Mint: (Gr. heduosmon, i.e., "having a sweet smell"), one of the garden herbs
of which the Pharisees paid tithes
(Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42) It belongs to
the labiate family of plants. The species most common in Syria is the
Mentha sylvestris, the wild mint, which grows much larger than the
garden mint (M. sativa). It was much used in domestic economy as a
condiment, and also as a medicine. The paying of tithes of mint was
in accordance with the Mosiac law
(Deuteronomy 14:22) but the error of the
Pharisees lay in their being more careful about this little matter of
the mint than about weightier matters.
