Living Plants as Archaeological Artifacts

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The climate of the Near East has not changed since Biblical times, according to most scientists, a view shared by climatologists, as well as by geologists and dendrochronologists (experts in dating tree rings).

Thus most plants in Bible lands today are descendants of plants which flourished there in Bible times. These living plants may be seen as archaeological artifacts. Instead of having been buried in the earth for millennia, they have reproduced themselves generation upon generation. Like the unearthed pottery vessel, the living plant is a datum which may help explain particular Biblical passages or provide general background to the events recorded in the Bible.

Sometimes the Biblical name, as well as the plant, survives. During Elijah’s flight from the wicked Jezebel, who sought to kill him, the prophet lay down under a tree, tired and discouraged, there an angel of the Lord appeared to him (1 Kings 19:4). The name of the tree under which he rested is called Rotem in the Bible. The Bedouin today call it Ratam. This name has even passed into its scientific designation, Retama raetam. It is known popularly in English as the broom-tree. However, in older Bible translations it is sometimes erroneously translated as a juniper tree, a mistake which would not have been made by anyone who knew what the Bedouin call Ratam. The Rotem is a lovely bush with long willowy branches and small, white, scenty flowers that grow right on the branch.

Arab farmers and nomads often use plants in the same way they were used thousands of years ago by the people of the Book. This too can help us understand the Bible, as we will see in the following example.

When Delilah was trying to learn the secret of Samson’s incredible strength, he told her that “if they bind me with seven green withes (or strands) that were never dried, then I shall be as weak as any other man” (Judges 16:7). The reference is to the fibrous bark of Thymelaea hirsuta which is twisted and woven into rope by Bedouins today just as it was in ancient times (see illustration). However, Samson here speaks not of the rope, but of the individual strands which were still green and filled with moisture. To obtain the green strands for Delilah, the Philistine lords had to go directly to the plant, because the material for sale in the local market had already dried. The valley of Sorek, where the story takes place, is 1200 feet above sea level, much too high (in this district) for Thymelaea to grow. The nearest Thymelaea grows about 16 miles west of Sorek in the Mediterranean coastal plain. It is clear that the Philistine lords had to travel down there to obtain the green strands, for the Bible reports that the green strands were “brought up” to Delilah by the Philistine lords (Judges 16:8).

Upon being tied with the green strands Samson broke them as a thread is broken by fire.

When Delilah again tried to learn the secret of Samson’s strength, he told her to use not individual strands, but ropes which had never been used before. These ropes had the added strength of having been woven from many strands. However again Samson broke them like thread. To appreciate Samson’s incredible strength one need only look at the rope of Thymelaea which a modern Bedouin wove to hold water jugs on the side of his camel (see illustration).

A knowledge of plant communities—what plants grow in association with one another—can also illuminate particular passages from the Bible. The Biblical authors were aware of these associations and sometimes used them to make a point. 025The simile of the “lily among thorns” found in the Song of Songs (2:2) reflects the natural habitat of the Plain of Sharon. There the soil is a deep, alluvial clay. The summers are rainless and the thorn Scolymus maculatus is one of the dominant species. At the end of the summer, it dies, leaving a gray-white thorny husk, dry and prickly. The winter rains turn the clay into mud and from this a beautiful narcissus sprouts in early spring, among the thorns. (The Hebrew “Shoshana” is mistranslated “lily”; lilies don’t grow among the thorns; Narcissus tazetta does.) Once you have seen the soft narcissus growing among the thorns, you will never forget the Biblical simile of the narcissus among thorns.

This same plant community unlocks the meaning of a proverb: “As a thorn goes into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of a fool” (Proverbs 26:9). It is spring; the drunkard reached for a narcissus; his hand shakes so badly, he grasps the thorn. So is a fool who reaches for the meaning of a parable.

(The author wishes to acknowledge the contribution of Mr. N. HaReuveni to some of the ideas discussed here.)

The climate of the Near East has not changed since Biblical times, according to most scientists, a view shared by climatologists, as well as by geologists and dendrochronologists (experts in dating tree rings).