The Plants
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Habek Mint (Mentha longifolia). This is an attractive plant with lavender flower spikes and long silvery leaves. |
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| Henna (Lawsonia inermis). “My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En-Gedi” – Song of Songs 1:14
It is one of the best known perfume scents of ancient times, and is often repeated in Song of Songs. It is used to describe the scent of beauty and radiance. The crushed leaves yield a red dye used in Arab countries, both in ancient and present-day times, by women to color their hair and fingernails. It is cited in the Qur’an. The white flowers are very pleasantly fragrant. Our plants were easy to grow from seeds received directly from India, where the tree is also native. |
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Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus). “Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels.” – Exodus 30:23 Lemon grass is identified as a type of sweet smelling calamus. The Lord is delivering instructions to Moses on how to properly prepare the Holy Oil. It was so valued that the perfume from this oil had to be made its own way. We have a large clump of this plant, which is native to India. We selected it as a substitute for the closely-related camel grass (Cymbopogon schoenanthus), which is a noxious weed. Camel grass appears in the Bible under the names nard and spikenard. |
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Lentils (Lens esculenta). “O Moses! We cannot endure one kind of food (always); so beseech your Lord for us to produce for us of what the Earth grows, its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, its garlic, lentils, and onions” – Qur’an II:61 In ancient time, lentils were used to make bread and a variety of foods. It is one of the only essential plants in biblical time for food.Growing these little plants could not be easier. Just buy a packet of dried lentils in the supermarket and plant a few in your garden. |
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| Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum).“The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover.” – Song of Songs 7:13 Mandrake, in ancient times, was always associated with increased fertility. It has been held in superstitious awe because of this. This plant is in the same family as potato, tomato, eggplant, and tobacco. Its yellow fruits resemble tiny eggplants. |
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| Mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus). “Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.” – Genesis 43:11
It is believed that the balm Jacob’s sons carry is from the mastic tree, or commonly known as terebinth. It is most likely some of the spicery that the Ishmaelites carried into Egypt. Every part of the tree has a fragrant, resinous juice. Closely related to the commercial pistachio, this shrub has waxy, compound leaves that turn red in the winter. |
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Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha). “And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt” – Genesis 37:25 Myrrh was widely used as an ingredient of perfume, medicine, and preservation for embalming. Myrrh is sometimes referred to as a “fragrant gum.” It is much like the precious perfume frankincense. Like Frankincense, dried resin from this tree has been highly valued since ancient times. Native to warmer regions south of the Holy Land, we keep our small myrrh tree in a clay pot that can be brought indoors for the winter. |
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Myrtle (Myrtus communis). “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.” – Isaiah 55:13 Myrtle is a symbol of divine generosity. It was used to tan Turkish leather and had a delicate scent to it. It is also said to have been used to make booths at the Feast of Tabernacles by the Jews. Our garden contains one each of the dwarf and the normal (larger) forms. |
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Photo courtesy of: Jeannette McDonald |
Olive (Olea europaea). “And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt” – Psalm 52:8 “God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: The Glass as it were a brilliant star: lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil is well-nigh luminous.” – Qur’an XXIV:35 Olive trees thrive in the long, rainless summers and in all seasons. It is used as a symbol of the everlasting mercy of God for righteous men that trust in Him. Our trees are a dwarf variety named ‘Arbequina’ from the Catalonian region of Spain. We obtained them from Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard here in Bexar County. Our images include some ancient trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, east of Jerusalem. |
