Plants in the Bible

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Map of early historical Israel

Under plants in the Bible is meant in particular the plants , which in the Middle East , especially in the area of the ancient land of Israel , and grow in the Bible are mentioned. The Bible mentions about 110 of the 2600 plant species native to Israel, although the exact definition must remain incomplete for various reasons. The large number of different plant communities in a relatively small area is due to the very varied topography and the increasingly dry and hotter climate from north to south. Most of the plants mentioned in the Bible have an important meaning for the people of that time, be it as food , building material, for cultic purposes or as a medicine . From their mention one can therefore also infer the culture and way of life of the people of Palestine in biblical times.

Topography and Climate of Israel

Satellite image of the topography of Israel

Biblical Israel consisted of the areas to the left and right of the Jordan. It bordered Assyria to the north and Egypt to the south.

The flora of Israel has not changed significantly in the last millennia, because no major climatic changes have taken place. The climate is typically Mediterranean, there are two main seasons, the humid and mild winter and the dry and hot summer. The duration of the rainy season varies, it decreases from north to south. The land is divided into a wheat belt and a barley belt by the amount of rainfall , because wheat requires more water and a longer growing season than barley. Occasionally there are oases with a tropical climate. For the topographical and climatic areas see also Palestine (region) .

Determination of biblical plant names from the texts of the Bible

The plant names in the Bible cannot all be assigned with certainty to a current plant. There are several reasons for this:

  • Every translation harbors sources of error and inaccuracies, especially since it is a language that was spoken or written in a different culture, a long time ago epoch.
  • Some terms are no longer known or have changed in meaning over the centuries . The meaning of some plants in the Bible has not been transmitted with certainty either.
  • The biblical narrators do not always differentiate between species as precisely as is usual with today's biologists. For example, the same Hebrew word is used for cedar, fir and tamarisk.
  • Some plant names are only used as place or person names in the Bible, for example Elim (Bushy yoke leaf, Zygophyllum dumosum ) ( Num 33.9  EU ) or Mattana ( Hairy sparrow's tongue , Thymelaea hirsuta ) ( Num 21.18  EU ). Such assignments are still controversial in some cases and require further research.
  • There are also some collective names in the Bible for entire plant communities that occurred in the same ecosystem, although the species referred to can no longer be reconstructed today. For example, there are about 20 different terms for “thorn bush”, but about 60 types of thorn plants in the flora of Israel.

For these reasons, the assignment of names to specific species can no longer be reliably reconstructed in some cases.

Significance of plants for people in biblical times

Agriculture

In biblical times, people lived for the most part from agriculture . They practiced arable farming in the areas that were suitable or could be prepared for it by irrigation. In the more humid areas of Israel forests were cleared and terraces were created on the mountain slopes to reduce the constant erosion in the rainy season. In drier steppes and shrub savannahs contrast, mainly sheep and goats were kept by nomadic shepherds grazed serves large areas. Since daily life was shaped by agriculture, many terms appear in the biblical texts that have to do with sowing, harvesting , ripening, irrigation, animal husbandry and slaughter. The clear botanical terms for the individual plant parts are also striking.

The plant species grown were almost all domesticated in the Middle East . The main crops were wheat types ( emmer and einkorn ) and barley , as well as a sorghum type , which is often translated as " millet ". Lentils , beans and peas were grown in the gardens , along with vegetables such as various types of onions , and spices such as coriander and black cumin . In addition, orchards were planted around the settlements . Dates , figs , almonds , pomegranates and grapes were grown. The olive in particular was one of the staple foods. Flatbreads , which formed the main food of the common people, were baked from coarse flour and olive oil .

Religious regulations for handling plants

The culture of the Jewish population in biblical times was shaped by a multitude of religious rites and regulations. This also includes regulations for handling plants. Compliance with these regulations sometimes makes sense for a fair distribution of daily goods and enables the sustainable nutrition of many people in a small country. Such regulations are for example:

  • Part of the harvest had to be left in the fields for the poor who had no land. You had the right to review . For the same reason, the fields were not allowed to be mowed all the way to the edge.
  • A tenth part of all proceeds had to be paid to the temple in Jerusalem . It served to feed the priests and their families. This later turned into a levy for the poor.
  • Trees and shrubs were not allowed to be harvested for the first three years after they were planted .
  • Every seven years the fields should lie fallow (so-called sabbatical year of the country) so that the soil could recover. What grew by itself in the fields should be available to the poor.

Culture

The festive times of the Jewish year were closely linked to the sowing and harvesting times of the country. The Passover festival takes place at the time of the first barley harvest, and the first sheaves are offered as an offering. ( Lev 23.10  EU ). The Feast of Tabernacles ( Sukkot ) is the time of harvest. It is a harvest festival in which a sheaf of different plants is tied, this symbolizes the joy of the year's yield.

Incense, which is obtained from the resin of certain trees , also plays a special role in the culture of the people . They are burned during the temple cult. The fragrant fragrance symbolizes the offerings that are to be brought before God's face. In addition to their sacred use, the Hebrews also used incense for secular purposes such as scenting rooms, clothing and textiles. Notes on this can be found, for example, in Psalm 45: 9. The incense was mostly imported from Egypt or the Red Sea area .

The wild growing herbs , collected as culinary and medicinal herbs, were seen in Israel as a gift from God ( Ps 104,14  EU ), their growth depended on the rain. The bitter herbs that grow in the desert and are eaten as a salad at a young age symbolize the bitter life of the ancestors who worked as slaves in Egypt during the Passover celebration .

Old trees play an important role in the Near East culture, precisely because they are rare in a rather dry country. Judgments were held under trees or graves of important people were laid. The pre-Yahwi cultures revered trees as deities or set up images of gods in sacred groves . In order to curb these customs, Israelite prophets and kings later cut down such groves many times.

The plant communities in Israel

Due to the multitude of different soils and climatic zones , one can also find different vegetation landscapes in Israel . Some typical examples follow.

  • Oak forests: This forest is very resistant to fire, grazing and logging. It turns south into the maquis , a shrub savannah. There are regionally different forms of this forest: In the northern Galilee you can find the common oak ( Quercus calliprinos ), the Atlantic pistachio ( Pistacia atlantica ), the laurel ( Laurus nobilis ) and the carob tree ( Ceratonia siliqua ). The Tabor oak , the Atlantic terebinth ( Pistacia atlantica ) and the styrax ( Styrax officinalis ) predominate in the Sharon Plain and in the Hule Valley . On the Carmel, on the other hand, the Aleppo pine ( Pinus halepensis ) takes up the majority, although it is accompanied by various types of oak. Only small remnants of this forest have survived in the rest of Israel; it was more common in biblical times.
  • Wetlands: Marshes and rivers are restricted to the coastal plain and the Jordan Valley . Here you can find typical river bank plants such as reeds ( Phragmites australis ), papyrus ( Cyperus papyrus ), prickly rush ( Juncus acutus ), oleander ( Nerium oleander ). There are also riparian forests made up of willows ( Salix spp .), Plane trees ( Platanus orientalis ) and tamarisks ( Tamarix spp .).
  • Shrub savanna : Shrub vegetation will soon settle in areas deforested by humans. The main representative is the thorny burnet ( Sarcopoterium spinosum ). Many annual plants and many grasses bloom in these dwarf shrub communities during the short rainy season.
  • Steppes : Depending on the type of soil, white wormwood ( Artemisia herba-alba ), yarrow ( Achillea santolina ), the dwarf shrub black hammada ( Hammada scoparia ), various other shrub species and low tamariskcan be found in the steppes. The desert salt marsh ( Suaeda asphaltica ) and the blue-green marsh ( Atriplex glauca )are found on salty soil.
  • Sandy deserts: In the Negev , solitary wormwood ( Artemisia monosperma ), white gorse ( Retama raetam ) and various perennial grasses grow on the dunes .
  • Oases: A large number of tropical tree species can be found at the mouths of the Jordan tributaries in Judea and at the Dead Sea . These include the acacia ( Acacia ssp .), The ban tree ( Moringa ) and the Jerichobalsam tree ( Balanites aegyptica ). You can also find small shrubs and perennials such as lavender ( Lavandula ), cassia ( Cassia ) and marshmallow ( Hibiscus ).

List of plants mentioned in the Bible

Only a few of the most frequently mentioned species have been included in this list.

Fruit trees and bushes

Field crops

Herbs and herbaceous plants

Trees and bushes

Plants in wetlands

Desert plants

  • Sennabusch ( Senna alexandrina ) ( Ex 3.2–4  EU ) - ( Acts 7.30  EU )
  • Manna : According to ( Ex 16.4.31  EU ), the Israelites ate a mysterious bread that God let rain from heaven. It could be the sweet excretion of an insect that lives on the sap of Nile tamarisk ( Tamarix nilotica ) or white hammada ( Hammada salicornica ). But this sweet would not have been enough to feed an entire tribe.
  • Gorse ( Retama raetam ) ( 1 Kings 19.4  EU )
  • Hammada ( Hammada salicornica , Hammada scoparia ) ( Jer 2.22  EU ) (lye or soap was made from the ashes of certain plant species by boiling it with olive oil, hammada and other herbs from the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae)).
  • Aloe ( Aloe vera ) ( Joh 19.40  EU )

Thorns and thistles

Field flowers

Medicinal herbs, spices and fragrances

  • White wormwood ( Artemisia herba-alba ) ( Jer 23.15  EU ) (Wormwood is used for tea and as a medicinal herb against worms.)
  • Wild pumpkin ( Citrullus colocynthis ) ( 2 Kings 4.39–40  EU ) (The fruit is used as a remedy for stomach pain, but in larger quantities it is toxic.)
  • Spotted hemlock ( Conium maculatum ) ( Klgl 3,19–20  EU )
  • Autumn Alraune ( Mandragora autumnalis ) ( Gen 30.14–15  EU ) (The plant was considered an aphrodisiac and was also called the love apple .)
  • Henna ( Lawsonia inermis ) ( Hld 1.14  EU ) (A dye was obtained from the powder from dried leaves , with which one can paint fabrics, walls and bodies.)
  • Castor oil ( Ricinus communis ) ( Jona 4,6–7  EU ) (The oil of the plant is used as a remedy.)
  • Frankincense bush ( Boswellia sacra ) ( Ex 30.34–35  EU ) - ( Mt 2.11  EU )
  • Balsam tree ( Commiphora abyssinica , Commiphora myrrha ) ( Ps 45.9  EU ) - ( Mt 2.11  EU ) (The resin (= myrrh ) is a component of sacred oils and beauty products, fragrance in the temple and is used to embalm the dead).
  • Saffron ( Crocus sativus ) is used in the Song of Songs to describe the wonderful pleasure garden that Israel represents ( Hld 4,13-14  EU )
  • Mustard ( Brassica nigra ) ( Mt 13.31ff  EU ), ( Mk 4.31  EU )
  • Black cumin ( Nigella damascena ) ( Isa 28.27  EU )

See also

literature

  • Carl Heinz Brieskorn : Plants and plant products of the Bible from today's perspective. In: Würzburg medical history reports. 3, 1985, ISSN  0177-5227 , pp. 355-373.
  • David Darom: The Most Beautiful Plants in the Bible. From hyssop to the mighty cedar trees. Palphot-Verlag, Herzlia / Israel 1998, ISBN 965-280-067-8 .
  • Christoph Dohmen (Ed.): The great non-fiction book on the world and environment of the Bible. Revised new edition with new spelling. Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-460-30208-9 .
  • Wolfgang Kawollek, Henning Falk: Bible Plants. Know and cultivate. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2005, ISBN 978-3-8001-4692-5 .
  • Immanuel Löw : Aramaic plant names. Engelmann, Leipzig 1881, (reprint. Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1973, ISBN 3-487-04989-9 ).
  • Immanuel Löw: The flora of the Jews. 4 volumes. Löwit et al., Vienna et al. 1924–1934, (reprographic reprint: G. Olms, Hildesheim 1967).
  • Michael Zohary : Plants of the Bible. Cambridge 1982.
    • Plants of the Bible. Complete manual. (1983) 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-7668-0724-2 ; Plants of the Bible Translation by Eugen Gratwohl and Helmut Zechner. 3. Edition. Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-7668-3397-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Incense from the Bible. Retrieved April 20, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Darom: The Most Beautiful Plants in the Bible. 1998, p. 6. - Must not be confused: “Isop. The actual I. (Hyssopus officinalis) does not occur in Palestine ”( Fritz Rienecker (Hrsg.): Lexikon zur Bibel. Volksausgabe, 11th edition, 18th complete edition. Brockhaus, Wuppertal 1988, ISBN 3-417-24528-1 , P. 647).