or rose 
 of the Apocrypha. 
 
CAMPHIRE. 
 
 (Lawsonia inermis, Linn. ] 
 
 "As a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi." SONG OF SOL. i. 14. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word kopher or copher occurs in 
 the Song of Solomon, and has been translated 
 " camphire." Thus the king says, " My be- 
 loved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in 
 the vineyards of En-gedi " (i. 14) ; and again, " Thy plants 
 are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits ; 
 camphire, with spikenard" (iv. 13). The Hebrew word 
 resembles the Greek kapros or cypros, which is applied 
 by Dioscorides and Pliny to a plant known to botanists 
 by the name of Lawsonia inermis. It belongs to the 
 natural order Lythraceae, the Loose-strife family. It is 
 an odoriferous shrub, the henna or alkanna of Cyprus 
 and Egypt. It is found in Arabia, and on the shores of 
 the Dead Sea at En-gedi. Its fragrant flowers grow in 
 clusters, and it is used in the East for dyeing the nails, 
 the palms of the hands, and the soles of the feet of an 
 iron-rust colour. The object of this custom is to check 
 perspiration. Henna powder is procured from the stem 
 
 15 
 
114 CAMPHIEE. 
 
 and leaves of the plant. These are put into hot water, 
 stirred and boiled well, and then left on the fire for two 
 hours, until the mass becomes a paste, which when 
 applied to the hair and the skin, tinges them with an 
 orange colour. The plant is used for dyeing morocco 
 leather. The custom of dyeing the nails was an ancient 
 one in Egypt. It is said that the nails of mummies 
 (especially females) have sometimes traces of it. Some 
 think that there is an allusion made to the practice in 
 Deuteronomy xxi. 1 2, where, in place of " pare her 
 nails," the phrase might be rendered, " adorn her nails." 
 
In addition to the Plants which we have figured and 
 described, there are other Trees and Shrubs which are 
 briefly or very obscurely alluded to in the Bible. The 
 following are recorded here in order to complete the list. 
 
 ALMUG OR ALGUM TREE. 
 
 (Santalum album, Linn., according to some, while according to others 
 it is Pterocarpus santalinus.) 
 
 " The navy of Hiram... brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees." 
 1 KINGS x. 11. 
 
 ALGUM or almug trees are mentioned in Scripture ; 
 they do not appear, however, to have been trees of the 
 Holy Land. 
 
 The Hebrew words almuggim and algummim are 
 translated "almug" or "algum trees," in our version of the 
 Bible. The plant referred to is supposed to be the 
 sandal-wood of India called Santalum album by botan- 
 ists, and belonging to the natural order Santalacese, or 
 the Sandal-wood family. Others, however, think that 
 the plant is more probably Pterocarpus santalinus, or 
 the red sandal-wood of India. This belongs to the 
 natural order Leguminosse and the sub-order Papilionacese. 
 The wood was brought from Ophir (probably some part 
 of India) by Hiram, and was used in the formation of 
 
116 ALOES-TREE, OR LIGN- ALOES TREE. 
 
 pillars for the temple, and for the king's house, as well 
 as for harps and psalteries (1 Kings x. 11, 12 ; 2 Chron. 
 iii. 8, ix. 10, 11). The wood of the white sandal- wood 
 is fragrant, and is used for incense in China. Large 
 quantities of this sandal-wood are cut in Malabar for 
 export to China and different parts of India. The outer 
 wood of the stem is white and has no odour, while the 
 central part, especially near the root, is fragrant. The 
 red sandal-wood is a heavy, fine-grained, red-coloured 
 wood, and is used in the East for making musical 
 instruments. 
 
 ALOES-TREE, OR LIGN-ALOES TREE. 
 
 (Aquilaria Agallochum, Roxb.) 
 "All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia." PSALM xlv. 8. 
 
 THE Hebrew words, ahdlim and ahdloth, and the Greek 
 aloe, are rendered "aloes," in our version of Scripture. 
 The substance is supposed by some to have been the 
 fragrant wood of Aquilaria, Agallochum, by others 
 to be the gum. This is a plant belonging to the 
 natural order Aquilariacese, found in Northern India 
 and Cochin China, and attaining a height of one 
 hundred and twenty feet, but which does not occur 
 in Syria or Chaldsea. There is, therefore, some 
 doubt as to the tree mentioned in Scripture. Trees 
 of lign-aloes are referred to in Numbers xxiv. 6. The 
 use of aloes as a perfume is noticed in Psalm xlv. 8 ; 
 Proverbs vii. 17 ; in the Song of Solomon iv. 14 ; and 
 for perfuming the coverings of the dead it is referred to 
 
ASH-TREE EBONY-TREE. 117 
 
 in John xix. 39, 40, where it is said that Mcodemus, 
 after the manner of the Jews, "brought a mixture of myrrh 
 and aloes, about an hundred pound weight," in order to 
 impart fragrance to the linen clothes in which our Sav- 
 iour's body was wound. We must not confound this 
 aloes with the bitter aloes so well known as a medicine, 
 which is the produce of a totally different plant, and 
 which does not possess the fine fragrance of the sub- 
 stance now under consideration. 
 
 ASH-TEEE. 
 
 " He planteth an ash [oren], and the rain doth nourish it." ISA. xliv. 14. 
 
 THE Hebrew word oren, which occurs in Isaiah xliv. 14, 
 is translated "ash" in our version. It is supposed by some 
 to mean a kind of pine-tree, while others look upon it 
 as a thorny shrub allied to Rhamnus or Capparis. We 
 still want information on the subject. The Syrian pine 
 is Pinus halepensis. It belongs to the natural order 
 Coniferae. Tristram says that there is a tree in the 
 valleys of Arabia Petrsea, called in Arabic aran, whose 
 foliage resembles that of our mountain-ash. 
 
 EBONY-TREE. 
 
 (Diospyros ebenus, Retz.) 
 
 " They brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony." 
 EZEK. xxvii. 15. 
 
 THE Hebrew word, hobnim, occurs in Ezekiel xxvii. 15, 
 and has been translated "ebony." It was brought to Tyre 
 
118 
 
 EBONY-TREE. 
 
 by the merchants of Dedan, who came from the Persian 
 Gulf. This wood appears to be the product of various 
 
 EBONY-TREE. (Diospyros ebenus.) 
 
 trees, more particularly of species of Diospyros such as 
 Diospyros ebenus. They belong to the natural order 
 Ebenacese, and are valued for their hard and durable 
 
JUNIPER-BUSH. 119 
 
 timber. The outside wood of the ebony-tree is white 
 and soft, while the central part is black and hard. The 
 ebony-tree is a native of Ceylon and Southern India. 
 
 JUNIPER-BUSH. 
 
 A KIND OF BEOOM. 
 
 (Genista monosperma, Lam.) 
 
 " He lay and slept under a juniper tree [rotheni]." 1 KINGS xix. .5. 
 
 THE Hebrew word rothem, or rotem, has been rendered 
 " juniper " in our version. It seems to be the same as the 
 Arabic word retem, and the retama of the Moors. 
 These terms are applied to a kind of broom. It is be- 
 lieved that rotem is the Genista monosperma of botanists, 
 belonging to the natural order Leguminosse (Pea family), 
 and includes Papilionacese. It is a shrubby plant with 
 white blossoms. It is found in Spain, Portugal, Barbary, 
 Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. Elijah rested under the 
 shade of the rotem or broom (1 Kings xix. 4, 5). Lord 
 Lindsay states that, during his travels in the valleys of 
 Mount Sinai, " the rattam, a species of broom, bearing a 
 white flower delicately streaked with purple, afforded 
 him shelter from the sun while in advance of the 
 caravan." Dean Stanley also mentions that during a 
 storm of rain in the desert he sheltered himself under a 
 retem bush. It is a large and conspicuous plant in 
 deserts. It is used for making charcoal by the Arabs. 
 The use of the plant as fuel is referred to in Psalm cxx. 
 4, " Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper ; " 
 
120 POPLAR. 
 
 and it would appear that its roots were eaten in certain 
 circumstances, for Job says, "Who cut up mallows by the 
 bushes, and juniper roots for their meat " (Job xxx. 4), 
 The Israelites encamped in the wilderness of Paran at 
 Bithmah, or "place of broom" (Num. xxxiii. 18). 
 
 POPLAR 
 
 (Populus alia, Linn.) 
 " They burn incense under oaks, and poplars, and elms." Hos. iv. 13. 
 
 THE Hebrew word libneh, meaning " white," has been 
 translated "poplar" in Genesis xxx. 37 and Hosea iv. 13. 
 Some think that the name may refer to the white 
 poplar (Populus alba of Linn.), which is remarkable for 
 the whiteness of the under side of its leaves. This tree 
 belongs to the natural order Salicinece, the Willow 
 family. The tree grows in the mountainous districts of 
 Palestine, and in various parts of Galilee, Lebanon, and 
 Mount Hermon. On the banks of the Jordan another 
 species of poplar grows (Populus euphratena), the 
 Euphrates poplar. Layard says that the only trees 
 within the land of Assyria sufficiently large to furnish 
 beams to span a room thirty or forty feet wide are the 
 palm and the poplar. Their trunks still form the roofs 
 of houses in Mesopotamia. The boats now employed in 
 the lower parts of the Tigris and Euphrates are con- 
 structed of planks taken from a species of poplar, prob- 
 ably Populus euphratena. 
 
 Some authors think that the word libneh refers to 
 
MYRRH-TREE. 
 
 121 
 
 the storax plant (Styrax officinale of Linnaeus), which 
 has white flowers, and a white lower surface of the 
 leaves. The plant yields a fragrant resin called storax, 
 containing benzoic acid, and is used as a pectoral remedy. 
 Storax is probably the stacte of the Bible. (See Stacte.) 
 
 MYRRH-TREE. 
 
 (Balsamodendron Myrrlia, Ehrenb.) 
 Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense." SONG OF SOL. iii. 6. 
 
 are 
 
 THE Hebrew word mohr and the Greek smurna 
 translated " myrrh " in the 
 Bible. This substance is a fra- 
 grant sort of gum which exudes 
 from various trees in Arabia 
 and Abyssinia, one of the chief 
 being Balsamodendron Myrrha, 
 or the myrrh . balsam-tree, be- 
 longing to the natural order 
 Amyridacese, the Myrrh family. 
 Myrrh was celebrated as a per- 
 fume, and as a stimulant medi- 
 cine. It was burned in temples, 
 and was employed in embalm- 
 ing (John xix. 39). It entered 
 into the composition of the 
 holy anointing oil (Ex. xxx. 
 23). It was given as a present, from its value and 
 rarity (Matt. ii. 11), and its fragrance is often made 
 
 16 
 
 MYRRH. 
 
122 ESHEL. 
 
 mention of (Ps. xlv. 8 ; Song of Sol. iii. 6, iv. 6, 14, 
 v. 1, 5, 13). 
 
 The balm of Gilead is supposed to be the produce of 
 Balsamodendron gileadense. The native country of the 
 plant is the east coast of Africa, but it was cultivated 
 extensively in the plains of Jericho. From the bark of 
 the tree there is obtained by incision a fragrant exuda- 
 tion of a yellow colour, which was used as a stomachic, 
 and was applied to wounds. 
 
 Many species of Balsamodendron are called balsam- 
 trees. They are mentioned under the Hebrew names 
 of basam and Baal-shemen. The word tzeri, also trans- 
 lated "balm," occurs in Gen. xxxvii. 25, xliii. 11; 
 Jer. viii. 22, xlvi. 11, li. 8; and Ezek. xxvii. 17. "Is 
 there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there ? " 
 (Jer. viii. 22.) The word basam is often translated 
 "spices" (Song of Sol. v. 1, 13, vi. 2 ; Ex. xxxv. 28; 
 1 Kings x. 10). (See also Ladanum.) 
 
 ESHEL. 
 
 (Translated Grove, and Tree.) 
 
 " Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree [eshel or tamarisk] in Ramah." 
 1 SAM. xxii. 6. 
 
 ESHEL is a Hebrew word, which occurs in Genesis xxi. 
 33, where it is translated "grove ; " and in 1 Samuel xxii. 
 6 and xxxi. 13, where it is translated "tree." It is said 
 that "Abraham planted a grove [eshel] in Beer-sheba, 
 and called there on the name of the Lord ; " that " Saul 
 abode in Gibeah under a tree [eshel] in Kamah ; " and 
 
ESHEL. 
 
 123 
 
 finally, that Saul and his sons were buried " under a tree 
 [eshel] at Jabesh." Royle considers the word as being 
 
 TAMARISK-TREE. 
 
 equivalent to the Arabic asul or athul, which refers to 
 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 
 been expressed, is the oil-cake which is given as food to 
 
150 FLAX. 
 
 cattle. Frequent references are made in the Bible to 
 flax and linen. In Egypt the flax plant was extensively 
 cultivated, and employed for the manufacture of linen. 
 The cloth made from it was used to wrap the mum- 
 mies. By examining the mummy cloth under the rnicro- 
 
 FLAX. (Linum usitatissimum.) 
 
 scope, we ascertain that it was formed from flax, and 
 not from cotton. On various Egyptian monuments the 
 plant and the preparation of its fibres are represented. 
 The usual mode in which flax is prepared is by steep- 
 ing it in water, allowing all the softer parts to be 
 
FLAX. 151 
 
 removed, and retaining the fibrous portion. The process 
 is tedious, and is often accompanied with injury to the 
 fibres. Of late years great improvements have taken 
 place in the manufacture. 
 
 The first allusion to the flax plant in the Bible is 
 when the plague of hail was sent by God as a judgment 
 on the . Egyptians : " And the flax and the barley was 
 smitten : for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was 
 boiled" (Ex. ix. 31). The period of the year when 
 the plague was sent was spring, probably about April, 
 a time when hail-storms were very uncommon. It 
 would appear, therefore, that, as is the custom in India 
 now-a-days, the flax and the barley were sown in the 
 months of September and October, and the reaping took 
 place in the early part of summer. The flax being 
 " boiled" means that the flower-buds were formed. Some 
 have translated the passage, " the flax was in blossom." 
 Whichever translation is taken, it is clear that the 
 flax was far advanced, so as to be injured by the hail. 
 God showed his power and sovereignty by destroy- 
 ing one of the sources whence the Egyptians derived 
 articles of comfort and luxury. That flax was cultivated 
 in Palestine is shown in Joshua ii. 6, where it is stated 
 that the faithful Rahab used flax to hide the spies sent 
 by Joshua to examine Jericho : " But she had brought 
 them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the 
 stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the 
 roof." In the history of Samson, also (Judges xv. 14), 
 reference is made to flax as being well known. (See also 
 Hosea ii. 5, 9.) The spinning of flax by the hand with 
 
152 FLAX. 
 
 the spindle and distaff is alluded to in Proverbs xxxi. 
 13, 19, where it is said of the virtuous woman, "She 
 seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her 
 hands... She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her 
 hands hold the distaff." 
 
 This mode of preparing yarn is portrayed on the 
 marbles of Athens and Rome, and is still practised in 
 some countries. The working of fine flax and linen was 
 an important manufacture, and the destruction, of those 
 employed in it is mentioned by Isaiah as one of the 
 awful judgments to be inflicted on Egypt : " Moreover, 
 they that work in fine flax, and they that weave net- 
 works [or white works], shall be confounded" (Isa. xix. 9). 
 
 Flax seems to have been put to various uses, as in the 
 preparation of linen clothing, curtains, ephods, girdles, 
 mitres, bonnets, ropes, and wicks. In many passages in 
 Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Chronicles allu- 
 sions are made to the use of linen, and fine linen, in the 
 formation of the priests' garments and of the hangings 
 of the tabernacle. Samuel ministered before the Lord 
 with a linen ephod (1 Sam. ii. 18). David danced 
 before the ark, girded with a linen ephod (2 Sam. vi. 
 14). Jeremiah was told by the Lord to get a linen 
 girdle, and put it upon his loins (Jer. xiii. 1). Solomon 
 had linen yarn brought out of Egypt (1 Kings x. 28 ; 
 2 Chron. i. 16). Ezekiel speaks of a cord or measuring- 
 line of flax (Ezek. xl. 3). Hosea also refers to flax as 
 used for making garments (Hos. ii. 5, 9). 
 
 The words translated " linen" and " fine linen" in these 
 passages are shesh or sheshi, bad, and butz. Some sup- 
 
FLAX. 153 
 
 pose that shesh refers to hemp. The word resembles the 
 Arabic name haschesch, which is applied to hemp. There 
 is much difficulty in determining the sources whence the 
 linen of Scripture was derived. (See Hemp.) 
 
 The use of flax for wicks is referred to by Isaiah. 
 When describing the tenderness and love of the Saviour, 
 he says, " A bruised reed shall he not break, and the 
 smoking flax shall he not quench " (Isa. xlii. 3). This 
 passage is also quoted in Matthew xii. 20, the only place 
 in the New Testament where the word flax occurs. 
 
 In the New Testament, linen is mentioned on several 
 occasions. The Greek word in these passages is byssus. 
 It was in linen that the body of Christ was wrapped 
 (Matt, xxvii. 59; Mark xv. 46 , John xix. 40); and 
 the linen clothes were seen by the disciples when they 
 visited the tomb (Luke xxiv. 12 ; John xx. 57). 
 
 Fine linen constituted the clothing of the rich and 
 great in former times. Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in a 
 vesture of this kind (Gen. xli. 42). Mordecai went out 
 from the presence of the king with a garment of fine 
 linen (butz or buz) and purple (Esther viii. 15). 
 
 Fine linen (shesh) is mentioned by Isaiah and Ezekiel 
 as one of the luxuries of Judah, Jerusalem, and Tyre 
 (Isa. iii. 23; Ezek. xvi. 10, 13, xxvii. 7, 16). The 
 rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen (Luke 
 xvi. 19). Fine linen is recorded among the costly 
 merchandise of mystic Babylon, over the loss of which 
 the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn (Rev. 
 xviii. 12, 16). In the last two passages the word used 
 for fine linen is byssus. 
 
 20 
 
FRANKINCENSE. 
 
 (Boswellia thurifera, Colebr.) 
 
 " Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense." SONG OF 
 SOL. iv. 14. 
 
 IRANKINCENSE is often mentioned in the 
 Bible. It was furnished by many trees, 
 especially by species of Boswellia. These have 
 been well described by Dr. Birdwood in the 
 " Transactions of the Linnsean Society," vol. xxvii., p. 111. 
 The Hebrew word for incense is lebonah. In Exodus 
 xxx. 34, pure frankincense is noticed as one of the 
 ingredients of the sweet spices of which the pure and 
 holy perfume was made after the art of the apothecary, 
 which was offered every morning and evening on the 
 altar of incense. In the Song of Solomon allusion is 
 made to frankincense (iii. 6, iv. 14). The word " incense" 
 meaning frankincense is also often used in the Old 
 Testament : " To what purpose cometh there to me 
 incense [frankincense] from Sheba [Arabia], and the 
 sweet cane [roosa] from a far country?" (Jer. vi. 20.) 
 " I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor 
 
FRANKINCENSE. 
 
 155 
 
 wearied thee with incense [frankincense]. Thou hast 
 brought me no sweet cane [roosa] with money" (Isa. 
 xliii. 23, 24). "The multitude of camels shall cover 
 thee, the dromedaries of Midian 
 and Ephah ; all they from Sheba 
 [Arabia] shall come : they shall 
 bring gold and incense" [frank- 
 incense] (Isa. Ix. 6). The wise 
 men from the east when they 
 came to worship Jesus " presented 
 unto him gifts; gold, frank- 
 incense, and myrrh" (Matt. ii. 11). 
 Frankincense is produced chiefly 
 in Arabia -Felix and the Soumali 
 country. There is a kind of frankincense called oli- 
 banum. It is the produce of Boswellia carterii and 
 Boswellia bhau-dajiana of Birdwood. The plants be- 
 long to the natural order Burseracese, the Myrrh family. 
 
 FRANKINCENSE. 
 (Boswellia thurifera.) 
 
GALBANUM. 
 
 (PolylopUum officinale, Bentli. and Hook.) 
 'Sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum." Ex. xxx. 34. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word chalbaneh, or chelbena, occurs 
 only once in the Bible, and it has been trans- 
 lated " galbanum." We know that it was used 
 along with other spices in forming " an oil of 
 holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the 
 apothecary... an holy anointing oil." It is by no means 
 clearly ascertained what the substance was. The gal- 
 banum of the present day is a fetid gum-resin procured 
 from an umbelliferous plant, and is imported from 
 India and the Levant. The substance occurs in irregular 
 pieces, about the size of a pea, which are usually agglu- 
 tinated into masses of a greenish-yellow colour, having 
 a strong disagreeable odour, and an acrid bitter taste. 
 Some authors name the plant Galbanum officinale. 
 The gum-resin exudes from the plant, and is collected 
 in tears. Many umbel-bearing plants yield gum-resins 
 
GALBANUM. 
 
 157 
 
 GALBANUM. (PolylopMum officinak.) 
 
 of a similar character, which are used by Eastern 
 nations as condiments, although not very palatable to 
 Europeans. 
 
WILD GOURD. 
 
 (Citrullus colocynthis, Schrad.) 
 
 And gathered thereof wild gourds his lap fuiy' 2 KINGS iv. 39. 
 
 fa, fc, K *7 r^ 
 
 | HE Hebrew word pakyotk, translated "wild 
 gourds," occurs in 2 Kings iv. 39, where it is 
 stated that when Elisha came to Gilgal he 
 told his servant to set on the great pot, and 
 seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets ; and that 
 " one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found 
 a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap- 
 full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage ; " 
 and that when they were eating it they cried out that 
 there was " death in the pot." 
 
 It is obvious, from the narrative, that the person who 
 went to gather the herbs had made a mistake in regard 
 to them, and had taken some nauseous and poisonous 
 fruit instead of what was wholesome. From a careful 
 examination of the Hebrew word and of the Arabic 
 version of it, commentators are disposed to think that 
 the wild gourd was the fruit of the colocynth plant, the 
 coloquintida or bitter apple, Cucumis or Citrullus colo- 
 
WILD GOURD. 
 
 159 
 
 cynthis of botanists. It belongs to the natural order 
 Cucurbitacese, the Cucumber family. The fruit of it is 
 used medicinally as an active purgative. It resembles a 
 wild vine, in its trailing mode of growth and in its 
 tendrils. Its fruit is round, orange-coloured, and tempt- 
 ing in appearance ; but the 
 pulp of it is very bitter, 
 and hurtful when taken 
 even in small quantities. 
 In all these respects, then, 
 it would agree with the 
 facts as given in the Scrip- 
 tures. It was probably mis- 
 taken for some of the other 
 species of cucumber or 
 gourd which have eatable 
 fruit. As the plant is not 
 generally diffused over 
 Palestine, it might be un- 
 known to the sons of the 
 prophets. In the tribe of 
 plants to which the cucum- 
 ber, melon, gourd, and 
 vegetable marrow belong, 
 
 there are several bitter, acrid, and even poisonous species. 
 Besides the colocynth, there is another, called the squirt- 
 ing cucumber, which acts as a poison. It receives its 
 name from the fact that when ripe the seeds are squirted 
 out from the interior of the fruit with great force, at the 
 point where the stalk is attached. Some authors think 
 
160 
 
 WILD GOURD. 
 
 that, as the Hebrew word is derived from the verb " to 
 burst," the plant may be this cucumber. In the young 
 state, the fruit is very like the young cucumbers called 
 gherkins. The fruit is a drastic purgative, and acts as a 
 poison. Both of these plants are found in Palestine; 
 
 WILD CUCUMBER SQUIRTING SEED. 
 
 and the colocynth, in particular, trails along the ground 
 in a luxuriant manner there. It abounds in the desert 
 parts of Syria, Arabia, and Persia, and on the banks of 
 the Euphrates and Tigris. Many miles of country are 
 sometimes covered with this plant, which bears a pro- 
 
WILD GOURD. 161 
 
 digious number of gourds. The fruit is imported into 
 this country from Smyrna, Trieste, France, and Spain. 
 
 There is also another species of cucumber having 
 similar properties, and called at the present day the 
 prophets' or globe cucumber Cucumis prophetarum 
 probably from an allusion to the statements in the Bible 
 relative to wild gourds. The fruit is small, being not 
 larger than a cherry. There is a Hebrew word, peJcaim, 
 translated "knops," which occurs in 1 Kings vi. 18, and 
 vii. 24, and which seems to be derived from paJcyoth. 
 These knops were of a rounded form, and were probably 
 made in imitation of the fruit of the wild gourd. 
 
 21 
 
HEMP. 
 
 (Cannabis sativa, Linn.) 
 
 " Thy raiment was of fine linen." EZEK. xvi. 13. 
 
 (HE Hebrew word shesh or sheshi, translated 
 "fine linen," occurs, according to Royle, twenty- 
 eight times in Exodus, once in Genesis, once 
 in Proverbs, and three times in Ezekiel. 
 This fine linen was spun by women, as mentioned in 
 Exodus xxxv. 25, where it is said, " All the women that 
 were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought 
 that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, 
 and of scarlet, and of fine linen." Ezekiel says of Tyrus, 
 " Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that 
 which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail " (Ezek. xxvii. 
 7). The material of which this fine linen was wrought 
 is considered by many to have been the produce of the 
 hemp plant. This is rendered probable also by the simi- 
 larity between shesh and the Arabic word haschesch, which 
 is applied to hemp. Hemp consists of the fibres of 
 Cannabis sativa, a plant belonging to the natural order 
 Urticaceae or nettleworts. It is a native of Persia, and 
 
HEMP. 
 
 163 
 
 is now extensively cultivated in Europe as well as in 
 India. The variety cultivated in India is sometimes 
 called Cannabis indica, and is remarkable for its 
 narcotic qualities. The dried flowering tops of the 
 female plant from which the resin has been removed are 
 used to form a medicinal extract and tincture. The 
 
 HEMP, (Cannabis sativa,) 
 
 resinous matter covering the leaves is called churrus; 
 and the names bhang, gunjah, and haschesch, are given to 
 the dried plant in different states. It seems likely that 
 the hemp plant was cultivated in Egypt in ancient times 
 as well as the flax plant ; but accurate information on 
 
164 HEMP. 
 
 the subject is still wanting. The Hebrew word bad 
 is also translated "linen." Thus it occurs in Exodus 
 xxxix. 28, where it is said that they made for Aaron 
 and his sons " a initre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets 
 of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen." 
 The Hebrew word butz or buz is also translated " fine 
 linen " and " white linen," as in 1 Chronicles iv. 2 1 ; 
 Esther i. 6 ; Ezekiel xxvii. 16, etc. In the New Testa- 
 ment the Greek word byssus is translated " fine linen," 
 as in Luke xvi. 19 ; Kev. xviii. 12, 16, and xix. 8, 14. 
 (See also Flax.) 
 
SAFFRON. 
 
 (Crocus sativus, Linn.) 
 
 " Thy plants are... spikenard and saffron." SONG OP SOL. iv. 13, 14. 
 
 |HE Hebrew word karcom or carcom occurs in the 
 Song of Solomon iv. 14, where it is trans- 
 lated " saffron." It is there mentioned along 
 with other fragrant substances and spices, as 
 spikenard, calamus, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, and 
 aloes. In the Greek it is rendered by the word krokos, 
 and the Arabic name is so/ran. The plant is the Crocus 
 sativus of botanists. It belongs to the natural order 
 Iridacese or Iris family. It is mentioned by ancient 
 classical authors, and it has been cultivated from the 
 earliest times in Asiatic countries. At the present day 
 it is grown extensively in Persia and Kashmir. The 
 saffron of commerce is imported from Spain, France, and 
 Naples. It is a portion of the central part of the flower 
 called the style or the stigma. This portion is removed 
 and dried. It is of an orange-brown colour, and has a 
 powerful aromatic odour. When rubbed on a moist- 
 ened finger, it tinges it intensely orange-yellow. Cake 
 
166 SAFFKON. 
 
 saffron is formed by the stigmas being pressed together, 
 and is imported from Persia into India. In Eastern 
 countries saffron was highly esteemed as a kind of spice, 
 which was used along with food. In India at the 
 present day saffron from Kashmir is employed to colour 
 and flavour native dishes. The cultivation of the saffron 
 crocus was recommended by ancient writers as a means 
 of attracting bees. The plant is cultivated in England, 
 as at Saffron- Walden in Essex, which receives its name 
 from that circumstance. Costly perfumes were made 
 from the plant. Rosenmuller says that "not only 
 saloons, theatres, and places which were to be filled with 
 a pleasant fragrance, were strewed with this substance, 
 but all sorts of vinous tinctures retaining the scent were 
 made of it; and the perfume was poured into small 
 fountains, which diffused a highly-esteemed odour. Even 
 fruit and comfitures placed before guests, and the orna- 
 ments of the rooms, were spiced over with it. It was 
 used for the same purposes as the modern pot-pourri." 
 Saffron is used medicinally in the form of tincture and 
 as an ingredient of aromatic powder. 
 
 The fragrance of this plant and others is used in 
 Scripture to shadow forth the graces of the Christian as 
 brought out by the Sun of Righteousness, and by the 
 breathing of the Spirit, who blows upon the garden and 
 makes the spices thereof flow out. 
 
LENTILES. 
 
 (Ervum lens, Linn.) 
 
 'Jacob gave Esau... pottage of lentiles." GEN. xxv. 34. 
 
 1HE Hebrew word adashim occurs in several 
 places in the Old Testament, and it has been 
 translated " lentiles " or " lentils." These are the 
 seeds of a kind of pulse called Ervum lens or 
 Lens esculenta by botanists. The plant is the phakos of the 
 Greek, the addas of the Arabic. It is an annual, and is 
 the smallest of the cultivated plants of the pea-tribe. It 
 flowers in May and ripens its fruit in July. The seeds 
 contained in the pods are small and flattened, resembling 
 a double-convex lens or magnifying glass ; hence their 
 name. The plant belongs to the natural order Legumin- 
 osse, sub-order Papilionacese. It is cultivated in the 
 south of Europe, Bombay, Egypt, and the Levant. 
 Virgil in the " Georgics " speaks of the Pelusian lentile. 
 It is sometimes used as fodder in England; and an 
 attempt was made not long ago to raise it as pulse in a 
 sheltered locality in Scotland. It is a weak plant, 
 attaining a height of eighteen inches, supporting itself 
 
168 LENTILES. 
 
 by tendrils which twine round other plants. Its leaves 
 are compound, with usually eight pairs of leaflets in 
 each, and have lanceolate, fringed stipules. The pe- 
 duncles are usually two-flowered, and are about as long 
 as the leaves. The flowers are purple and pea-like. 
 
 LENTILES. (Ervum lens.) 
 
 The fruit is a short pod containing two or three seeds. 
 The seeds supply nutritious food, and are employed for 
 making pottage, which is of a yellowish hue or reddish 
 colour. The red pottage which Jacob supplied to Esau, 
 
LENTILES. 169 
 
 and for which the latter sold his birthright, was made 
 of lentiles (Gen. xxv. 29-34). 
 
 Lentiles were cultivated like pease and beans, and 
 we find in 2 Sam. xxiii. 11, an allusion to a field of 
 lentiles which was protected from the Philistines by 
 Shammah, one of David's mighty men. Lentiles are 
 noticed among the provisions brought by Shobi, Machir, 
 and Barzillai to David, when he was in the wilderness 
 on account of the rebellion of Absalom (2 Sam. xvii. 28). 
 
 In times of scarcity lentiles were mixed with wheat, 
 barley, millet, and fitches, in making bread (Ezek. iv. 9). 
 In the southern parts of Egypt it appears that lentiles 
 with a little barley formed almost the only bread used 
 by the poorer classes. Some of the paintings on the 
 tombs of the ancient Egyptians represent the cooking of 
 lentiles and the preparation of pottage from them. 
 
 In some Roman Catholic countries lentiles are used as 
 food during Lent ; and some say that the name of the 
 season is derived from this circumstance. 
 
 The Arabs have a tradition that the place where Esau 
 sold his birthright is in Hebron, near the cave of Mach- 
 pelah ; and it is said that a college of dervises near the 
 spot daily cook pottage of lentiles mixed with pot-herbs, 
 for distribution among the poor. 
 
 22 
 
RUE. 
 
 (Ruta graveolens, Linn.) 
 
 "Ye tithe mint and rue." LUKE xi. 42. 
 
 | HE Greek word peganon, translated "rue," occurs 
 once in Scripture, in Luke xi. 42, "But woe 
 unto you, Pharisees ! for ye tithe mint and 
 rue, and all manner of herbs, and pass over 
 judgment and the love of God : these ought ye to have 
 done, and not to leave the other undone." In the 
 parallel passage, Matthew xxiii. 23, anethon or dill 
 (translated "anise"), is named instead of rue. No doubt 
 both were mentioned by our Lord, and each is recorded 
 by a different evangelist. Both of these herbs were 
 cultivated in Eastern gardens, as they are at the present 
 day. Rue is a strong-scented plant (Ruta graveolens of 
 botanists) which abounds in oil. The plant belongs to 
 the natural order Rutacese. The plants belonging to 
 the rue family are remarkable for the volatile oil which 
 they yield. One of them, the dittany or fraxinella 
 (Dictamnus fraxinella), is said to give out so much oily 
 vapour in a warm, still evening, that the air around it 
 
RUE. 
 
 171 
 
 becomes inflammable. Rue grows wild in the south of 
 Europe and in Palestine. Hasselquist mentions having 
 seen it on Mount Tabor. It is cultivated as a pot-herb, 
 and more especially as a sort of spice or condiment to be 
 used along with food. In old times an arorna was 
 imparted to wine by means of rue. It is also a medi- 
 
 RUE. (Ruta graveolens.) 
 
 cinal plant, and has been prescribed to allay spasms. 
 Oil of rue is distilled in England from the fresh leaves 
 and the unripe fruit. It has a pale yellow colour, a 
 disagreeable odour, and a bitter, acrid taste. The tith- 
 ing of it by the Pharisees calls for the same remarks 
 that have already been made regarding mint, anise, and 
 cummin. They were very particular in regard to out- 
 
172 RUE. 
 
 ward, legal observances, and even went beyond what was 
 required ; but, alas ! they had not the spirit of the com- 
 mandment in their hearts. They neglected weightier 
 matters, judgment and the love of God; and they 
 brought upon themselves the condemnation of our Lord. 
 Hue was anciently called "herb of grace," and it is 
 referred to under this name by Shakespeare : 
 
 " Here in this place 
 I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace." 
 
 From this we have the word rue, meaning repentance, 
 which is needful to obtain God's grace. (Prior on Popu- 
 lar Names of Plants.) 
 
MINT. 
 
 (Mentha sylvestris, Linn.} 
 
 " Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin." MATT, xxiii. 23. 
 
 | HE Greek word heduosmon, or heduosmos, 
 which means " having a sweet smell," occurs 
 in two passages of the New Testament, 
 Matthew xxiii. 23, and Luke xi. 42, and has 
 been translated " mint." It corresponds with the Latin 
 mentJia. The species of mint most common in Syria is 
 that represented in the figure, and called by botanists 
 Mentha sylvestris. It is often cultivated in gardens, and 
 it is generally distributed over Europe, and reaches even 
 to Kashmir. It is likewise found in Britain. The plant 
 belongs to the natural order Labiatse. It is an erect 
 plant, with opposite, nearly sessile, ovate, lanceolate, and 
 downy leaves, which are whitish below. The spikes of 
 flowers are dense, and have a conically-cylindrical form. 
 Another species is also common in Palestine, and is called 
 field-mint (Mentha arvensis). The species of mint have 
 all carminative qualities. They grow usually in damp 
 places, and have reddish flowers arranged in spikes or 
 whorls. 
 
174 
 
 MINT. 
 
 Mint was much used as a condiment in ancient times, 
 from its aromatic qualities, in the same way as it is em- 
 ployed at the present day for a sauce to lamb. Pliny 
 mentions it as highly esteemed. It was easily propagated, 
 and its cultivation was attended with very little expense. 
 
 In Scripture it is noticed 
 along with other sweet herbs, 
 such as anise or dill, cummin 
 and rue, which are commonly 
 found in European gardens at 
 the present day. 
 
 The giving of the tenth part 
 to the Lord was enjoined on 
 the Jews; and the Pharisees 
 were very particular as to the 
 letter, tithing even the smallest 
 products of the garden : but 
 they did it not in a right 
 spirit ; for they neglected the 
 weightier matters of the law 
 judgment, mercy, and truth. 
 These ought they to have done, and not to leave the 
 others undone. 
 
 Lady Callcott, in her "Scripture Herbal," says : "I know 
 not whether mint was originally one of the bitter herbs 
 with which the Israelites ate the paschal lamb ; but the 
 use of it with roast lamb, particularly about Easter time, 
 inclines me to suppose it was." 
 
 MINT. (Mcntha sylvestris.') 
 
ROSE. 
 
 (Narcissus tazetta, Linn.} 
 
 " I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." SONG OF SOL. ii. 1. 
 
 ] HE Hebrew word chabazzeleth, or chabatseleth, 
 has been translated "rose" in our version of 
 the Bible. It is met with in two passages of 
 the sacred volume ; in the Song of Solomon 
 ii. 1, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the 
 valleys;" and in Isaiah xxxv. 1, "The wilderness and 
 the solitary place shall be glad for them ; and the desert 
 shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." It would appear, 
 however, from the researches of Celsius and other learned 
 authors, that in place of the rose a bulbous plant is 
 referred to in all probability a species of narcissus. 
 Royle considers the plant as probably Narcissus tazetta, 
 the Polyanthus narcissus. 
 
 This plant belongs to the natural order Amaryllidaceae, 
 the Amaryllis family. Its white, fragrant flowers, are 
 pushed forth in clusters from sheathing leaves, and it 
 has a corona or crown in the centre of the flower. It is 
 found in Palestine and in Syria, and it is highly esteemed 
 
176 ROSE. 
 
 both for its beauty and its fragrance. It is one of the 
 plants which deck the meadows in spring with their 
 blossoms. It seems to have adorned the level tract along 
 the Mediterranean between Mount Carmel and Csesarea, 
 and which was known as the rich plain of Sharon. 
 Hence the name "rose of Sharon." The fertility and 
 richness of this plain are alluded to by Isaiah when he 
 
 ROSE or SHARON. (Narcissus tazetta.) 
 
 speaks of "the excellency of Carmel and Sharon" (Isa. 
 xxxv. 2). Canon Tristram is disposed to think that the 
 Anemone coronaria is the true rose of Sharon. 
 
 The plant is employed in Scripture to shadow forth 
 Him " who offered himself a sacrifice to God for a sweet- 
 smelling savour;" and to picture the blessedness of that 
 
ROSE. 177 
 
 time when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord. 
 
 In some of the apocryphal books we meet with the 
 word which properly means rose, the rhodon of the 
 Greeks. 
 
 Roses are highly prized in the East, and many wild 
 species have been observed in Syria. The damask and 
 hundred-leaved rose are cultivated extensively. What 
 has been called the rose of Jericho is a species of cruci- 
 form plant, Anastatica hierochuntica, which, after flower- 
 ing, dries up into a sort of ball. 
 
 23 
 
MILLET. 
 
 (Panicum miliaceum, Linn.) 
 
 " Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, 
 and millet." EZEK. iv. 9. 
 
 |HE Hebrew word dokhan, or dochan, occurs 
 in Ezekiel iv. 9, where the Lord says to the 
 prophet, " Take thou also unto thee wheat, 
 and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, 
 and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee 
 bread thereof." These are all plants which are used at 
 the present day to furnish articles of food in Eastern 
 countries. The millet is the produce of Panicum 
 miliaceum. It is the cenchros of the Greeks. The 
 grain is called warree in the East Indies. It belongs to 
 the natural order Graminese or Grasses. Some suppose 
 that Panicum italicum and Sorghum vulgare, the great 
 millet or sowaree, may also be included in the Hebrew 
 word. Both of these are grasses which furnish materials 
 for bread. The common millet is imported from the 
 Mediterranean into Britain. It is sometimes grown in 
 
MILLET. 
 
 179 
 
 England to supply birds' seed. The plant has an erect 
 stalk or culm from two to four feet high, with large 
 leaves and a nodding cluster of fruit. In India and 
 Persia at the present day it is extensively used for food, 
 and it is often mixed with other grain to form bread. 
 
 MILLET. (Panicum miliaceum.) 
 
 There is another grain resembling millet which is 
 imported as an article of food. It is the Andropogon 
 sorghum, durra, or dourra. It is said to be represented, 
 along with other grains, on the ancient tombs of Egypt. 
 
TARES. 
 
 (Lolium temukntum, Linn. ) 
 
 "His enemy came and sowed tares [darnel] among the wheat." 
 MATT. xiii. 25. 
 
 I HE Greek word zizania occurs in Matthew 
 xiii. 25-30, and is translated "tares." The 
 plant to which it refers appears to have been 
 one which had some resemblance to wheat 
 at least in the blade and hence totally unlike the plant 
 called tares now-a-days, which is a kind of vetch. It is 
 said, " But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed 
 tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when 
 the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then 
 appeared the tares also." It is stated, also, that there 
 was a difficulty in separating the one from the other, and 
 a risk of pulling up the wheat as well as the tares in 
 the attempt of the servants to get rid of the latter. 
 
 From a careful investigation of the matter, it has been 
 supposed that the tare (zizaniori) was the plant called 
 darnel-grass (Lolium temulentum), which, while it has 
 
TARES. 
 
 181 
 
 some resemblance to wheat, differs from it totally in 
 
 quality. The darnel is a noxious grass, having narcotic 
 
 qualities to a certain extent ; and hence the necessity for 
 
 rooting it out. An attempt 
 
 to do so, especially in the 
 
 early stages of growth, 
 
 might be unsuccessful, from 
 
 the great similarity between 
 
 it and wheat. It is only 
 
 at the time of harvest, when 
 
 the fruit is produced, that 
 
 the two crops can be accu- f 
 
 rately distinguished. The 
 
 plant is the ziwan or zawan 
 
 of the Arabs, the infelix | 
 
 lolium of Virgil (Georg. i. 
 
 154). Bad wheat sent 
 
 from the Continent often 
 
 contains darnel. Darnel is 
 
 found in Palestine and 
 
 Syria; and the grains of 
 
 it when eaten are said to 
 
 produce at the present day 
 
 giddiness and stupefaction. 
 
 Dr. Robinson says that 
 
 among splendid fields of 
 
 wheat near Kiibrikhah are still found tares. They are like 
 
 the wheat, and are not to be distinguished until the ear 
 
 appears. The grain resembles wheat in form, but is 
 
 smaller and dark. In Beirut poultry are fed upon the 
 
 TARES OF PALESTINE. 
 (Lolium temulentum.) 
 
182 TABES. 
 
 grain, and it is kept for sale for that purpose. When 
 not separated from the wheat, bread made from the flour 
 often produces deleterious effects in persons who eat it. 
 
 Both wheat and darnel belong to the natural order 
 Graminese or Grasses. They are easily distinguished 
 when in flower, by the wheat having two glumes, and 
 its florets having their edges next the rachis or common 
 stalk ; while in the darnel there is one glume, and the 
 florets have their backs next the rachis. 
 
 The mode of gathering the harvest in Palestine re- 
 sembles in some instances that mentioned in the parable. 
 When the millet crop, for instance, is ripe, the reapers 
 pull it up with their hands, and along with it the weeds 
 that have grown up beside it, and then separate them. 
 
 The tares represent those false professors who are 
 associated in this world with the wheat that is, the true 
 people of God. Both grow up together, and may at first 
 seem alike, just as the wise and foolish virgins appeared 
 to be. Man cannot distinguish accurately between the 
 true and the false. If he were to attempt to root out 
 the tares, he would in many instances pull up the wheat 
 also. The Lord alone sees the heart, and he knows those 
 who are his. He will, at the great harvest day, separate 
 the one from the other. 
 
LILY OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 (Nymphcea lotus, Linn.) 
 
 "My beloved... feedeth among the lilies." SONG OF SOL. ii. 16, vi. 3. 
 
 ]HE Hebrew word shushan, or shoshannah, is 
 translated " lily" in the authorized version of 
 the Old Testament. The plant appears to 
 be different from the krinon, or lily of the 
 New Testament, although as to this authors are not 
 agreed. Dr. Koyle and others consider the lily of the 
 Old Testament to be Nymphcea lotus, one of the water- 
 lilies of the Nile. The plant belongs to the natural 
 order Nymphseacese. It is the lotus of the ancient 
 Egyptians, sacred to Isis ; but it is quite different from 
 the lotus of the Lotophagi, and from the lotus of 
 Homer and Dioscorides, as well as from that of Hippoc- 
 rates. Its flowers are large, and they are of a white 
 colour, with streaks of pink. They supplied models 
 for the ornaments of the pillars and the molten sea, as 
 described in 1 Kings vii. 19, 22, 26, and 2 Chron- 
 icles iv. 5. 
 
184 LILY OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 The plant grows in still waters and slow-running 
 streams ; there it produces its large shield-like leaves, 
 expands its blossoms, and sends forth its fragrant odour. 
 It grows near the margin of the water, two to three feet 
 deep usually. Its large roots are embedded in the mud 
 below. The blade of the leaf is nearly circular, varying 
 
 EGYPTIAN LOTUS. 
 
 from nine to twenty-four inches in diameter, and attached 
 to the leaf stalk in the very centre. In the young state 
 its rounded leaves float on the surface of the water, but 
 when advanced they rise to the height of four or five 
 feet above the surface. It is a native of Egypt, and 
 is found in the Nile, especially near Rosetta and Dami- 
 etta, and in rice-fields during the time they are under 
 water. 
 
 In the Song of Solomon constant allusion is made to 
 the lilies. Their beauty and their perfume are made to 
 
LILY OLD TESTAMENT. 185 
 
 shadow forth the preciousness of Christ to his Church. 
 Thus, in chapter ii., verse 1, Christ says, " I am the 
 rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys ; " again, in 
 chapter v., verse 13, it is said of Christ by his people, 
 " His lips are like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh." 
 Hear again what Christ says of his Church : " As the 
 lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters " 
 (chapter ii., verse 2) as a glorious and sweet flower 
 in the midst of a thorny wilderness, where all else is 
 bleak and desolate. 
 
 This plant is one of those which are alluded to in 
 ancient times as giving a supply of food. The seeds 
 were used to make bread, and the root was also eaten. 
 Even at the present day, in Eastern countries, the roots 
 and stalks furnish articles of diet, and the large farina- 
 ceous or mealy seeds of this and another kind of water- 
 lily are roasted and eaten. This may, perhaps, explain 
 the allusions made in the Song of Solomon (ii. 16, iv. 5, 
 and vi. 3), to feeding among the lilies ; or the allusion 
 may refer to a kind of cyperus or rush, of which cattle 
 are very fond, and which grows along with the lily in 
 the waters. Christ leads his people here beside still 
 waters, such as those in which the lily grows; and he 
 feeds them with the bread of life. 
 
 In Ecclesiastes xi. 1, it is said, " Cast thy bread upon 
 the waters : for thou shalt find it after many days." 
 This may be in allusion to the mode in which the seeds 
 of the lily are sown. They are enveloped in clay and 
 cast into the water ; they then sink into the mud, and 
 after many days appear above the water, bearing flowers, 
 
 24 
 
186 LILY OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 and producing seeds, which are used as bread. This 
 mode of sowing is practised now by certain tribes in 
 India. 
 
 Hosea says, " Israel shall grow as the lily " (xiv. 5). 
 As the water-lilies grow vigorously in the waters under 
 the shining of the southern sun, so Israel, fed by the 
 refreshing streams of living water, shall flourish under 
 the shining of the Sun of Righteousness. 
 
 In the titles of Psalms xlv. and Ixix. the word sJw- 
 shannim occurs, which has been translated " lilies." Some 
 have thought that the word refers to the form of the 
 musical instrument used, resembling lilies ; others re- 
 mark that the imagery in these psalms is considered in 
 part as having referencp to what took place at marriages 
 in Egypt, when the female attendants adorned their 
 head-dresses with the water-lilies. How emphatically, 
 then, do these emblems, taken from the lilies, bring out 
 the meaning of the various allusions in the Song of Solo- 
 mon to Christ as the Bridegroom and his Church as the 
 Bride ! 
 
LILY NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 (Anemone coronaria, Linn.) 
 
 " Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." MATT. vi. 28. 
 
 I HE word krina is translated "lilies" in the 
 New Testament. It occurs in two passages 
 (Matt. vi. 28, and Euke xii. 27), in which 
 our Lord calls upon us to " consider the lilies 
 of the field." There is some difficulty in determining 
 what the plants were. They must have been well known 
 to our Lord's hearers, as growing in the fields near the 
 Sea of Galilee, where he was discoursing. It would 
 appear, from the report of those who have visited 
 Palestine, that in the early spring months the fields 
 abound in various species of lily, tulip, narcissus, iris, and 
 gladiolus ; and it is, no doubt, to one of these that 
 reference is made. Many have thought that the white 
 lily (Lilium candidum) is the plant referred to ; but 
 Koyle thinks that this cannot be the case, inasmuch as 
 that plant is not considered to be a native of Palestine, 
 although it is occasionally cultivated there. He is dis- 
 posed, after careful examination, to conclude that the 
 
188 LILY NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 chaleedonian, or scarlet martagon lily (Lilium chal- 
 cedonicum), is the " lily of the field." It comes into flower 
 at the season of the year when our Lord's sermon on the 
 mount is supposed to have been delivered ; it is abundant 
 in the district of Galilee ; and its fine scarlet flowers 
 render it a very conspicuous and showy object, which 
 would naturally attract the attention of his hearers. 
 
 LILY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 The plant belongs to the natural order Liliacese. The 
 six parts of the perianth are of a scarlet colour, and are 
 turned back. Dr. Thomson describes a plant in Palestine, 
 called Huleh lily, which delights much in the valleys, but 
 is also found on the mountains. It abounds in the woods 
 north of Tabor. 
 
LILY NEW TESTAMENT. 189 
 
 Tristram considers the Anemone coronaria as the New 
 Testament krinon. He says : " The true floral glories of 
 Palestine are the pheasant's eye (Adonis), the ranunculus, 
 and the anemone, but especially the latter. The Anemone 
 coronaria, well known in our gardens, of various colours 
 lilac, white, and red, but most generally a brilliant 
 scarlet is the flower which is the most gorgeously 
 painted, the most conspicuous in spring, and the most 
 universally spread of all the floral treasures of the Holy 
 Land ; and I should feel inclined to fix on it as the ' lily 
 of the field' of our Lord's discourse. It is found every- 
 where, on all soils, and in all situations. It covers the 
 Mount of Olives, it carpets all the plains, and nowhere 
 does it attain a more luxurious growth than by the 
 shores of the Lake of Galilee." As -rivals to the anemone 
 in brilliancy are the Ranunculus asiaticus and Adonis 
 palestina. 
 
 Our Lord refers to the lily as being near the Plain of 
 Gennesaret. It was showy, and it was compared with 
 the robes of Solomon. Probably red, from its com- 
 parison to lips. The term " lily " seems to be applied 
 to a number of plants. No doubt there is a lily in 
 the Holy Land (Lilium chalcedonicum), the red Turkish 
 lily. Many plants get the name of lily, such as species 
 of iris, gladiolus, narcissus, asphodelus, squills, fritil- 
 laria. 
 
 We are told that " Solomon in all his glory was not 
 arrayed like one of these" lilies (Matt. vi. 29 ; Luke xii. 
 27). In order to understand this, let us look at the 
 beautiful structure in which the colours of the flower 
 
190 LILY NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 reside. The flower-leaves of the lily, when magnified 
 by the microscope, are seen to consist of a number of 
 beautiful honeycomb-like cells, in which the colouring 
 matter is formed and stored. It is of an elegant texture, 
 far exceeding in beauty anything that man could make. 
 Solomon's robes, if examined by means of a magnifying 
 glass, would, so far as they were the work of man, have 
 appeared coarse ; but the more the clothing of the lily 
 is magnified, the more exquisite is its beauty. The 
 colours of Solomon's robes might have been gorgeous, 
 but they were not disposed in the way in which God 
 paints the flowers. What are the greatest works of men 
 when compared with those of the Almighty Creator ? 
 The green covering of the "grass of the field," which 
 probably means the foliage of the lilies, defies all the 
 art of man to imitate. 
 
 How wondrous is the quiet growth of the lilies ! There 
 is no toiling or spinning on their part. The process of 
 growth is carried on by an unseen power, even by God, 
 who waters the ground, and who superintends the for- 
 mation of every minute cell and tube which enter into 
 the composition of the plant. 
 
MELON. 
 
 (Cucumis melo, Linn.) 
 
 "We remember... the cucumbers and the melons." NUM. xi. 5. 
 
 JHE Hebrew plural word abbatichim, or abba- 
 tichin, occurs only once in the Bible, and has 
 been translated " melons." It is the pepones 
 of the Greek and Latin. The Septuagint 
 has the word sieyos, a term which is now-a-days given 
 to a genus allied to the cucumber. The plant referred 
 to is the Cucumis melo of botanists, the common melon; 
 and perhaps also Cucurbita citrullus (Cucumis citrullus 
 of Linnseus), the water-melon. These plants belong to 
 the natural order Cucurbitacese, the Cucumber family, 
 which includes sixty-six known genera, and about three 
 hundred and thirty species. The plants of this family 
 are herbs with succulent stems, climbing by means of 
 lateral tendrils which are transformed stipules ; their 
 leaves are palmate and rough; their flowers generally 
 unisexual ; their stamens five, adhering to the calyx ; and 
 their fruit formed by three carpels, constituting what has 
 been called a pepo. The plants are generally acrid in 
 
192 MELON. 
 
 their qualities, although many of them, especially under 
 cultivation, yield edible fruit, such as the cucumber, melon, 
 gourd, pumpkin, squash, and vegetable marrow. Colocynth 
 and elaterium, which are powerful purgatives, also belong 
 to this order. (See article on Wild Gourd.) The 
 plants are natives of warm climates chiefly, and abound 
 
 MELON. (Cucumis melo.) 
 
 in India. In these countries their edible fruits are 
 highly prized, and hence the words in which the children 
 of Israel alluded to them when they murmured in 
 the desert : " We remember the fish, which we did eat 
 in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons," etc. 
 (Num. xi. 5.) 
 
 Dr. Royle thinks that the common melon is the plant 
 alluded to ; and he grounds his opinion in part on the 
 
MELON. 193 
 
 resemblance between the Arabic word for melon, butikh, 
 and the Hebrew word. Moreover, he thinks that there 
 is no evidence of the water-melon having been known to 
 the ancient Egyptians. In Arabic the water-melon is 
 called butikh-hindee, or Indian melon. 
 
 The melon was introduced into Britain about 1520. 
 There are a great number of varieties now in cultivation. 
 The best kinds are included under the name Cantaloupe ; 
 an appellation, according to Don, bestowed on them from 
 a seat of the Pope near Rome, where this variety is sup- 
 posed to have been originally produced. 
 
 25 
 
NETTLE. 
 
 ( Urtica urens, Linn.) 
 
 "It was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face 
 thereof." PBOV. xxiv. 31. 
 
 | HE Hebrew words charul, kimosh, and kirn- 
 shon, occur in several places in the Old Tes- 
 tament, and have been translated "nettles." 
 There are some doubts as to the correctness 
 of the translation. Charul is found in three passages. 
 In Prov. xxiv. 30, 31, it is written: "I went by the 
 field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man 
 void of understanding ; and, lo, it was all grown over 
 with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof." 
 Job says, when speaking of the children of the destitute : 
 " Among the bushes they brayed ; under the nettles they 
 were gathered together " (Job xxx. 7). And the prophet 
 Zephaniah, in speaking of the desolation coming on 
 Moab and Ammon, predicts thus : " Surely Moab shall 
 be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, 
 even the breeding of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual 
 desolation" (Zeph. ii. 9). The plant referred to is 
 
NETTLE. 
 
 195 
 
 obviously one which grows as a weed in gardens, and 
 comes up in desolate places where men have had their 
 habitations. This is very characteristic of the nettle, 
 which follows man's footsteps in all parts of the world 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. In wild and deserted 
 glens, the sites of cottages are often marked by nettles ; 
 and the ruins of old castles 
 give rise to a large crop of 
 these weeds. Some have sup- 
 posed that a thorny or spiny 
 shrub was meant. Royle is 
 disposed to think, from the 
 resemblance between charul 
 and the Arabic khardul, that 
 a kind of mustard was re- 
 ferred to, and he has figured 
 Sinapis orientalis as the 
 probable species. But this 
 plant does not answer well 
 to the description, seeing it 
 is not a weed of gardens 
 nor a product specially of 
 
 ruins. There is much conjecture on this matter. The 
 correspondence between the word in Hebrew and Arabic 
 no doubt adds plausibility to Royle's conjecture, and 
 our own word charlock is applied also to a kind of 
 mustard. Some of the species of sinapis grow to a great 
 height. 
 
 Again: the Hebrew words kimosh and kimshon, or 
 kimmashon, translated " nettle," occur in two places. In 
 
 NETTLE. (Urtica, wrens.) 
 
196 NETTLE. 
 
 Isaiah xxxiv. 13, it is said, "And thorns shall come up 
 in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses 
 thereof." Hosea says, "The pleasant places for their 
 silver, nettles shall possess them : thorns shall be in 
 their tabernacles" (ix. 6); and in Proverbs the garden 
 of the sluggard is described as covered with kimshonim, 
 translated "thorns," and in some versions "thistles" 
 (xxiv. 31). 
 
 Nettles belong to the genus Urtica. There are two 
 common species, which are found generally distributed 
 over the globe; Urtica dioica, the great nettle; and 
 Urtica urens, the small nettle. Urtica pilulifera, the 
 Roman nettle, also occurs in many places. These belong 
 to the natural order Urticacese. They have inconspicu- 
 ous green flowers without a corolla, their stamens are 
 often elastic, their fruit is a single-seeded nut, and they 
 are covered with stinging hairs. 
 
 In Scripture, nettles are made to point out the effect 
 of sloth and idleness, and they indicate the passing 
 nature of all human greatness as regards earthly habita- 
 tions. They are constantly mentioned as marks of waste 
 and desolation. 
 
GARLIC. 
 
 (Allium sativum, Linn.) 
 
 Greeks, 
 luxuries 
 
 "We remember... the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick." NUM. xi. 5. 
 
 HE Hebrew plural word shumim occurs only 
 
 once in the Old Testament, 
 
 and is translated "garlick." 
 
 It is the skordon of the 
 It was one of the vegetable 
 of Egypt after which the 
 Israelites lusted in the desert. An allied 
 Arabic word is at the present day used for 
 garlic. The plant is the A Ilium sativum, 
 belonging to the natural order Liliacese, 
 the Lily family. It was much cultivated 
 in Egypt, and is noticed by Herodotus 
 as having been used in part for the food 
 of the labourers engaged in building the 
 Pyramids. Koyle thinks it probable 
 that the shallot (Allium ascalonicum) 
 might be the species referred to, and 
 not the common garlic. The shallot, or 
 eschalot, is common in Eastern countries, 
 and derives the name ascalonicum from 
 having been brought into Europe from Ascalon in Palestine. 
 
 GARLIC. 
 
 (Allium sativum.) 
 
GRASS. 
 
 |EVERAL Hebrew words are translated " grass." 
 The word chatzir, which is commonly applied 
 to the leek, has been also translated " grass." 
 (See article Leek and reference to the passage.) 
 The word seems to have been applied to every green herb 
 which could be used for pasture. In many passages of 
 Isaiah the word is used : " All flesh is grass " (Isa. xl. 6) ; 
 " They shall spring up as among the grass " (Isa. xliv. 4). 
 (See also Isaiah xxxv. 7, li. 12.) There are a great 
 number of grasses in Palestine. 
 
 The word yered in Numbers xxii. 4 is also translated 
 "grass." Desher is the most common name for green 
 grass. It is used in Genesis i. 11: " Let the earth 
 bring forth grass." The name being general includes 
 many species of grass, some being tall and luxuriant, 
 others short and stunted. 
 
 Reference is often made in Scripture to the life of 
 man as being like grass : " But the rich, in that he is 
 made low : because as the flower of the grass he shall 
 pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burn- 
 ing heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower 
 
GRASS. 199 
 
 thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: 
 so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways" (James 
 i. 10, 11). Here the withering of the grass is used as 
 an emblem of man passing away ; and the flower of grass 
 is also alluded to. In the flower of grass, the most con- 
 spicuous organs are the stamens, which commonly hang 
 out of the surrounding scales when the plant is in flower. 
 The upper parts of these stamens are attached to slender 
 threads, and the wind easily blows them away. This 
 is very emblematical of the thread of life, which is so 
 easily snapped in a moment. 
 
 The flat roofs of the houses at Ru.no in Lebanon are 
 constructed, according to Robinson, by laying first large 
 beams at intervals of several feet ; then rude joists ; on 
 which again are arranged small poles close together, or 
 brushwood ; and upon this is spread earth or gravel 
 rolled hard. Grass is often seen growing on these roofs. 
 (Psalm cxxix. 6.) 
 
LEEK. 
 
 (Allium porrum, Linn.) 
 
 'We remember... the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks." 
 NUM. xi. 5. 
 
 |HE Hebrew word chatzir, chazir, or chajir, 
 occurs frequently in the Old Testament, and 
 has been translated " leeks " in Numbers xi. 5, 
 where the Israelites are represented as sigh- 
 ing for the good things of Egypt. The word, however, 
 is rendered differently in other places. Thus in 1 Kings 
 xviii. 5; 2 Kings xix. 26; Job xl. 15; Ps. xxxvii. 2, xc. 
 
 5, ciii. 15, civ. 14, cxxix. 6, cxlvii. 8; Isa. xxxvii. 27, xl. 
 68, xliv. 4, li. 12, it is translated "grass;" in Job viii. 
 
 12, it is rendered "herb;" in Prov. xxvii. 25, and Isa. xv. 
 
 6, it is by mistake translated " hay , " and in Isa. xxxiv. 
 
 13, it is rendered " court." The word is derived from a 
 root which means " to be green," and hence it is con- 
 sidered as referring to a green vegetable like grass ; and 
 it is probable that the word " court" in Isaiah may have 
 reference to a sort of pasture court. The most ancient 
 Greek translators use the word prasa or "leeks" to repre- 
 sent the Hebrew term chatzir ; and it seems likely that 
 
LEEK. 201 
 
 in Numbers, from its association with onions, leeks might 
 be intended, more especially as these vegetables were 
 commonly used at that time in Egypt. 
 
 The plant which supplies the leek is the Allium 
 porrum of botanists. It belongs to 
 the natural order Liliacese, the Lily 
 family. It has grass-like leaves, and 
 its flowers occur in rounded heads. 
 The plant was used as a seasoning to 
 soups in the time of the Romans. 
 It is indigenous in the countries bor- 
 dering on the Mediterranean. In 
 Egypt it thrives well, and the in- 
 habitants eat their leek and barley 
 bread with avidity. It was intro- 
 duced into Britain in 1562. The 
 leek was sacred in Egypt, and some 
 have suggested that it was not likely 
 the Israelites would be permitted to 
 eat it there. Lady Callcott says that 
 these plants never were objects of 
 general worship. "They were for 
 
 LEEK. (Allium porrum.) 
 
 the most part reverenced on account 
 of their being dedicated to, or symbolic of, some well- 
 known deity ; much in the way in which a Welshman 
 reverences his leek, the emblem of Wales, and wears it 
 on St. David's Day. That compliment paid, however, 
 he would never think of denying himself the pleasure of 
 eating his leek ; and no doubt the ancient Egyptians and 
 their bondsmen made equally free with their savoury gods." 
 
 26 
 
ONION. 
 
 (Allium cepa, Linn.) 
 
 " We remember... the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the 
 onions." NUM. xi. 5. 
 
 [HE Hebrew plural word 'betzalim occurs in 
 Numbers xi. 5, and has been translated 
 " onions." There .seems to be no doubt of the 
 correctness of the rendering. The Arabic 
 word is basl or bassal, which is nearly allied to the 
 Hebrew betzal ; and it has been rendered by the Greek 
 word krommyon, applied to the onion. The plant is the 
 Allium cepa belonging to the natural order Liliacese, the 
 Lily family. It is a bulbous plant, having its bulbs 
 covered with brown scales ; its leaves are tubular or 
 hollow, and its flowers are produced in rounded clusters. 
 It has stimulant, acrid, and pungent qualities, and has 
 been long cultivated in the south of Europe and in the 
 north of Asia. 
 
 The Egyptians had a superstitious veneration for 
 onions. When onions become very large, as in Portugal, 
 they lose much of their acrid qualities, and become 
 
ONION. 
 
 203 
 
 bland articles of food when cooked. Hasselquist says : 
 " Whoever has tasted 
 onions in Egypt must 
 allow that none can be had 
 better in any part of the 
 universe." While the su- 
 perstitious inhabitants of 
 Egypt reverenced these 
 productions of the soil, 
 the children of Israel 
 lusted after them in the ONIONS.-^ cep a.) 
 
 desert, and murmured 
 
 against the Lord who had delivered them, and who 
 could supply all their need. 
 
WHEAT. 
 
 (Tritkum sativum, Linn.; var. compositum.) 
 
 "A land of wheat and barley." DEUT. viii. 8. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word chittah occurs in many places 
 of the Old Testament, and has been properly 
 translated "wheat." There is also another 
 word, kemachy which means " flour of wheat," 
 and which is translated in Genesis xviii. 6 " fine meal." 
 The first distinct notice of wheat in the Bible is in 
 Genesis xxx. 14, where an allusion is made to "wheat 
 harvest." Wheat is a common grain in Egypt, Syria, 
 and other Eastern countries, and is considered as having 
 had an Asiatic origin. It is not known in a wild state. 
 Palestine is spoken of as " a land of wheat" (Deut. viii. 8), 
 and as producing abundantly corn, wine, and oil (Deut. 
 vii. 13, etc.); and the purest wheat or wheat flour is 
 noticed under the name of " the fat of wheat "(Ps. Ixxxi. 
 16, cxlvii. 14, marginal readings), and the kidney-fat, 
 or "the fat of kidneys of wheat" (Deut. xxxii. 14). 
 
 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures, 
 or cors (probably about a thousand pecks), of fine flour, 
 
WHEAT. 
 
 205 
 
 and threescore measures, or cors, of meal (1 Kings iv. 22). 
 In 1 Kings v. 11, it is mentioned that Solomon gave 
 Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to 
 his household year by year ; and in 2 Chronicles ii. 1 0, 
 it is stated that a similar amount of beaten wheat was 
 given to Hiram's servants who were employed to cut 
 
 WHEAT. (Triticum sativum.) 
 
 timber on Mount Lebanon. Wheat from Minnith, a 
 place situated in the domain of the king of Ammon, was 
 famous, and is referred to by Ezekiel as being brought 
 by the Jews to Tyre (Ezek. xxvii. 17). When king 
 Jotham overcame the Ammonites he received from them, 
 
206 
 
 WHEAT. 
 
 as part of the tribute, ten thousand measures of wheat. 
 
 In the Bible the words corn 
 and parched or roasted corn 
 are frequently used. In many 
 passages they seem to refer to 
 bread corn ; that is, wheat. 
 
 The common wheat is Tri- 
 ticum vulgare, the variety 
 called Triticum oestivum, or 
 spring wheat, being sown in 
 spring, and that called Tri- 
 ticum hybernum, winter wheat, 
 being sown in autumn. The 
 plant belongs to the natural 
 order Graminese, or the Grass 
 family. There are numerous 
 varieties of wheat in culti- 
 vation. In Pharaoh's dream 
 the seven ears on one stalk 
 appear to refer to the variety 
 of wheat commonly culti- 
 vated in Egypt, and called 
 Triticum compositum. This 
 branching variety of wheat 
 helps to explain the allusion 
 in Genesis xli. 5-7, 22-24, 
 and 27. Grains of wheat are 
 found in mummy cases in 
 but there is no evi- 
 
 WHEAT. (Triticum compositum,) 
 
 dence that any of those put in along with the mummy 
 
WHEAT. 207 
 
 have retained their vitality. Grains taken from the 
 cases have no doubt germinated, and in Britain there 
 are many fields of what is called mummy-wheat, but 
 in all instances the grains have been tampered with by 
 guides, who have an interest in deceiving travellers. 
 Among some of the so-called mummy-wheat, grains of 
 Indian corn have actually been found. In no case have 
 any of those mummy-grains produced the Triticum 
 compositum. 
 
 Reference is made in Leviticus ii. 14 and xxiii. 14 to 
 green ears of corn cut before they are ripe and dried by 
 the fire. It is said that in Lower Egypt, at the present 
 day, such green ears are used as food. Parched or 
 roasted corn is frequently eaten in Eastern countries. 
 When the children of Israel entered Canaan, they ate 
 parched corn (Joshua v. 11). This was one of the 
 articles of food brought to David in the camp at 
 Mahanaim (2 Sam. xvii. 28) ; and it was given to Ruth 
 by Boaz when she sat beside the reapers at their meal 
 (Ruth ii. 14). 
 
 'Corn is often referred to in the New Testament, and 
 under this name wheat was no doubt included, as well as 
 other kinds of grain, such as barley and spelt. From 
 the sowing, the sprouting, and the reaping of corn, many 
 important illustrations are drawn by our blessed Saviour 
 and his apostles (Matt. xiii. 3-23 ; Mark iv. 320 ; John 
 xii. 24). St. Paul employs the sprouting of grain to 
 illustrate the believer's resurrection body* (1 Cor. xv. 
 3644). Shibboleth, the word which was put as a test 
 
 * See Balfour's " Botany and Religion," 3rd edition, p. 51, et seq. 
 
208 WHEAT. 
 
 to the Ephraimites (Judges xii. 6), is the Hebrew name 
 for an ear of corn. 
 
 Parched corn, under the name of kali, is referred to 
 in several passages of Scripture, as Lev. xxiii. 14 ; Ruth 
 ii. 14; 1 Sam. xvii. 17, xxv. 18. Some have supposed 
 the kali referred to the produce of the chick-pea, Cicer 
 arietinum. Dr. Thomson says that at the present day 
 parched corn is used during harvest. " It is made thus : 
 A quantity of the best ears, not too ripe, are plucked with 
 the stalks attached ; these are tied into small parcels ; a 
 blazing fire is kindled with dry grass and thorn bushes, 
 and the corn heads are held in it until the chaff is mostly 
 burned off. The grain is thus sufficiently roasted to be 
 eaten, and it is a favourite article all over the country. 
 ...After it has been roasted, it is rubbed out in the hand 
 and eaten as there is occasion." (The Land and the 
 Book, p. 648.) The green ears of corn are also constantly 
 plucked and rubbed in the hands (Matt. xii. 1, 2 ; Mark 
 ii. 23 ; Luke vi. 1, 2) ; and the taking of them is not 
 considered an act of stealing. 
 
SPELT. 
 
 TRANSLATED 
 
 (Tritkum Spelta, Linn.) 
 
 "The appointed barley and the rie [spelt] in their place." ISA. xxviii. 25. 
 
 KIND of wheat called spelt (Triticwm Spelta 
 of botanists) seems to be referred to under 
 the Hebrew name of Jmssemeth, which has 
 been translated "rye" in Exodus ix. 32, Isaiah 
 xxviii. 25, and "fitches" in Ezekiel iv. 9. Rye is a grain 
 of cold climates, and is not cultivated in the southern 
 parts of Europe. 
 
 Kussemeth was undoubtedly one of the cultivated 
 crops of Egypt and Syria, and was used as an article 
 of food. It seems to have been sown at the same 
 time as wheat, and is referred to in the seventh plague 
 of Egypt as not having been smitten, because, like the 
 wheat, it was not grown up. Ezekiel mentions it as 
 being used in making bread. Some have supposed that 
 the spelt was sown as a border round other kinds 
 of grain, and that allusion is made to this in Isaiah 
 
 27 
 
210 SPELT. 
 
 xxviii. 25 (marginal reading). Spelt is a bearded kind 
 of wheat, and in this respect has a resemblance to rye. 
 The names olyra and zea were given to it by some 
 Greek authors. It is cultivated in the south of Germany. 
 The plant belongs to the natural order Graminese, the 
 Grass family. 
 
BARLEY. 
 
 (Hordeum distichon, Linn.) 
 
 " A land of wheat and barley." DEUT. viii. 8. 
 
 ] ARLEY is another kind of grain mentioned both 
 in the Old and in the New Testament. It is re- 
 ferred to under the Hebrew name of seorah or 
 shoreh, and under the Greek name of Jcrithe. 
 It is the Hordeum distichon of botanists, and belongs to 
 the natural order Graminese, the Grass family. It is 
 mentioned along with common and spelt wheat. Oats 
 and rye, being northern plants, did not grow in Palestine. 
 The two-rowed barley is that which is most commonly 
 cultivated. Hordeum vulgare, bere, big or four-rowed 
 barley, and Hordeum hexastidion, six-rowed barley, are 
 confined to higher regions, and are not commonly culti- 
 vated in Britain. The bere, however, finds a place in 
 the present fiars of upwards of twenty counties in Scot- 
 land. Barley is one of the most ancient articles of diet. 
 It is often noticed along with wheat as occurring in 
 Palestine, and as having been used for food (Deut. viii. 
 
212 
 
 BAELEY. 
 
 8; 2 Chron. ii. 10, 15, xxvii. 5). Barley was grown 
 by the Egyptians and the Jews, and was 
 used for making bread and cakes. It was 
 mixed also with wheat, lentiles, and millet. 
 In 1 Kings iv. 28, barley is mentioned as 
 having been used as food for Solomon's 
 horses. Barley meal was employed in 
 certain instances as an offering (Num. v. 
 15). Barley bread served as food for the 
 common people; and the loaves which 
 were miraculously distributed to the mul- 
 titude by our Lord were made of barley 
 (John vi. 9, 13). The friends of David 
 brought barley to him when he fled from 
 Absalom (2 Sam. xvii. 28). Barley har- 
 vest is mentioned in Ruth i. 22, ii. 23 ; 
 and 2 Samuel xxi. 9, 10. This takes 
 place in Palestine about the end of March 
 or the beginning of April. The barley 
 ripens in Egypt about a month before the 
 wheat ; and hence it was destroyed by the 
 hailstones, while the wheat escaped (Ex. 
 ix. 31). Boaz measured six measures of 
 barley, and put it into Ruth's veil (Ruth 
 iii. 15). This veil was consequently made 
 of stronger material than veils in this 
 country. 
 
 Barley bread was not much esteemed 
 by the Jews. Ezekiel says (xiii. 19), 
 
 "Will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls 
 
 lit 
 
 BARLEY. 
 (Hordeum distichon.) 
 
BARLEY. 213 
 
 of barley ?" probably referring to its small value, 
 In Gideon's dream a cake of barley bread is observed 
 to tumble into the host of Midian and smite it; 
 and the man's fellow says, "This is the sword of 
 Gideon." In speaking of the analogy between the cake 
 and the sword of Gideon, Dr. Thomson says : " As to 
 the line of connection in the mind of the ' interpreter,' 
 we may remember that barley bread is only eaten by the 
 poor and the unfortunate. Nothing is more common 
 than for these people, at this day, to complain that their 
 oppressors have left them nothing but barley bread to 
 eat... This cake of barley bread was therefore naturally 
 supposed to belong to the oppressed Israelites : it came 
 down from the mountain where Gideon was known to be; 
 it overthrew the tent so that it lay along, foreshadowing 
 destruction from some quarter or other. It was a con- 
 temptible antagonist, and yet scarcely more so than 
 Gideon in the eyes of the proud Midianites. That the 
 interpreter should hit upon the explanation given, is not 
 therefore very wonderful ; and if the Midianites were 
 accustomed, in their extemporaneous songs, to call Gideon 
 and his band 'eaters of barley bread,' as their successors, 
 these haughty Bedawin, often do to ridicule their enemies, 
 the application would be all the more natural." (The 
 Land and the Book, p. 449.) The low estimation in 
 which barley was held may be in some way implied in 
 its use in the jealousy-offering (Num. v. 15). 
 
COCKLE. 
 
 (Hebrew, Baosfiah.) 
 
 " Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley." 
 JOB xxxi. 40. 
 
 (HE Hebrew word baoshah, translated "cockle" 
 in the Authorized Version, is rendered "noi- 
 some weeds" by some. This is the marginal 
 reading in Job. In Isaiah v. 2, 4, benshin, 
 the plural of the word, occurs, and is translated "wild 
 grapes." 
 
 Celsius traced the word to biseh, which is applied 
 to a kind of monkshood. Its name seems to have 
 been applied to a troublesome weed with an offensive 
 smell. The author of the " Scripture Garden Walk" 
 says : " The Greek word adopted in the Septuagint im- 
 plies a bush, or bramble, bearing berries. According to 
 Castalio, the tree was the dwarf elder ; and other com- 
 mentators have supposed other senses of the word." 
 Tristram suggests some species of arum which grows in 
 the fields of Palestine. There is no satisfactory trans- 
 lation of the word. 
 
GOURD. 
 
 (Ricinus communis, Linn.; Cucurbita pepo, Linn.) 
 
 "The Lord prepared a gourd, and made it come up over Jonah." 
 JONAH iv. 6. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word kikayon, translated "gourd," 
 occurs in the fourth chapter of the Book of 
 Jonah, verses 6, 7, 9, and 10. It is probably 
 the kiki of the Greeks, which is described 
 as a plant having leaves like a palm-tree, and seeds which 
 yield oil, contained in a rough seed-vessel. In character 
 and properties the plant corresponds with the castor-oil 
 plant, the Ricinus communis of botanists. The marginal 
 reading gives " palm-crist," which seems to be a corruption 
 of Palma Christi, another name for the castor-oil plant. 
 It belongs to the natural order Euphorbiacese, the Spurge 
 family. It is a native of Southern Europe, Palestine, 
 and India. In Europe generally it is cultivated in 
 greenhouses as an herb, and does not attain a large size ; 
 but in India and other warm climates it becomes arbor- 
 escent, so as to afford a shelter from the sun's rays. The 
 stem of the plant is usually soft, and is easily destroyed 
 
216 
 
 GOURD. 
 
 by insects or worms. In China a peculiar fungus called 
 Hirneola auricula-Judce, used in soups, grows on the 
 decaying stems of the ricinus. The seeds of the plant 
 when bruised yield the oil called castor oil. The name of 
 kik oil is also applied to it. It is said that the modern 
 Jews in London use this oil for their Sabbath lamps. 
 
 CASTOR-OIL PLANT. (Ricinus communis.) 
 
 In place of the castor-oil plant it may be that the 
 common gourd (Cucurbita pepo) is meant. Tristram says 
 that in Palestine the name for the gourd is Jmrah, while 
 that for the castor-oil tree is khurwah, so that the sound 
 
GOUKD. 217 
 
 of each is nearly identical, and hence there might be a 
 confusion as to the name on the part of the commen- 
 tators. 
 
 The gourd is constantly grown in Palestine now to 
 cover arbours, and its rapid growth and large leaves 
 render it very well fitted for affording shade. Jonah is 
 said to have made him a booth, and God prepared the 
 gourd to cover it. This undoubtedly seems rather to 
 confirm the idea that the common gourd and not the 
 castor-oil plant is referred to. 
 
 Many have been the disputes as to Jonah's gourd, and 
 it is impossible to decide the point with certainty. The 
 castor-oil plant seems, upon the whole, to fulfil the con- 
 ditions required ; and the cognate word in Greek helps 
 to decide the matter in some measure. The gourd was 
 prepared by the Lord miraculously for Jonah, in order 
 that its broad leaves might be a shadow over his head, 
 to protect him from the heat ; and the prophet, we are 
 told, was " exceeding glad of the gourd" (Jonah iv. 6). It 
 was a temporal blessing provided for him; but, alas! like 
 all creature comforts, it was fleeting. By the time the 
 sun rose next morning, a worm, by God's command, smote 
 the gourd that it withered. The destruction of the gourd, 
 and the removal of the shade, made Jonah angry, and he 
 wished in himself to die, and said, " It is better for me 
 to die than to live " (Jonah iv. 8). He grumbled at the 
 orderings of God's providence, and his proud heart rose 
 against God's dispensations. The lesson which God con- 
 veyed to Jonah is thus expressed : " Then said the Lord, 
 Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou 
 
 28 
 
218 GOURD. 
 
 hast not laboured, neither madest it grow ; which came 
 up in a night, and perished in a night : and should not 
 I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than 
 sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between 
 their right hand and their left hand ; and also much 
 cattle?" (Jonah iv. 10, 11.) 
 
CUCUMBER 
 
 (Cucumis sativus, Linn.) 
 
 We remember... the cucumbers and the melons." NUM. xi. 5. 
 
 1HE Hebrew word kishuim occurs twice in the 
 Old Testament, and has been translated " cu- 
 cumbers." The singular of the word is Jcisha, 
 which resembles the Arabic kissa, the name 
 for cucumber. In Greek the name is sicyos. It is the 
 Cucumis sativus, and belongs to the natural order Cucur- 
 bitacese, the Cucumber and Gourd family. It is called 
 ketimou and timou by the Hindus. It is a native of 
 Eastern countries, and was introduced into Britain in 
 1573. It is a trailing and climbing plant, with large 
 rough leaves, having tendrils. The plant was known in 
 very early times, and it was cultivated extensively in 
 Egypt. Hence the allusion made by the children of 
 Israel as recorded in Numbers xi. 5. They longed for 
 the cucumbers of Egypt. There are a great number of 
 varieties in cultivation. A species called Cucumis chafe 
 grows near Cairo after the inundation of the Nile, and 
 is said to yield a delicious fruit highly esteemed in 
 
220 
 
 CUCUMBER. 
 
 Egypt. This was probably used along with the common 
 cucumber, and is included in the Hebrew word. Egypt 
 may still be called a land of cucumbers. The guarding 
 of vineyards and cucumber beds is referred to by the 
 prophet Isaiah when he describes the desolation of Israel : 
 " The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, 
 as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers " (Isa. i. 8). Lady 
 
 CUCUMBER. (Cucumis sativus.) 
 
 Callcott remarks: " This statement of the prophet is con- 
 stantly recalled to the memory of the modern traveller 
 in Egypt by the vast plantations of cucumbers on the 
 banks of the Nile. There, as of old, the peasant has his 
 lodge, that he may water his rich plants with the shadoof, 
 or, as the scripture expresses it, * by the foot ' (Deut. xi. 
 
CUCUMBER. 221 
 
 1 0) ; and that he may guard his little property from the 
 robbers of the Nile, who, though of a different class, are 
 not less formidable to the cultivators than those of the 
 time of Herodotus." They all require to be protected 
 from wild animals, such as the jackals. The lodge 
 is stated to be constructed rudely of four poles, with 
 rafters laid across these ; and branches cut from olean- 
 ders, or matting, put on the top, to give shelter. When 
 the cucumbers are gathered, and the field is deserted, 
 Dr. Thomson says the poles fall down and lean every 
 way, and the green branches are scattered by the wind, 
 presenting a type of utter desolation. This covering is 
 the "booth which the keeper maketh," mentioned in 
 Job xxvii. 18. The young green fruit of the cucumber 
 is preserved as a pickle, under the name of gherkins, 
 which is a corruption of the German word gurke, mean- 
 ing cucumber. 
 
BULRUSH AND RUSH. 
 
 (Papyrus antiquorum, Willd.) 
 
 " Can the rush [bulrush] grow up without mire ? " JOB viii. 11, 
 
 |HE Hebrew words gome and agmon occur in 
 several passages in the Old Testament, and 
 have been translated " bulrush," and " rush," 
 and "flag." The word gome means originally 
 to soak or drink up, and it is therefore given to a plant 
 growing in watery and marshy places. In Isaiah xxxv. 
 7, it is noticed as a plant of wet places. It is supposed 
 to be the Papyrus antiquorum, which grew in large quan- 
 tity in Egypt among the mud of the Nile. The plant 
 has entangled, spreading roots, and underground stems, 
 which cause the mud to accumulate ; and by forming a 
 more or less solid clay it seems to drink up the water in 
 which it grows. The plant appears to have contributed 
 in no small degree to form the Delta of the Nile, and in 
 so doing it has become extinct, from want of wet mud 
 in which to grow. In Job viii. 11, it is said, "Can the 
 rush grow up without mire ? " It is found still in the 
 marshes of the White Nile in Nubia. 
 
BULKUSH AND BUSH. 
 
 223 
 
 Tristram says that it is found in two places in Palestine, 
 in a swamp at the north end of the Plain of Gennesaret, 
 and in the marshes of the Huleh, the ancient Merom. 
 The Arabs call it babeer. 
 
 PAPYRUS PLANT. (Papyrus antiquorum.) 
 
 The plant belongs to the natural order Cyperaceae, or 
 the Sedge family. 
 
 The papyrus was used in Egypt for forming light 
 
224 
 
 BULRUSH AND RUSH. 
 
 sorts of boats ; and hence, in Isaiah xviii. 2, " vessels of 
 bulrushes upon the waters " are mentioned. (See also 
 Pliny, xiii. 11, and Lucian, iv. 1 3 6.) Jochebed, the mother 
 of Moses, constructed an ark, or little covered boat, of 
 bulrushes, and in this the babe floated on the water of 
 
 the river (Ex. ii. 3). Boats are at the present day 
 constructed of various kinds of allied plants. Balsas, or 
 fishing-rafts used on the Pacific coast of South America, 
 are formed of the stalks of Scirpus lacustris. The 
 name "paper" is derived from the papyrus, which was 
 anciently used in its manufacture. The paper was made 
 by splitting up the stalks of the plant into thin slices 
 
BULRUSH AND RUSH. 225 
 
 of cellular tissue, and then cementing them together. 
 The structure of the paper is the same as rice paper. 
 In Sicily, at the present day, there is a coarse paper 
 made from the papyrus. 
 
 The word agmon occurs in Isaiah ix. 14 and xix. 15, 
 where it is translated " rush ; " in Isaiah Iviii. 5, where 
 it is called " bulrush;" and in Job xli. 2, under the name 
 "hook." This last, according to some commentators, 
 should be translated, " Canst thou tie up his mouth with 
 a rush-rope ? " It seems to have been a kind of reed, 
 but it is not easy to pronounce upon the species. Some 
 consider it is similar to kaneh, translated "reed," and 
 look upon it as a species of arundo like the common 
 reed, or the variety of Arundo donax called cegyptiaca. 
 
 Royle says that "various species of reeds (arundo) 
 will suit the different passages in which this word agmon 
 occurs ; but several specks of saccharum, growing to a 
 great size in moist situations, and reed-like in appear- 
 ance, will also fulfil all the conditions required, as afford- 
 ing shelter for the behemoth or hippopotamus, being 
 convertible into ropes, forming a contrast with their 
 hollow stems to the solidity and strength of the branches 
 of trees, and when dry easily set on fire, and when in 
 flower their light and feathery inflorescence may be 
 bent down by the slightest wind that blows." (See 
 Reed.) 
 
 29 
 
SPIKENARD. 
 
 (Nardostachys jatamansi, Dec.) 
 
 My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof." SONG OF SOL. i. 12. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word nerd or nard, and the Greek 
 nardos, have been translated in our version 
 of the Bible "spikenard." From the refer- 
 ences made in Scripture it is clear that the 
 plant was one famous for its perfume. In the Song of 
 Solomon i. 12, it is said, "While the king sitteth at his 
 table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof ; " 
 and in ch. iv. 13, 14, the plant is mentioned as cultivated 
 in gardens along with " trees of frankincense ; myrrh and 
 aloes, with all the chief spices." Many of these are 
 known to have been the products of Arabia and far 
 Eastern countries, and to have been brought to Palestine, 
 especially in the days of Solomon. In Mark xiv. 3, 
 spikenard is referred to both as regards its perfume and 
 its value. While Jesus sat at meat, "there came a 
 woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard 
 very precious ; and she brake the box, and poured it on 
 his head." In John xii. 3 the same occurrence is alluded 
 
SPIKENARD. 227 
 
 to: "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, 
 very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped 
 his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the 
 odour of the ointment." The value of the ointment is 
 referred to by Judas Iscariot, who said that it might 
 have been " sold for three hundred pence [denarii], and 
 given to the poor" (John xii. 5). Rosenmuller says this 
 sum was about fifty rixdollars ; that is, about eight 
 pounds sterling. All these passages point to the delight- 
 ful perfume and the rarity and costliness of spikenard. 
 The term nard is said to be derived from the Tamil, in 
 which words beginning with nar convey the notion of 
 an agreeable perfume. The ointment prepared from the 
 oil of spikenard-root was considered by the Romans as 
 precious. Horace promises to Virgil a whole cadus 
 (about thirty-six quart bottles) of wine for a small onyx- 
 box full of spikenard : 
 
 " Nardo vina merebere, 
 Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum." 
 
 HOE., Carm. iv., Ode 12. 
 
 On the occasion of banquets the Romans crowned 
 their guests with flowers such as roses, and anointed them 
 with spikenard : 
 
 " Et rosa, 
 
 Canos odorati capillos, 
 Dum licet, Assyriaque nardo 
 Potamus uncti." 
 
 HOE., Carm. ii., Ode 11. 
 
 Sir William Jones, in the " Asiatic Researches," states 
 that he considers the spikenard like the produce of a 
 plant called in Bengal jatcmcmsi, the stem of which, 
 
228 SPIKENARD. 
 
 covered with fibrous matter, is dug up in the young 
 state, dried, and sold in the bazaars. In this state it 
 resembles the tail of an ermine or small weasel. The 
 plant has also, from its form, been called by the Arabs 
 Sunbul hindae, or Indian ear. 
 
 The plant has been specially examined by Dr. Royle. 
 It is the Nardostachys jatamansi of Decandolle. It 
 belongs to the natural order Valerianacese, the Valerian 
 family. The general name is derived from Greek words 
 meaning " nard " and " spike," and the specific name is 
 from the Indian appellation. This Indian plant seems 
 to have been imported from the Himalayas in the days 
 of Solomon, and to have been prized as a rare kind of 
 perfume. Our Lord smelled a sweet savour when Mary 
 anointed him ; and he commended her dutiful faith when 
 he said, in reply to the covetous and hypocritical Judas, 
 " Let her alone; why trouble ye her ? she hath wrought 
 a good work on me ... She hath done what she could : 
 she is come af orehand to anoint my body to the burying. 
 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be 
 preached throughout the whole world, this also that she 
 hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her " 
 (Mark xiv. 6, 8, 9). 
 
COTTON. 
 
 (Gossypiuin herbaceum, Linn. ) 
 
 " Where were white, green [cotton], and blue, hangings." ESTHER i. 6. 
 
 |HE word cotton does not occur in our transla- 
 tion of the Bible ; but there is a Hebrew 
 word, karpas, in Esther i. 6, which has been 
 translated "green," and which, according to 
 many commentators, means cotton. The passage in 
 Esther describing the hangings of the palace of Ahasuerus 
 called Shushan or Lily, should, according to these com- 
 mentators, be rendered thus: " Hangings of white cotton 
 and blue, fastened with cords of fine flax and purple to 
 rings of silver and pillars of marble." The scene of 
 Esther's history was a country where cotton has been 
 constantly used to supply articles of clothing ; and this 
 tends to strengthen the opinion that cotton is referred 
 to in the passage which has been quoted. The Hebrew 
 word Jcarpas is very like the Sanskrit karpasum and 
 karpasa, signifying the cotton plant ; and it resembles 
 the Latin carbasus, which also means cotton. Koyle 
 remarks that the hangings thus described in Esther are 
 
230 
 
 COTTON. 
 
 exactly like those used in India ; for " hanging curtains 
 made with calico, usually in stripes of different colours, 
 are employed throughout India as a substitute for doors." 
 The Indian name of cotton might easily reach the Per- 
 sian court of Susa in the time of Ahasuerus, whose 
 
 COTTON. (Gossypium herbaceum.) 
 
 dominion extended to India. As the communication 
 between India and Egypt was great, it is probable that 
 cotton was introduced into the latter country. The 
 Jews, in all probability, brought cotton with them on 
 their return from Babylon. 
 
 Some authors have supposed that the Hebrew words 
 
COTTON. 231 
 
 shesh, bad, butz, and the Greek byssus, which occur in 
 the Bible, and which are translated " linen" and " fine 
 linen," may refer to cotton. These views, however, do 
 not appear to have been confirmed by the best commen- 
 tators. 
 
 The common herbaceous cotton is the Gossypium 
 herbaceum of botanists. It belongs to the natural order 
 Malvacese, the Mallow family. The plant has five lobed 
 leaves, and yellow petals, with a purple spot on each 
 claw. It is found in India, and it also occurs in the 
 south of Europe. There are other species of cotton 
 cultivated in various parts of the world, especially in 
 America. 
 
 The substance called cotton consists of the hairs which 
 surround the seeds in the capsule or seed-vessel, and 
 which are the means of scattering the seed when the 
 capsule opens. While God thus wisely provides for the 
 dispersion of the cotton seed, he has also graciously pre- 
 pared for man materials of a most valuable kind for his 
 clothing and comfort. The history of cotton, its prep- 
 aration and manufacture, is a subject of deep interest, 
 and is connected with the commercial history of nations. 
 Royle remarks that " cotton has from the earliest ages 
 been characteristic of India. Indeed it has been well 
 remarked, that as from early times sheep wool has been 
 principally employed for clothing in Palestine and Syria, 
 in Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, and Spain; hemp in the 
 northern countries of Europe, and flax in Egypt; so 
 cotton has always been employed for the same purpose 
 in India and silk in China. In the present day, cotton, 
 
232 COTTON. 
 
 by the aid of machinery, has been manufactured in this 
 country on so extensive a scale, and sold at so cheap a 
 rate, as to have driven the manufacture of India almost 
 entirely out of the market. But still, until a very recent 
 period, the calicoes and chintzes of India formed very 
 extensive articles of commerce from that country to 
 Europe." Cotton is now largely cultivated in Pales- 
 tine. 
 
REED. 
 
 (Arundo donax, Linn.) 
 "The reeds and flags shall wither.'' ISA. xix, 0. 
 
 IHE Hebrew word kaneh and the Greek kalamos 
 have been translated " reed " in the Bible. 
 The word canna in Greek and Latin, and 
 cane in English, may probably be traced to 
 the Hebrew word kaneh. In the Old Testament the 
 word kaneh is generally applied to reeds growing in 
 water, the hollow stems of which are easily broken. 
 Thus in Isaiah xix. 6, it is said, " And they shall turn 
 the rivers far away. . .and the reeds and flags shall wither." 
 In Isaiah xxxv. 7, reeds and rushes are associated as 
 growing in water; in 1 Kings xiv. 15, we have the ex- 
 pression, " As a reed is shaken in the water ; " Job xl. 
 21, " He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the 
 reed, and fens." The bruised reed is referred to in 
 Isaiah xlii. 3, and other places ; and its fragile character 
 is noticed in 2 Kings xviii. 2 1 : "Now. . .thou trustest upon 
 the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which 
 if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it : so 
 
 30 
 
234 REED. 
 
 is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust in him." 
 (See also Isa. xxxvi. 6 ; Ezek. xxix. 6, 7.) Judging from 
 the names given by Greek and Roman authors to the 
 plants of Syria and Egypt, we may conjecture that in 
 these passages a species of arundo was referred to, such 
 as Arundo phragmites, the common reed, or Arundo 
 donax. This plant belongs to the natural order Grami- 
 nese, the Grass family. 
 
 In the New Testament the word kalamos is used as a 
 translation of kaneh in Matthew xii. 20. This word is 
 the calamus of the Latin; and from it we derive the 
 term culm, applied to the stems of grasses. In Matthew 
 xi. 7, and Luke vii. 24, our Lord, in speaking of John 
 the Baptist, says to the people, " What went ye out into 
 the wilderness to see ? A reed [kalamos] shaken with 
 the wind ? " Again, when the Roman soldiers mocked 
 Jesus, it is said they " put a reed in his right hand," and 
 they " took the reed, and smote him on the head " (Matt. 
 xxvii. 29, 30 ; Mark xv. 19). A reed was used to raise 
 up the vinegar on the sponge to the lips of the Saviour 
 on the cross (Matt, xxvii. 48 ; Mark xv. 36); and John 
 states that hyssop was also used probably meaning that 
 the sponge was put on a bunch of the hyssop shrub 
 attached to a reed. The apostle John used the word 
 calamus to mean a pen made of a reed (3 John 13). 
 
 (See also Bulrush and Flag.} 
 
FLAG. 
 
 (Cyperus esculentus, Linn.' 
 
 " Can the flag grow without water ? " JOB viii. 11. 
 
 ]HE Hebrew word achu occurs in Job viii. 11, 
 and is translated "flag" "Can the rush 
 grow up without mire ? can the flag [achu] 
 grow without water ? " In this passage the 
 word seems obviously to apply to an aquatic plant of 
 some sort. In Genesis xli. 2, 18, however, the same 
 word has been translated "meadow" "And, behold, there 
 came up out of the river seven well-favoured kine and 
 fat-fleshed ; and they fed in a meadow." In the latter 
 passage the word, according to our translation, embraces 
 the pasture or the moist meadow on the bank of the 
 river on which the flag grew. Commentators think that 
 the flag was a plant of the sedge family, and probably a 
 species of cyperus which furnished pasture for cattle. 
 Hence the Cyperus esculentus so called from its esculent 
 qualities has been conjectured to be the flag of the 
 Bible. It belongs to the natural order Cyperacese. The 
 plant grows in the south of Europe, in Africa, and in the 
 
236 FLAG. 
 
 East. It produces tuberous roots which are nutritious, 
 and which, when roasted, have been used as a substi- 
 tute for coffee. The plant called flowering rash (Buto- 
 mus umbellatus), belonging to a distinct order, is also 
 found in Palestine. 
 
 Another Hebrew word, suph, has been translated 
 "flag." It is met with in Exodus ii. 5, 6, where 
 Jochebed is represented as placing the little ark with 
 Moses in the flags by the river's brink. Again, in Isaiah 
 xix. 6, it is said, " The reeds and flags [suph] shall 
 wither." In Jonah ii. 5 the word is rendered " weeds " 
 " The depth closed me round about, the weeds were 
 wrapped about my head." Some have supposed that 
 the word is applied to sea- weed in general. Lady Call- 
 cott is disposed to look upon it as referring to a species of 
 sea- wrack, such as Zostera marina, or Caulinia oceanica. 
 The latter plants are thrown up by the tide in the form 
 of numerous balls on the shores of the Mediterranean 
 Sea. The rush-like covering of Florence flasks is made 
 from zostera. This plant is not a true sea-weed, but is 
 in reality a flowering plant belonging to the natural 
 order Naiad acese. The Red Sea is called Yam Suph, or 
 " the sea of weeds." 
 
DOVE'S DUNG. 
 
 (Ornithogalum umbellatum, Linn.} 
 
 " And the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung was sold for five pieces of 
 silver." 2 KINGS vi. 25. 
 
 | HE Hebrew chirionim, or charei-yonim, is met 
 with in the passage in 2 Kings referred to in 
 the above quotation, in which the famine in 
 Samaria was so great that comparatively 
 worthless articles of food were sold for a high price. 
 The word has been translated literally " dove's dung," 
 the term yonim being a plural word meaning " doves," 
 and the prefix charei, sometimes put dib, means " dung." 
 Some commentators believe that the actual dung of 
 pigeons is meant, and that the people were reduced to 
 such straits as to be compelled to eat such offensive 
 materials. It has been stated that in the famine in 
 England in 1316 the poor actually ate pigeon's dung. 
 Other commentators think that the cab of dove's dung 
 is part of a plant which received that name. The Arabs 
 applied the term to certain vegetable productions. A 
 species of salsola is called by them " sparrow's dung." 
 
238 
 
 DOVE'S-DUNG. 
 
 The plant figured has been called the dove's dung plant 
 on account of the green and white colour of its flowers, 
 thus resembling pigeon's dung. 
 
 The plant (Ornithogalum 
 umbellatum) is said to be 
 abundant in Samaria. It 
 belongs to the natural order 
 Liliacese, the Lily family. 
 It grows abundantly in 
 Europe as well as in the 
 Levant. The cab is a mea- 
 sure equal to three English 
 pints. The names of bird's 
 milk and common star of 
 Bethlehem are also given to 
 
 STAR OP BETHLEHEM. the plant. As this 
 
 (Ornithogalumu^ellatum.) galum ^ f()mid ^ 
 
 it might supply the pigeon's dung mentioned in the English 
 famine. The bulb is used as an esculent in Syria and 
 neighbouring countries. It was formerly eaten by the 
 peasants in Italy. 
 
MANDRAKE. 
 
 (Atropa mandragora, Linn. ; Mandragora ojfitinalis. Mill.) 
 
 Reuben... found mandrakes in the field." GEN. xxx. 14. 
 
 |HE Hebrew plural word dudaim occurs in two 
 passages in the Old Testament, and has been 
 translated "mandrakes." The plant is de- 
 scribed as growing in the fields, and as pro- 
 ducing its fruit at the time of wheat-harvest, or in May. 
 " Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found 
 mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his 
 mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I 
 pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto 
 her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my 
 husband ? and wouldest thou take away my son's man- 
 drakes also ? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie 
 with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob 
 came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out 
 to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me ; for 
 surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And 
 he lay with her that night. And God hearkened unto 
 Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son." 
 From this passage it appears that the plant was con- 
 
240 MANDRAKE. 
 
 sidered as promoting conception. Again, in the Song of 
 Solomon, allusion is made to the smell of the mandrakes : 
 " The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all 
 manner of pleasant fruits" (vii. 13). 
 
 There have been numerous opinions as to the plant 
 referred to in these passages. 
 The Greek translators used 
 the word mandragorai, " man- 
 drakes," and Mala mandra- 
 goroon, or "apples of man- 
 drakes," to express the Hebrew 
 dudaim. Hence the plant has 
 been considered as the Atropa 
 mandragora of botanists. 
 The plant possesses stimulant 
 and narcotic qualities. It be- 
 longs to the natural order 
 Solanacese, sub-order Atropese, or Deadly-nightshade 
 family. The leaves of the plant are coarse and 
 lettuce-like, and they conceal the pale yellowish flowers 
 which arise from the crown of the root. The root 
 is large and spindle-shaped, and often divides in a 
 forking manner. It has a resemblance to the human 
 form, and hence the plant was sometimes called anthro- 
 pornorphon. The fruit resembles the potato-apple, and 
 is of a pale orange colour. It seems to have been called 
 sometimes " apple of love." The plant occurs in Pales- 
 tine, and has been noticed by recent travellers. The 
 inhabitants reckon the fruit exhilarating, and as aiding 
 in the procreation of children. There is a cucurbitaceous 
 
 MANDRAKE. (Atropa mandragora ) 
 
MANDRAKE. 241 
 
 plant to which the name dudaim is given at the present 
 day. This is the Cucumus dudaim, or apple-shaped 
 melon, which has a fruit variegated with green and 
 orange at first, and becoming yellow when ripe. The 
 fruit has a very fragrant, vinous, musky odour, and 
 contains a whitish, insipid pulp. Its qualities are very 
 different from those of the mandrake. 
 
 There are some curious legends about the mandrake. 
 It was thought that the man-like root, when torn from 
 the ground, uttered shrieks, 
 
 " Shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth, 
 That living mortals, hearing them, run mad." 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 In the Second Part of Henry VI. Shakespeare also 
 alludes to this notion, when he makes Suffolk say, 
 
 " Would curses kill as doth the mandrake's groan." 
 
 In the old time of sorcery and magic the plant 
 acquired a remarkable reputation, and was regarded 
 with superstitious fear. 
 
 Its narcotic qualities are referred to by Shakespeare, 
 
 " Not poppy, nor mandragora, 
 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, 
 Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep 
 Which thou owedst yesterday." 
 
 Lady Callcott in her "Scripture Herbal" refers to 
 these passages from Shakespeare, and gives some curious 
 details in regard to the plant. 
 
 Another solanaceous plant, Physalis alkekengi, winter 
 cherry or Jew's cherry, has by some been regarded as 
 yielding the fruit called dudaim. 
 
 31 
 
THISTLE. 
 
 (Tribulus terrestris, Linn.) 
 
 Do men gather... figs of thistles ? "MATT. vii. 16. 
 
 | HE Hebrew word dardar, and the Greek tri- 
 bolos, have been translated in the Authorized 
 Version "thistles." When God cursed the earth 
 for man's sin, he said, "Thorns also and 
 thistles shall it bring forth to thee " (Gen. iii. 1 8) ; and 
 in announcing judgment on Israel, the prophet says, 
 " The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars " 
 (Hosea x. 8). In these passages the word dardar is 
 associated with koz or kotz, meaning " thorns." Again, in 
 the New Testament our Lord says, " Do men gather. . .figs 
 of thistles?" (Matt. vii. 16.) The word tribolos or 
 tribulus is translated " briers " in Heb. vi. 8 : " That 
 which beareth thorns and briers is rejected." There is 
 some difficulty in ascertaining what plant is meant. 
 Some suppose that it is Tribulus terrestris, a plant which 
 derives its name from the Greek name tribolos. It is a 
 prickly plant which grows along the surface of the 
 ground. It is called caltrops, in consequence of the 
 
THISTLE. 243 
 
 spiny fruit resembling the machines formerly used to 
 obstruct cavalry. It grows in dry barren places in the 
 East. This plant belongs to the natural order Zygo- 
 phyllacese, the Bean-caper family. Some commentators 
 consider the plant as Centaurea calcitrapa, one of the 
 composite plants ; others take Fagonia cretica or F. 
 arabica. Lady Callcott figures in her " Scripture Herbal" 
 Carduus arabicus, a true species of thistle. There is no 
 doubt that thistles are common in the Holy Land at the 
 present day. Hasselquist noticed eight or ten different 
 kinds of thistles on the road from Jerusalem to Rama, 
 and one on Mount Tabor, along with the Cynara 
 scolymus, or the artichoke, which belongs to the same 
 order as the thistle. Other composite plants remarkably 
 spiny, and which are mentioned as occurring in Palestine, 
 are Cnicus syriacus, Scolymus maculatus, Centaurea 
 calcitrapa and C. verutum, and Carthamus oxycanthus. 
 In bringing forth thistles, the land produces what is 
 highly injurious to cultivation, for the down or pappus 
 attached to the fruit scatters the seeds far and wide, and 
 the plants thus produced choke all useful vegetation. 
 The down of the thistle and of our composite plants is 
 an altered and degenerate calyx. In 2 Kings xiv. 9, as 
 well as in 2 Chronicles xxv. 18, and in Job xxxi. 40, 
 the Hebrew word used for thistles is not dardar, but 
 choach; and this latter word is also translated " thorn" in 
 Job xli. 2, Proverbs xxvi. 9, Song of Solomon ii. 2, Isaiah 
 xxxiv. 13, and Hosea ix. 6. There can be no doubt that 
 these names refer to noxious weeds which are connected 
 with desolation and a curse. 
 
HEMLOCK. 
 
 (AN UNKNOWN PLANT.) 
 
 As hemlock in the furrows of the field." HOSEA. x. 4. 
 
 |HE Hebrew word rosh has been variously 
 translated in the authorized version of the 
 Old Testament. In Hosea x. 4, it is trans- 
 lated "hemlock:" "Thus judgment springeth 
 up as hemlock in the furrows of the field." So also in 
 Amos vi. 12 : "Ye have turned... the fruit of righteous- 
 ness into hemlock." In other passages the word is 
 rendered " gall," and it is often associated with wormwood. 
 Thus, in Deuteronomy xxix. 1 8, it is said, " Lest there 
 should be among you a root that beareth gall and worm- 
 wood." The prophet Jeremiah says, " The Lord our 
 God... hath given us water of gall to drink" (viii. 14): 
 " Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with worm- 
 wood, and give them water of gall to drink" (ix. 15); 
 " I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink 
 the water of gall" (xxiii. 15); " Keinembering mine 
 affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall " 
 (Lam. iii. 19). In Psalm Ixix. 21, it is said, "They 
 gave me also gall for my meat." In Deuteronomy xxxii. 
 32, allusion is made to "grapes of gall," and bitter 
 
HEMLOCK. 245 
 
 clusters, as if the fruit of the plant were succulent like 
 grapes, and grew in clusters. On this account some have 
 supposed that it was a species of solanum, such as S. 
 nigrum. The word rosh seems to refer to a poisonous 
 plant, and some have supposed it to be a species of poppy. 
 One species, Papaver arenarium, is very common in the 
 fields of Palestine. Celsius thinks that by the hemlock 
 plant is meant the Conium maculatum of botanists, the 
 cicuta of the Romans. This plant belongs to the natural 
 order UmbelliferaB. It has marked poisonous qualities. 
 This opinion of Celsius seems to be founded on very 
 slender data. This plant seems rather to have been 
 marked for its bitterness than for its poisonous properties. 
 The word rosh is in the New Testament rendered by the 
 Greek word chole, meaning gall or bile : " They gave him 
 vinegar to drink, mingled with gall " (Matt, xxvii. 34). 
 Again, in Mark xv. 23, in place of gall the word myrrh 
 is used, as indicating bitterness : " And they gave him 
 to drink wine mingled with myrrh." Hengstenberg says 
 in regard to these two passages : " Matthew, in his usual 
 way, refers to theological views in his narrative of the 
 drink. Always keeping his eye on the prophecies of the 
 Old Testament, he speaks of vinegar and gall for the 
 purpose of rendering the fulfilment of the passage in the 
 Psalms (Ps. Ixix. 21) more manifest. Mark again, 
 according to his usual way, looks rather at the outward 
 quality of the drink. It was, according to him, wine 
 mingled with myrrh, the usual drink of malefactors." 
 There appears, then, to be no data by which we can 
 determine the exact meaning of the term rosh. 
 
WORMWOOD. 
 (PROBABLY A SPECIES OF ARTEMISIA.) 
 
 IEVERAL species 
 
 of artemisia 
 grow in Pales- 
 tine. The 
 common wormwood is 
 A rtemisia A bsinthium. 
 The name always implies 
 wormwood or something 
 more bitter than gall. In 
 Deuteronomy xxix. 18, it 
 is said, " Lest there should 
 be among you a root that 
 beareth gall and worm- 
 wood ; " and its unpleasant 
 character is alluded to in 
 many parts of the Bible 
 (Prov. v. 4 ; Amos v. 7 ; 
 Jer. ix. 15, and xxiii. 15 ; 
 Lam. iii. 15, 19). The 
 genus artemisia belongs to 
 the natural order Com- 
 positse. 
 
 WORMWOOD. (Artemisia, Absinthium.) 
 
BITTER HERBS. 
 
 " With bitter herbs they shall eat it." Ex. xii. 8 ; 
 NUM. ix. 11. 
 
 !HE Hebrew word merorim has been translated 
 " bitter herbs." It occurs in the two passages 
 referred to above, in which directions are 
 given to the Israelites as to the mode of 
 eating the Passover. They were directed to eat the 
 paschal lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 
 In Lamentations iii. 15 the same word is used, and is 
 translated " bitterness." In this passage it is associated 
 with wormwood. 
 
 There were a considerable number of bitter herbs 
 used along with food, chiefly belonging to the crucifer- 
 ous and composite orders of plants. Among these are 
 included cresses, lettuce, endive, chicory, elecampane. 
 " Dr. Geddes thinks that the wild endive, or succory, is 
 intended, the leaves of which may be eaten as a spring 
 salad, and the roots dried and made into bread." (The 
 Scripture Garden Walk, p. 41.) 
 
 The Greek word for "bitter herbs" is picsides, and the 
 name has been applied by some to Picris echioides, also 
 a composite plant. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 ]E have thus endeavoured to give a condensed 
 account of the trees, shrubs, and herbs men- 
 tioned in Scripture, so far as they can be 
 determined by reference to the best scientific 
 authorities. Although much has been done of late in 
 removing doubts, there are still many difficulties which 
 can only be solved by careful botanical and philological 
 inquiries in Eastern countries. 
 
 What an interesting field does the Holy Land present 
 to the Christian man of science, and how valuable might 
 his researches be in throwing light on our version of the 
 Bible. True it is that in regard to the grand truths of 
 salvation he that runs may read, and that the unlearned, 
 under the guidance of God's Spirit, will find the inspired 
 Word profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 and for instruction in righteousness. But there are 
 hidden treasures, the beauty of which is fully displayed 
 only to . the enlightened student who applies all the 
 resources of science to their elucidation. We cannot too 
 deeply investigate the words of the Bible, written as 
 they were by holy men who were moved by the Holy 
 
CONCLUSION. 249 
 
 Ghost. Unless we have verbal inspiration we have 
 nothing. The Book not merely contains a revelation 
 from God, but it is, in its words and minutest details, 
 even to the very plants, given by Him. The highest 
 scientific talent may well be consecrated to the noble 
 task of illustrating the Natural History of the Bible. 
 
 The unsettled state of Palestine renders the examina- 
 tion of its flora a matter of some risk, and hence there is 
 not an opportunity for leisurely and carefully noting the 
 plants which grow on spots hallowed by associations of 
 the deepest interest. We may look forward to a time 
 when that country, now so desolate, shall be again 
 inhabited, and when its fertile soil will bring forth a 
 luxuriant vegetation ; when " instead of the thorn shall 
 come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come 
 up the myrtle tree : and it shall be to the Lord for a 
 name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" 
 (Isa. Iv. 13). 
 
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