cantaloupe / muskmelon

New Revised Standard Version, updated edition renders the Hebrew words qishshu’ah and miqshah as “cucumber.” Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) argues forcefully that these words refer to the Muskmelon Cucumis melo or cantaloupe, and that “garden cucumbers did not exist in Egypt in biblical times” (page 86). Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology. Baker Book House, 1992) concurs with this.

Cultivated muskmelons started out in and around Persia (now Iran) before moving into northern India, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. Although truly wild forms of Cucumis melo have not been found in those regions, several related wild species have been noted.

A picture of offerings presented at a funeral in Egypt around 2400 B.C. contains fruit that some experts take to be muskmelons. The Greeks appear to have known the fruit in the third century B.C., and in the first century after Christ it was definitely described by the Roman philosopher Pliny, who said it was something new in Campania in Italy. The Greek physician Galen, in the second century A.D., wrote of its medicinal qualities, and Roman writers of the third century gave directions for growing it and preparing it with spices for eating. The Chinese apparently did not know the muskmelon until it was introduced to their country around the beginning of the Christian Era from the regions west of the Himalayas.

The muskmelon vine has round leaves and tendrils and creeps along the ground like a pumpkin or cucumber. It has tendrils and yellow flowers that develop into a fruit 10-40 centimeters (4-16 inches) in diameter. The fruit becomes yellowish or light green when ripe. The muskmelon is so named because of the distinctive smell of its ripe fruits. “Musk” is a Persian word for a kind of perfume; “melon” is a French word, from the Latin melopepo, meaning “apple-shaped melon.” Latin took words of similar meaning from Greek.

According to Numbers 11:5, the wandering Israelites remembered muskmelons and other tasty food that they had enjoyed in Egypt and complained to Moses. Isaiah 1:8 uses the melon patch (after harvest) as a picture of abandonment, dereliction, and desolation.

Many varieties of muskmelon are known around the world in warm countries. If it is not known, it may be translated contextually. Numbers 11:5 is non-rhetorical, and a transliteration from a major language is recommended (for example, French cantaloupe, Spanish and Portuguese cantalupo, Arabic abd el lawi). However, the reference to the temporary shelter in the melon patch in Isa 1.8 is metaphorical, so a cultural equivalent representing a lonely or abandoned place could be considered. In this verse translators should keep in mind its parallel images, which are “a booth in a vineyard” and “a besieged city.”

Muskmelon (cantaloupe) fruit, photo by Rob Koops

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

henna

Henna Lawsonia inermis grew wild in the oases by the Dead Sea in Old Testament times. It is also known as “Egyptian privet” and is common in the hot, drier parts of Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australia. Although henna was, and is, primarily used because of its coloring properties derived from the dried leaves, in Song of Songs 1:14 the writer mentions its flowers, which are indeed pretty and fragrant. They are in a “cluster” (’eshkol in Hebrew), which could be taken as a woven object parallel to the little bag of myrrh in verse 13 or as a garland, or simply as a clump of flowers in the cultivated terraces above En-Gedi. The reference to henna in Song of Songs 4:13 is strange since it is in the plural form in Hebrew (kefarim), parallel to the yet stranger Hebrew word neradim (from nerd; see spikenard). Neither of these plants has significant fruit, so the verse can be taken as a glorious concoction of romantic images of spices and flowers.

Henna is a shrub that reaches 2‑3 meters (7‑10 feet) in height. It has opposite leaves and many fragrant white flowers. The leaves yield a red juice that people in many countries use for coloring the skin and hair.

The context is clearly metaphorical in both references to henna, so there is the possibility of substituting locally known equivalents. In places where henna is known only as an agent for coloring the hair, skin or fingernails, it may be important to substitute, or to create a note stating that the smell and beauty of the flowers are in focus. In Song of Songs 4:13 most translations ignore the plural, perhaps assuming that it is influenced by the word “fruits” earlier. Alternatively, a transliteration can be used based on a major language. The recent resurgence in skin decoration (“mehndi”) using henna may make it easier to find a known word.

Red henna flower, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

cotton

Cotton Gossypium herbaceum has been grown and woven in the Indus Valley (now Pakistan) for at least five thousand years. Pieces of cotton cloth that old have been found there. However, it was not grown in the land of Israel until a few centuries before Christ.

The story of Esther takes place in Babylon in the time of Ahasuerus (= Xerxes) 485–465 B.C. By that time both cotton and flax products were probably traded back and forth throughout the Babylonian Empire, and the cultivation of both was probably expanding, although the area of India, Pakistan, and Babylonia would have been the area of largest production. Herodotus, in the fifth century B.C., mentions “trees that bear wool” from India.

The writer of Esther describes fabric made from karpas, a Hebrew word that comes from Sanskrit, a language spoken long ago in India, where cotton was domesticated. That may be evidence that karpas probably refers to cotton alone, particularly since the Hebrew word buts is probably used for “linen” in the same verse.

Isaiah 19:9, an oracle about Egypt, refers to the “weavers of white cotton [choray],” parallel to “workers in combed flax.” This supports the contention that cotton was well established in Egypt in Old Testament times, at least by the time of the Israelite monarchy.

The original Indian and Arabian type of cotton (“Levant cotton”) grows to 2 meters (7 feet) in height, with soft, lobed leaves (like its relatives the hibiscus and the hollyhock). The mallow-like flowers are yellow with a purple center. When the flower matures, the boll underneath puffs out and eventually splits, revealing a mass of fine white filaments that we know as “cotton wool.”

Cotton is now grown extensively throughout the world, especially in warm, dry areas. The Tree Cotton Gossypium arboreum is native to North Africa and is now grown in Upper Egypt. Another species, Upland Cotton Gossypium barbadense, grows in the West Indies. Egypt, India, China, and Nigeria all raise cotton in great quantities since it is their most important textile. If a transliteration of cotton from a major language is needed, adaptations of the following are advised: French cotonnier; Portuguese algodão, algodeiro; Spanish algodonero; Arabic kutun; and English cotton.

Even if the translator’s people do not actually grow cotton, they know it from the cloth sellers and will have a name for it. Failing that, a transliteration from a major language is recommended.

Cotton ball, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also snow (color).

watermelon

Most scholars believe the Hebrew word ’avattiach refers to the common watermelon Citrullus vulgaris/lanatus, and it should be so identified since there are other types of melons, such as the muskmelon, with which it should not be confused. In fact, until recently, some botanists thought that this word referred to the muskmelon. Watermelons probably originated in Africa (possibly in the Kalahari) and were probably domesticated in the Neolithic Period. They have been cultivated in Egypt since prehistoric times and are used for food, drink, and medicine. Even the seeds are eaten. The Arabic cognate batekh/batikh is used for both the muskmelon and the watermelon.

The watermelon plant is a vine like a pumpkin or a squash. The fruits vary widely in size, shape and color, some being striped, others being plain colored (mostly dark or light green).

According to Numbers 11:5, watermelons were among the fruits that the wandering Israelites remembered from Egypt when they complained to Moses.

By now watermelons are a fairly common sight in the cities of the world. Where the fruit is marketed, there will be a name for it, often based on a major language (for example French pastèque; Spanish sandía; Portuguese melancia; Arabic batekh, batikh; and Swahili tikiti).

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

cumin

Two controversial seeds are mentioned in Isaiah 28:25 and 27: qetsach (see nigella) and kammon. The seeds referred to as kammon are probably those of cumin (also spelled “cummin”), which takes its Latin scientific name Cuminum cyminum from the Greek. It was common to the Mediterranean area (especially in Syria) and Ethiopia, possibly even native to Egypt, where it was used in cooking and also as medicine.

The cumin plant belongs to the same family as the carrot. It branches abundantly from the base and has similar leaves and flowers. However, the seeds have a much sharper smell than those of the carrot. Cumin is planted and harvested each year, reaching a height of perhaps 50-60 centimeters (20-24 inches).

In Isaiah 28 cumin is cited with other garden plants to show how different plants and their fruits require different care and processing. (Cumin and nigella, for example, are more easily damaged in threshing than hard cereal grains would be). It is part of a parable Isaiah tells to the proud Israelite leaders who thought they knew how God deals with people. Interestingly, farmers in Malta still thresh cumin in the way described by Isaiah. In New Testament times the Jewish authorities were not sure whether cumin should be tithed since it was not mentioned specifically in the Mosaic Law. They took no chances and insisted that people tithe their cumin. But then they ignored the need for justice and mercy, thereby incurring the condemnation of Jesus in Matthew 23:23.

Translators will either transliterate “cumin” from a major language, or they can seek an equivalent, depending on what they have done with the other terms (“mint” and “dill”) in Matthew 23:23. Simplified versions may use a generic phrase such as “all kinds of small garden plants.”

Cumin, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

mustard

There is by no means full agreement about the precise identity of the plant in Jesus’ famous references to the mustard seed. Two types of mustard grow in the Holy Land and probably grew there in Bible times: Black Mustard Brassica nigra and White Mustard Sinapis alba. Both species were either cultivated or gathered in Bible times, probably more for the oil, which was used in medicine and cooking, than as a spice. Both types are cultivated today.

Mustard plants are related to some other well-known food plants, such as collards, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, and Chinese cabbage. They are planted and harvested each year. They grow to 2 meters (7 feet) in height and have branches like a tree. At the ends of the branches there are bright yellow flowers with four petals, like nearly all the members of the Brassicaceae family. The seeds are small among the seeds of garden plants, being about 2 millimeters (1/12 inch) in diameter, but they are not by any means the smallest of all seeds.

The point of the mustard seed parable of Jesus is that something small can produce something very large and complex, like the kingdom of God, or like the amazing deeds of a person with faith.

At least thirty kinds of mustard are known in the world, twenty-one of them in Europe. Others are found in Northeast Africa, India, Japan, and China. The quality in focus in all of the Gospel references is the smallness of the mustard seed compared to the large size of the resulting plant. The translator must keep that in mind, even if a relative of the mustard is found. If no effective equivalent is available, it will be necessary to transliterate “mustard” from a major language.

White mustard plants, photo by Nigel Hepper
Mustard seeds with pin, photo by Ray Pritz

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also mustard seed.

papyrus

Although there has been considerable debate among botanists as to the identity of the various types of reed in the Bible, there is general agreement that the Hebrew word gome’ refers to the Papyrus Cyperus papyrus, based on etymological and practical grounds. As for the Hebrew word ’eveh, the phrase “skiffs of ’eveh” in Job 9:26 suggests that it refers to papyrus, since boats in Egypt were made of papyrus, apart from those made from wood. However, versions are divided between “papyrus” (New International Version) and “reed” (New Revised Standard Version, updated edition, Revised English Bible) in this passage.

Papyrus is a very tall grass producing many flower stems that can be as much as 6 meters (20 feet) tall and 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter. The head at the top the stem separates into hundreds of branches that spread out like the top of a palm tree. Each one has small flowers. Papyrus was the most versatile grass in the Ancient Near East. In Egypt it was used to make boxes, mats, ropes, and especially paper. Perhaps its use in boats came to the mind of Jochebed when she wanted to save her infant son Moses from the wrath of the Pharoah (Exodus 2:3). Job’s companion Bildad uses papyrus as an example of a plant that needs water, and further as a slam at Job suggesting he must have sinned (Job 8:11). Isaiah 18:2 refers to “ambassadors by the Nile, in vessels of papyrus” as emblems of the great political power of Egypt. Poor people also used papyrus for barrels, huts, sandals, and clothing. Perhaps surprisingly, papyrus was not usually used for baskets. The baskets of the Egyptians, like those in sub-Saharan Africa today, were made of coiled construction using a core of date palm leaflets, fibers, or the split midrib, with a fiber wrapped around the core, like a guitar string.

There are over six hundred kinds of Cyperus growing in tropical and warm climates throughout the world, but many do not resemble the papyrus. For example, the tigernut sedge, found in West Asia and Africa and producing a tasty tuber (also called chufa or Zulu nut), belongs to the Cyperus genus. So also do the coco grass and several other types used for mats throughout Asia. The papyrus proper is now rare in Egypt but rampant in northern Uganda, where it is called sudd.

Most of the contexts where gome’ is found are rhetorical (Exodus 2:3 being the exception), opening the way for translators to substitute local equivalents. However, if the original plant name is replaced, it is usually good to document the original in a footnote, especially where the word identifies a particular area, as in Isaiah 18:1, where papyrus vessels are identified with “Ethiopia.” In Exodus 2:3 the mother of Moses did not use “bulrushes” (Revised Standard Version, King James Version) but papyrus, nor did she make a “basket” (New Revised Standard Version, updated edition) but a “box” (tevah in Hebrew). If there is a word for “box,” it should be used. Otherwise, the general word for “basket” can be used, and a type of strong grass used for baskets should be used for the material. The following options are available for gome’:

1. use a local strong grass;
2. use a descriptive phrase such as “strong grass”;
3. use a generic word for “grass”;
4. leave the plant implicit as part of the verb “weave” or the noun “box/basket” in Exodus 2:3;
5. use “rush” (Revised English Bible), “papyrus reeds” (Living Bible), or “reeds” (Good News Bible).

If transliterations are needed for papyrus, some possibilities are French jonc and Portuguese/Spanish papiro.

Cyperus papyrus, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Grecian juniper

A tall evergreen, the Grecian Juniper Juniperus excelsa, also known as the Eastern Savin, grew in the mountains of Lebanon along with cedars, firs, and cypress (the Hebrew word berosh probably covered all three of these trees). The association of berosh with Mount Senir in Ezekiel 27:5 argues for the Grecian juniper there, since Mount Senir was known to have plenty of Grecian junipers. Lebanese people up to today refer to the juniper as brotha, a likely cognate with berosh. King Solomon undoubtedly hauled these trees to Jerusalem along with cedars and firs to use in constructing his palace and the Temple of Yahweh.

The Grecian juniper is a conical tree reaching a height of 20 meters (65 feet). Its “leaves” are round rather than flat, and the fruit is an inedible seed-bearing, fleshy cone.

There is no single Hebrew or Greek word that refers specifically to the Grecian juniper. In our discussion of cypress and fir, we have advocated translating berosh generically or as “fir” or “juniper” in 1-2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (where it is typically associated with Lebanon or cedar). If no generic word is available in the receptor language, a descriptive phrase such as “strong, beautiful tree/wood” can be used. In poetical passages, local poetic equivalents could be considered.

Grecian juniper, photo by Ray Pritz

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)