לענה, Deut. xxix, 18; Prov. v, 4; Jer. ix, 15; xxiii, 15; Lam.
iii, 15, 19; Amos v, 7; vi, 12; ἄψινθον, Rev. viii, 11. In the
Septuagint the original word is variously rendered, and generally by
terms expressive of its figurative sense, for what is offensive, odious,
or deleterious; but in the Syriac and Arabic versions, and in the Latin
Vulgate, it is rendered “wormwood;” and this is adopted by Celsius, who
names it the _absinthium santonicum Judaicum_, [bitter wormwood of
Judea.] From the passages of Scripture, however, where this plant is
mentioned, something more than the bitterness of its qualities seems to
be intimated, and effects are attributed to it greater than can be
produced by the wormwood of Europe. The Chaldee paraphrase gives it even
the character of “the wormwood of death.” It may therefore mean a plant
allied, perhaps, to the _absinthium_ in appearance and in taste, but
possessing more nauseous, hurtful, and formidable properties.
iii, 15, 19; Amos v, 7; vi, 12; ἄψινθον, Rev. viii, 11. In the
Septuagint the original word is variously rendered, and generally by
terms expressive of its figurative sense, for what is offensive, odious,
or deleterious; but in the Syriac and Arabic versions, and in the Latin
Vulgate, it is rendered “wormwood;” and this is adopted by Celsius, who
names it the _absinthium santonicum Judaicum_, [bitter wormwood of
Judea.] From the passages of Scripture, however, where this plant is
mentioned, something more than the bitterness of its qualities seems to
be intimated, and effects are attributed to it greater than can be
produced by the wormwood of Europe. The Chaldee paraphrase gives it even
the character of “the wormwood of death.” It may therefore mean a plant
allied, perhaps, to the _absinthium_ in appearance and in taste, but
possessing more nauseous, hurtful, and formidable properties.