Spices and Medicinal Plants of the Holy Bible

Dr. Nishikant Lokhande

tet 2020 · RUT Printer and Publisher

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Plants are undoubtedly the main source for curing and allievating diseases in ancient

Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. Both civilizations belong to the world of old

testament.

The Bible reflects an intimate knowledge of herbs and spices, which perfumed

the Jerusalem Temple (2 Chronicles 2:4), sweetened the home (Song of Songs 7:13) and

seasoned meals during the Exodus (Numbers 11:5–6). Repeated references to herbs

and spices indicate that the people of the Bible knew how these plants tasted, smelled

and looked, where they grew and what medicinal value they provided.

The Bible mentions about hundred names of plants. The bulk of them of Erez

Israel, the others being trees of Lebanon and tropical plants that yield an aromatic

substance or were used in incense. These names refer to specific plants, but some are

generic names, like Thorns and Thistles. The biblical plants are chiefly those which

were economically important, which are mentioned to a large extent. Specific

vegetables are mentioned in one verse only of the Bible, and these are the vegetables

of Egypt for which the children of Israel longed during their wandering in the

wilderness. (Num. 11:5)

The Mishnah. The Talmuds, and the Midrashim add hundreds of names of

plants to those mentioned in the Bible.The Bible never gives a specific word for spices,

the aromatic vegetable products derived from the bark, root or fruit of perennial

plants. In the Bible spices are used primarily for religious purposes—especially

as incense. “Spiced wine,” literally wine of a mixture (of spices), in Song of Songs 8:2

is the only Biblical mention of spices used as a flavoring.

In ancient times, herbs—the edible leaves, blossoms and soft stems of annuals

and perennials—were used primarily as medicine. According to the apocryphal Book

of Jubilees,1 angels revealed to Noah all the illnesses of the world and their remedies

so that he could “heal by means of the herbs of the earth” (Jubilees 10:12). Noah

diligently recorded the cures in a book. Below, I, like Noah, record the herbs and spices

of the Near East throughout history.

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Dr. Nishikant Lokhande, Associate Professor

Department of Botany

Badrinarayan Barwale College, Jalna