Hemlock and wormwood
The plant mentioned in Deut 29:19, normally translated as “poisonous and bitter growth, is difficult to identify. Many exegetes assume that it has to do here with the hemlock (Conium maculatum). The plant grows to 1 m high and contains a toxic substance. Wormwood (Atemisia alba) is a fern-like desert shrub that can reach a height of about 40 cm. In autumn, this shrub bears little white blossoms. The herb taste quite bitter and is used as tea or as elixir against worms.
Deut 29:18; Prov 5:4; Jer 9:15; 23:15; Lam 3:15, 3:19; Amos 5:7; 6:12
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