הדס, Neh. viii, 15; Isaiah xli, 19; lv, 13; Zech. i, 8–10; a
shrub, sometimes growing to a small tree, very common in Judea. It has a
hard woody root that sends forth a great number of small flexible
branches, furnished with leaves like those of box, but much less, and
more pointed: they are soft to the touch, shining, smooth, of a
beautiful green, and have a sweet smell. The flowers grow among the
leaves, and consist of five white petals disposed in the form of a rose:
they have an agreeable perfume, and ornamental appearance. Savary,
describing a scene at the end of the forest of Platanea, says, Myrtles,
intermixed with laurel roses, grow in the valleys to the height of ten
feet. Their snow-white flowers, bordered with a purple edging, appear to
peculiar advantage under the verdant foliage. Each myrtle is loaded with
them, and they emit perfumes more exquisite than those of the rose
itself. They enchant every one, and the soul is filled with the softest
sensations.” The myrtle is mentioned in Scripture among lofty trees, not
as comparing with them in size, but as contributing with them to the
beauty and richness of the scenery. Thus Isaiah, xii, 19, intending to
describe a scene of varied excellence: I will plant in the wilderness
the cedar, and the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree;” that
is, I will adorn the dreary and barren waste with trees famed for their
stature and the grandeur of their appearance, the beauty of their form,
and also the fragrance of their odour. The apocryphal Baruch, v, 8,
speaking of the return from Babylon, expresses the protection afforded
by God to the people by the same image: Even the woods and every
sweet-smelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God.”
shrub, sometimes growing to a small tree, very common in Judea. It has a
hard woody root that sends forth a great number of small flexible
branches, furnished with leaves like those of box, but much less, and
more pointed: they are soft to the touch, shining, smooth, of a
beautiful green, and have a sweet smell. The flowers grow among the
leaves, and consist of five white petals disposed in the form of a rose:
they have an agreeable perfume, and ornamental appearance. Savary,
describing a scene at the end of the forest of Platanea, says, Myrtles,
intermixed with laurel roses, grow in the valleys to the height of ten
feet. Their snow-white flowers, bordered with a purple edging, appear to
peculiar advantage under the verdant foliage. Each myrtle is loaded with
them, and they emit perfumes more exquisite than those of the rose
itself. They enchant every one, and the soul is filled with the softest
sensations.” The myrtle is mentioned in Scripture among lofty trees, not
as comparing with them in size, but as contributing with them to the
beauty and richness of the scenery. Thus Isaiah, xii, 19, intending to
describe a scene of varied excellence: I will plant in the wilderness
the cedar, and the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree;” that
is, I will adorn the dreary and barren waste with trees famed for their
stature and the grandeur of their appearance, the beauty of their form,
and also the fragrance of their odour. The apocryphal Baruch, v, 8,
speaking of the return from Babylon, expresses the protection afforded
by God to the people by the same image: Even the woods and every
sweet-smelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God.”