Plants of the Land
The Bible mentions many different plants. Some are well known; others are hard to identify. This page shows only a few of the most interesting and important ones. Herbs and spices were used in seasoning food, preparing medicines, and as a sweet-smelling incense in the tabernacle and temple worship.
 Beans and lentils
Broad beans can be cooked as a vegetable, or dried and ground into flour. The lentil grows in a small flat pod, like a pea. It is red-colored and is usually made into soups and stews (such as Jacob made for Esau), but can also be dried and ground into flour.
2 Samuel 17:28; Ezekiel 4:9; Genesis 25:34. Frankincense
Gum collected by peeling back the bark of the frankincense-tree (Boswellia) and cutting into the trunk. The resin gives off a sweet scent when warmed or burned, and was used as incense in Bible times. Frankincense was one of the gifts brought to baby Jesus by the three wise men.
Exodus 30:34-38; Leviticus 2:1, 15-16; Matthew 2:11
Rose
The word often translated 'rose' in the Bible is not the rose we know it, but probably the narcissus in Isaiah 35:1 and a mountain tulip in the Song of Solomon 2:1.
Hyssop
On the cross, Jesus was given vinegar in a sponge passed to Him on a bunch of hyssop. In the Old Testament it was used in sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice, and on the eve of Passover. It was obviously a bushy plant, and must therefore have been different from the herb we call by the same name today, and may have been either marjoram or caper.
Exodus 12:21-22; John 19:29
Mustard
God's kingdom, Jesus said, is like the tiny mustard seed, which grows into a great plant. He was probably talking about the black mustard, whose seeds were grown for oil as well as flavoring. Usually about 4 ft. high, these plants can grow to 15 ft.
Matthew 13:31-32.
Thistles, thorns and tares
Thistles and thorns abound in dry lands like Israel - over 120 kinds, some growing to over 6 ft. Some, such as the milk-thistle, have beautiful flowers, but can quickly suffocate young plants at the edges of fields (as in Jesus' story of the sower and the soils). Thorns like those pictured in the parable were plaited into a mock-crown for Jesus at His trial. The 'tares' in the story of the wheat and the tares are darnel, which looks exactly like wheat in its early stages.
Genesis 3:18; Matthew 13:7; Mark 15:15, 17-18; Matthew 13:24-30
Plants of the Land
Trees & Shrubs of the Land
Changes of the Land
|
 |
|
|
| A real history needs a real setting. The land and the people were real, and so, says the Bible, the coming of God to that paticular place was real, too. MORE ... |
|
| The Bible is a collection of ancient books. The cultures in which those books were written have perished long ago. Much is being found again. MORE . . . |
|
| How did these various books come to be written? Who wrote them? When? And how did they come together to make the book we now know as the Bible? MORE . . |
|
The Bible may be an ancient book but it is part of an unfinished story. The story begins, continues - and will end - with God's love. MORE . . .
|
|
| From earliest times, men and women have felt the need to worship, or pay respect to, someone or something greater than themselves. For the Israelites and their neighbors religion was an essential part of life.MORE . . . |
|
| It is hard enough to imagine life fifty years ago. How much more difficult, then, to get a true picture of home and family life in Bible times.MORE . . . |
|
| The story of ancient Israel, the major theme of the Old Testament begins with the Patriarchs and covers a people of promise but of disobedience as well. Great powers arose surrounding this tiny stretch of land...MORE . . . |
|
|
