Plants for healing in the bible?

Lamb

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Has anyone studied plants mentioned in the bible to see how they were used for healing purposes?
 

psalms 91

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Not about just those in the bible but I have a book that lists medicinal plants and their uses
 

Stravinsk

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Has anyone studied plants mentioned in the bible to see how they were used for healing purposes?

You mean like in Daniel's diet where the only thing he allowed his men to eat for the test (which was passed, and the king put them all on the same diet) was plant based foods(literally - pulse, that which can be planted and grown, so no extracts or isolates) and water?

If you are looking for a magic bullet, I don't think there is one. There are some hugely medicinal plants around and they all can help but that help is mitigated to some degree by what the body is trying to handle already. One can eat and drink a bunch of harmful foodstuffs and follow it with a clove of garlic, but that doesn't mean that single bit of garlic is going to offset it all.

The Holy Anointing oil ingredients are all medicinal except for calamus which is toxic in large doses. It has been argued (and I believe the arguments are convincing) that the word "calamus" is actually a mistranslation of "Cannabis" or as most people know it - Marijuana. This plant has been extensively studied and yes, it has huge medicinal benefits for many conditions when it is consumed as a whole plant orally (ie: eaten, not smoked).

Again, there are many that can help, but the degree of that help in the targeted condition is also offset by other dietary factors and lifestyle.
 
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Lamb

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No, Strav, I wasn't asking for myself and wasn't looking to start any debates. I was just curious about how many plants are mentioned in scripture in the use of healing after reading an article online.
 

Stravinsk

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No, Strav, I wasn't asking for myself and wasn't looking to start any debates. I was just curious about how many plants are mentioned in scripture in the use of healing after reading an article online.

And I told you. I also told you in the beginning what I believe can help you, backed by Scripture, and you sniff at it. So far prayers haven't worked, it's more than one surgery and drugs. I knew you'd take that path.

Get angry and indignant if you want. It's your money and your body and your appointments and your pain. Keep sniffing and in the future, don't bother to ask.

Your welcome.
 

Lamb

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And I told you. I also told you in the beginning what I believe can help you, backed by Scripture, and you sniff at it. So far prayers haven't worked, it's more than one surgery and drugs. I knew you'd take that path.

Get angry and indignant if you want. It's your money and your body and your appointments and your pain. Keep sniffing and in the future, don't bother to ask.

Your welcome.

Would you please stop with this? My oral cancer has not returned. I started this thread out of interest from a page I came across. If you notice I start a wide variety of threads.

PS I'm in absolutely no pain anywhere on my body except for my feet that don't want the 15,000 steps I've been doing!
 

Stravinsk

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Would you please stop with this? My oral cancer has not returned. I started this thread out of interest from a page I came across. If you notice I start a wide variety of threads.

PS I'm in absolutely no pain anywhere on my body except for my feet that don't want the 15,000 steps I've been doing!

[snip] from another thread [/snip]

I have another surgery coming up. I might lose my song voice. I don't want to lose it. My doctor, knowing how much I want to sing at church prevented damage to my vocal chords during my first surgery. This next one he can't make any promises and I will lose some of my range which is very wide at the moment. My reply to him, "If I can't sing then I can still draw and I play the flute...and I'll live." My doctor smiles at my attitude because he knows I cling to God no matter what the outcome. In His name let us give thanks and praise.

.
 

Lamb

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Totally unrelated to the surgery I had in September :)
 

Stravinsk

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Totally unrelated to the surgery I had in September :)

So you're having surgery where you could lose your vocal cords just because? Stricken with a new "totally unrelated" ailment? Did you get something lodged in your throat or is this a "new" cancer?
 

Lamb

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I'll PM you
 

Stravinsk

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Unless you make it public people are going to connect the two just like I have reading your own words.
 

Lamb

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Unless you make it public people are going to connect the two just like I have reading your own words.

I don't care what they think. I gave you more details of what's going on that I want to keep private :) I trust you.
 

ValleyGal

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Calamus is actually the sweet root plant - it's a reed that grows in wetlands, and originated around India. There are a lot of different names for it, but it is the Acorus Calamus.

The oil is toxic in large doses, but small doses can be used therapeutically. In the holy oil of the OT, only the Levites could use it. Anyone else died if they used the holy oil - this leads me to believe that the Levites had something in their genetics that was receptive to the oil, in the same way that some oils are more toxic than others to people. There are a few oils that give me a very bad reaction, and I'm sure if I used those ones in large doses, they might kill me too - or at least make me very sick.

I started a study a long time ago on medicinal oils in the Bible, but do not recall most of what I learned. I only know that about calamus because when I was studying aromatherapy, I was going to make the holy oil for an assignment. Instead, I wrote a paper explaining why I can't make that oil (toxicity and my faith). I also wrote a paper on Frankincense and Myrrh. There are other oils in the Bible, too... iirc, there is one in Song of Solomon, in Psalms, and elsewhere, I just don't recall what they were or where to find them. But when I studied oils, it was all about the chemistry and the effects of the chemical makeup on the body. Unfortunately, back then, the Christian community was not open to different kinds of natural health, thinking it was all "new age" when in fact, much of it is "old age" ways of doing healthcare and preparing bodies for burial. Now it seems the Christian community is using essential oils a lot, but more for enjoying scented blends rather than for promoting health, which is what they should be used for. These chemicals, or oils, can be used through massage, adding it to lotion, cream or carrier oil, or they can be used in incense, as the nose membranes are very thin so they are absorbed quickly.
 

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That's pretty interesting about the toxicity and how some groups of people can tolerate things whereas others can't. I'll have to keep that one in mind! I can't tolerate much so I think my gene pool is at its end.
 

Stravinsk

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Calamus is actually the sweet root plant - it's a reed that grows in wetlands, and originated around India. There are a lot of different names for it, but it is the Acorus Calamus.

The oil is toxic in large doses, but small doses can be used therapeutically. In the holy oil of the OT, only the Levites could use it. Anyone else died if they used the holy oil - this leads me to believe that the Levites had something in their genetics that was receptive to the oil, in the same way that some oils are more toxic than others to people. There are a few oils that give me a very bad reaction, and I'm sure if I used those ones in large doses, they might kill me too - or at least make me very sick.

Calamus is toxic in large doses, and while it has been used in smaller amounts medicinally, it is no small ingredient in the Holy Anointing Oil described in Exodus 30.


Pure myrrh (מר דרור mar deror) 500 shekels (about 6 kg)
Sweet cinnamon (קינמון בשם kinnemon besem) 250 shekels (about 3 kg)
*Kaneh bosem (קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם kaneh bosm) 250 shekels (about 3 kg)
Cassia (קדה kiddah) 500 shekels (about 6 kg)
Olive oil (שמן זית shemen zayit) one hin (about 5 quarts according to Adam Clarke; about 4 liters according to Shiurei Torah, 7 liters according to the Chazon Ish)

*Translated "Calamus" in KJV.

All of these ingredients are to made into an oil, and if Calamus is used, then it constitutes a fairly large percentage. I simply do not see God using a plant poisonous to humans when concentrated in large amounts, as it would be if the translation is correct.

The relevant passage:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/exo/30/1/t_conc_80023 (plus verse 24 to include cassia and olive oil)

Masoretic Text (read right to left):


וְאַתָּה קַח־לְךָ בְּשָׂמִים רֹאשׁ מָר־דְּרֹור חֲמֵשׁ מֵאֹות וְקִנְּמָן־בֶּשֶׂם מַחֲצִיתֹו חֲמִשִּׁים וּמָאתָיִם וּקְנֵה־בֹשֶׂם חֲמִשִּׁים וּמָאתָֽיִם׃ <---- Start here.

קְנֵה= "Cana" - sounds like. Meaning "reed, stalk"
בֹשֶׂם = "Bosem(also Besem)" -sounds like. Meaning "spice" or "sweet"

Calamus - a reedy, sweet smelling plant that happens to be toxic in large doses.
Cannabis - a reedy, sweet smelling plant that happens to be non toxic in large doses.
 
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ValleyGal

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Today, you can buy calamus. It is not the same thing as cannabis. Calamus is a reed. Cannabis is a flowering plant. They are not the same.

I do see God using a toxic plant. The oil was intended for anointing. That amount would not be toxic. But I can see also that God does not want the oil to be abused.

However, if you look at other more informed translations, you will also note that the oil is actually translated to cassia, which is very close to cinnamon.

Either one is toxic in high quantities, and cause liver and kidney damage as well as cause cancer... and the Bible talks about who can use anointing oil and for what purpose - anyone making or using the oil blend for anything else, will be "cut off" from his people (iirc some translations say "die"). So... bottom line is that we don't really know, but either way, whatever they used was toxic in large quantities, as I stated in my first post here. And either way, it is not (correctly) translated to cannabis.
 

Stravinsk

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Today, you can buy calamus. It is not the same thing as cannabis. Calamus is a reed. Cannabis is a flowering plant. They are not the same.

Yes, you can buy it, as you can buy cannabis in various places legally. Neither of this makes either translation correct.
I did not say they were the same.
They are both reedy plants and they both flower(Cannabis, females only, Calamus, those that grow in water).
Again, I didn't say they were the same.

I do see God using a toxic plant. The oil was intended for anointing. That amount would not be toxic. But I can see also that God does not want the oil to be abused.

Have you ever made oil from a plant? The WHOLE plant, not just the seed. Do you know how? I have done it, and do know how. The amount of Calamus the recipe calls for is indeed a toxic amount. Would you put this mixture on your skin? I would not, but I sure as would put a mixture of the recipe with Cannabis instead of Calamus on my skin. I would (and have) eaten Cannabis oil. Would you eat Calamus oil and back up your belief?

However, if you look at other more informed translations, you will also note that the oil is actually translated to cassia, which is very close to cinnamon.

"More informed translations"? According to who? I have not mistranslated either in meaning nor in sound. Have you studied the Hebrew Alphabet? I am no expert, but I have, enough to know that if "l" (L) were meant (as in CaLamus) then the Hebrew letter used would be Lamedh (ל) instead of the actual letter used Nun (נ) for the "n" sound in Cannabis. There is also the issue of the "m" sound that is missing Mem (מ ) that precedes "us" in Calamus, instead there being a "b" sound Bet (ב) in the text for the "b" sound in Cannabis or Cannabesm

On pure sound, the word Cannabesm is right there in the Hebrew text for this ingredient. Imagine that. God likes pot. He wanted it be part of His Holy Anointing Oil.

Either one is toxic in high quantities, and cause liver and kidney damage as well as cause cancer... and the Bible talks about who can use anointing oil and for what purpose - anyone making or using the oil blend for anything else, will be "cut off" from his people (iirc some translations say "die"). So... bottom line is that we don't really know, but either way, whatever they used was toxic in large quantities, as I stated in my first post here. And either way, it is not (correctly) translated to cannabis.

It certainly is translated better as Cannabis, both in phonetics as I have shown, and for the simple reason of toxicity. The oil of a plant (the whole plant, not just the seed) is a concentrate of that plant. As Calamus can only be used in small quantities, it's oil is toxic. Cannabis oil, (hash oil), on the other hand, is non toxic. It also happens to have many medicinal uses that have come to light in the last few years in case you have not been paying attention.
 
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Stravinsk

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I am unaware of where the following plant is or may be used specifically in healing (within the bible), but, it is an ancient plant that has served man as both a source of food, nutrition, medicine as well as clothing and fiber since ancient times. It is mentioned as far back as
Exodus 9:31 and also by several of the Prophets.

The plant is the flax plant, or as we know it, the flax seed plant.

Benefits and uses: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4152533/

Caution: If for consumption, Flax seeds should be used in their whole form, or relatively shortly after they are crushed, as rancidity can develop over time. The use of the (isolated) oil is not suggested for cooking or in general over the whole seed.
 
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