calamus Summary and Overview
Bible Dictionaries at a Glance
calamus in Easton's Bible Dictionary
the Latin for cane, Hebrew "Kaneh", mentioned (Ex. 30:23) as one of the ingredients in the holy anointing oil, one of the sweet scents (Cant. 4:14), and among the articles sold in the markets of Tyre (Ezek. 27:19). The word designates an Oriental plant called the "sweet flag," the Acorus calamus of Linnaeus. It is elsewhere called "sweet cane" (Isa. 43:24; Jer. 6:20). It has an aromatic smell, and when its knotted stalk is cut and dried and reduced to powder, it forms an ingredient in the most precious perfumes. It was not a native of Israel, but was imported from Arabia Felix or from India. It was probably that which is now known in India by the name of "lemon grass" or "ginger grass," the Andropogon schoenanthus. (See CANE T0000710.)
calamus in Smith's Bible Dictionary
[REED]
calamus in Fausset's Bible Dictionary
(Exodus 30:23). An ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Song of Solomon 4:14; Ezekiel 27:19), an import to Tyre. Aromatic cane: an Indian and Arabian plant. TheAcorus Calamus (Isaiah 43:24; Jeremiah 6:20), "sweet cane." A scented cane is said to have been found in a valley of Lebanon, reedlike, much jointed, and very fragrant when bruised.