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Topic:
Thoughts
And Things Of The Bible -- Anise
The word "anise" is found only in Matt. 23:23. Anise is an
annual plant growing to the height of one foot, carries a white flower,
and blooms from June till August. It is the plant commonly known by the
name of dill, the Peucedanum graveolens of the botanist. This name dill
is derived from a Norse word which means to soothe, the plant having the
carminative property of allaying pain. The common dill, the Anethum
graveolens, is an annual growing wild in the cornfields of Spain and
Portugal and the south of Europe generally. There is also a species of
dill cultivated in Eastern countries known by the name of shubit. It was
this species of garden plant of which the Pharisees were in the habit of
paying tithes. The Talmud requires that the seeds, leaves, and stem of
dill shall pay tithes. It is an umbelliferous plant, very like the
caraway, its leaves, which are aromatic, being used in soups and
pickles. The proper anise is the Pimpinella anisum. Among the ancients
anise seems to have been a common pot-herb in every garden. Although it
is less used in medicine by the moderns than by the ancients, it still
retains its former reputation as an excellent stomachic, particularly
for delicate women and young children. The Romans chewed it in order to
keep up an agreeable moisture in the mouth and to sweeten the breath,
while some Orientals still do the same." Dill, a somewhat similar
plant, is an annual, bearing small aromatic seeds, used also for cookery
and medicine.
Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible Dictionaries
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