anise Summary and Overview

This word is found only in Matt. 23:23. It is the plant commonly known by the name of dill, the Peucedanum graveolens of the botanist. This name dill is derived from a Norse word which means to soothe, the plant having the carminative property of allaying pain. The common dill, the Anethum graveolens, is an annual growing wild in the cornfields of Spain and Portugal and the south of Europe generally. There is also a species of dill cultivated in Eastern countries known by the name of shubit. It was this species of garden plant of which the Pharisees were in the habit of paying tithes. The Talmud requires that the seeds, leaves, and stem of dill shall pay tithes. It is an umbelliferous plant, very like the caraway, its leaves, which are aromatic, being used in soups and pickles. The proper anise is the Pimpinella anisum.

This word occurs only in #Mt 23:23| It is by no means a matter of certainty whether the anise (Pimpinella anisum, Lin.) or the dill (Anethum graveolens) is here intended though the probability is more in favor of the latter plant. "Anise is an annual plant growing to the height of one foot, carries a white flower, and blooms from June till August. The seeds are imported and used in large quantities on account of their aromatic and carminative properties. It grows wild in Egypt, in Syria, Israel and all parts of the Levant. Among the ancients anise seems to have been a common pot-herb in every garden. Although it is less used in medicine by the moderns than by the ancients, it still retains its former reputation as an excellent stomachic, particularly for delicate women and young children. The Romans chewed it in order to keep up an agreeable moisture in the mouth and to sweeten the breath, while some Orientals still do the same." Dill, a somewhat similar plant, is an annual, bearing small aromatic seeds, used also for cookery and medicine.

AN'ISE . Matt 23:23. Properly dill (Anethum graveolens), an annual herb bearing small aromatic seeds used in medicine and cookery. Ancient writers mention it as cultivated in Egypt; it grows in the Greek islands, and occurs at the present day in Palestine, both in gardens and wild, or at least uncultivated in fields. -- Tristram. Another plant (Pimpinella auisuin) of the same family has been considered, with less probability, to be the anise of the Bible. The tithe of this herb was scrupulously paid by the Pharisees. A Jewish writer says that the seed, the leaves, and the stem of dill are subject to tithes. See Mint.

Some think the Pimpinella anisum, others more probably the dill, Anethrum graveolens, of the order Umbelliferae; the seeds used in medicine as carminatives, in cookery as condiments, like caraway seed. "Anise" is from the Greek not conquerable (aniketon) in its healing power; "dill" from the Norse, the soothing herb. The seeds, the leaves, and the stem of dill are (says Rabbi Eliezer) subject to tithe (Matthew 23:23).