Medicinal plants of the Bible\u2014revisited

Amots Dafni,Barbara Böck

doi:10.1186/s13002-019-0338-8

Abstract

BackgroundPrevious lists number from 55 to 176 plant species as “Biblical Medicinal Plants.” Modern studies attest that many names on these lists are no longer valid. This situation arose due to old mistranslations and/or mistakes in botanical identification. Many previously recognized Biblical plants are in no way related to the flora of the Bible lands. Accordingly, the list needs revision.MethodsWe re-examine the list of possible medicinal plants in the Bible based on new studies in Hebrew Biblical philology and etymology, new studies on the Egyptian and Mesopotamian medicinal use of plants, on ethnobotany and on archaeobotany.ResultsIn our survey, we suggest reducing this list to 45 plant species. Our contribution comprises 20 “newly” suggested Biblical Medicinal Plants. Only five species are mentioned directly as medicinal plants in the Bible: Fig (Ficus carica), Nard (Nardostachys jatamansi), Hyssop (Origanum syriacum), balm of Gilead (Commiphora gileadensis) and Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum). No fewer than 18 medicinal plants are mentioned in old Jewish post-Biblical sources, in addition to those in the Bible. Most of these plants (15) are known also in Egypt and Mesopotamia while three are from Egypt only. Seven of our suggested species are not mentioned in the Bible or in the Jewish post-Biblical literature but were recorded as medicinal plants from Egypt, as well as from Mesopotamia. It is quite logical to assume that they can be included as Biblical Medicinal Plants.ConclusionsAll our suggested Biblical Medicinal Plants are known as such in Ancient Egypt and/or Mesopotamia also. Examination of our list shows that all these plants have been in continuous medicinal use in the Middle East down the generations, as well as being used in the Holy Land today. Precisely in King Solomon’s words, “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Highlights

Previous lists number from 55 to 176 plant species as “Biblical Medicinal Plants.” Modern studies attest that many names on these lists are no longer valid
Twenty-seven species come under the category “Plants which are mentioned in the Bible and are known as medicinal in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia” (Table 2)
The data indicating that all these species were known from Egypt, strengthen the idea that the postBiblical literature was not biased to Mesopotamian plants

Summary

Introduction

Previous lists number from 55 to 176 plant species as “Biblical Medicinal Plants.” Modern studies attest that many names on these lists are no longer valid. Włodarczyk [9] reviewed “how many plants are mentioned in the Bible” and concluded that the list contains 206 plant names, 95 of which “are recognized by all contemporary researchers of the floras of the Bible.”. Amar [8] revised the flora of the Bible, based on old Jewish post-Biblical sources and their succession down the generations He arranged all the traditional plant names in several categories according to identification reliability: (a) plant names identified with certainty (40); (b) plant names identified at a high reliability level (11); (c) plant names whose identification is on a high reliability level but not fail-safe (22); (d) plant names that are unidentifiable or whose identification reliability is very low (13); (e) accumulative names and non-species-specific names like “thorn” or “lily”. In most cases of disagreement among the leading authorities [3,4,5,6,7], we chose to follow Amar’s [8] (see the discussion for few exceptions)

Methods

Results

Conclusion