Anise: This word is found only in
(Matthew 23:23) It is the plant commonly known by
the name of dill, the Peucedanum graveolens of the botanist. This
name dill is derived from a Norse word which means to soothe, the
plant having the carminative property of allaying pain. The common
dill, the Anethum graveolens, is an annual growing wild in the
cornfields of Spain and Portugal and the south of Europe generally.
There is also a species of dill cultivated in Eastern countries known
by the name of shubit. It was this species of garden plant of which
the Pharisees were in the habit of paying tithes. The Talmud requires
that the seeds, leaves, and stem of dill shall pay tithes. It is an
umbelliferous plant, very like the caraway, its leaves, which are
aromatic, being used in soups and pickles. The proper anise is the
Pimpinella anisum.
