כפר. Greek, κύπρος. Latin _cyprus_. Canticles i, 14; iv, 13.
Sir T. Browne supposes that the plant mentioned in the Canticles,
rendered κύπρος in the Septuagint, and _cyprus_ in the Vulgate, is that
described by Dioscorides and Pliny, which grows in Egypt, and near to
Ascalon, producing an odorate bush of flowers, and yielding the
celebrated _oleum cyprinum_. [A sweet oil made of the flowers of the
privet tree.] This is one of the plants which is most grateful to the
eye and the smell. The deep colour of its bark, the light green of its
foliage, the softened mixture of white and yellow with which the
flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, are coloured; the
red tint of the ramifications which support them, form an agreeable
combination. The flowers, whose shades are so delicate, diffuse around
the sweetest odours, and embalm the gardens and apartments which they
embellish. The women take pleasure in decking themselves with them. With
the powder of the dried leaves they give an orange tincture to their
nails, to the inside of their hands, and to the soles of their feet. The
expression, עשתה את־צפרניה, rendered “pare their nails,” Deut. xxi, 12,
may perhaps rather mean, “_adorn_ their nails;” and imply the antiquity
of this practice. This is a universal custom in Egypt, and not to
conform to it would be considered indecent. It seems to have been
practised by the ancient Egyptians, for the nails of the mummies are
most commonly of a reddish hue.
In the Song of Solomon, the bride is described as saying, “My beloved is
unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi,” chap. i,
24; and again, “Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant
fruits, camphire with spikenard,” chap. iv, 13.
Sir T. Browne supposes that the plant mentioned in the Canticles,
rendered κύπρος in the Septuagint, and _cyprus_ in the Vulgate, is that
described by Dioscorides and Pliny, which grows in Egypt, and near to
Ascalon, producing an odorate bush of flowers, and yielding the
celebrated _oleum cyprinum_. [A sweet oil made of the flowers of the
privet tree.] This is one of the plants which is most grateful to the
eye and the smell. The deep colour of its bark, the light green of its
foliage, the softened mixture of white and yellow with which the
flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, are coloured; the
red tint of the ramifications which support them, form an agreeable
combination. The flowers, whose shades are so delicate, diffuse around
the sweetest odours, and embalm the gardens and apartments which they
embellish. The women take pleasure in decking themselves with them. With
the powder of the dried leaves they give an orange tincture to their
nails, to the inside of their hands, and to the soles of their feet. The
expression, עשתה את־צפרניה, rendered “pare their nails,” Deut. xxi, 12,
may perhaps rather mean, “_adorn_ their nails;” and imply the antiquity
of this practice. This is a universal custom in Egypt, and not to
conform to it would be considered indecent. It seems to have been
practised by the ancient Egyptians, for the nails of the mummies are
most commonly of a reddish hue.
In the Song of Solomon, the bride is described as saying, “My beloved is
unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi,” chap. i,
24; and again, “Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant
fruits, camphire with spikenard,” chap. iv, 13.