Juniper is the flowering broom of the desert

Juniper

Hebrew: rothem

Retama raetam

One of the flowering shrubs in the Judean wilderness is the juniper. It is very lovely and quite prevalent. It is known as the flowering broom of the desert. The word juniper is an erroneous translation into English. In the Holy Land it is a shrub that grows from the Sinai Peninsula on to Arabia Petraea. It is a member of the pea family, with delicate blossoms, white to pale pink, disposed in pealike clusters. It has very thin, small leaves and rodlike, pliant branches that resemble osiers and withs. These branches were often cut and tied into bundles used to support growing vines. The Hebrew word rothem means "to bind."

Small pods resembling the domestic field pea follow after the flowers. They ripen and turn brown. The pods hold two little rows of peas that are very bitter. For centuries the broom provided shade. Virgil wrote: "Even humble broom and osiers have their uses, and shade for sleep, and food for flocks produce." The bush makes fine charcoal that burns with intense heat. The Arabs maintain that it holds heat for an entire year. As fuel it is unsurpassed in the East, and in the market of Cairo its price was highest.

1 Kings 19:4 (KJV) But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

1 Kings 19:5 (KJV) And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

Job 30:4 (KJV) Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

Psalms 120:4 (KJV) Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

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