Calamus
CALAMUS
See CANE.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
calamus
(Latin: reed)
1) fistula, or siphon, a pipe or reed used in ancient days for the Communion of the clergy and people, a custom which survived among the Cistercians until the Reformation. Now at solemn papal high Mass, the chalice is brought from the altar to the throne of the pope where he absorbs its contents through a golden pipe.
2) In the Old Testament, a scented reed yielding perfume, used in the composition of spices burned in sacrifices (Isaiah 43; Jeremiah 6), and in the oil of unction (Exodus 30).
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Calamus
Calamus. A fragrant, reed-like grass growing along streams and river banks ( Son 4:14), also referred to as sweet cane ( Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20). Calamus leaves are fragrant and ginger-flavored when crushed. It is named with other aromatic substances ( Eze 27:19) and as one ingredient for the anointing oil ( Exo 30:23). It is believed to be a plant native to India ( Jer 6:20). Also see Reed Rush.
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Calamus
occurs in three passages of the Auth. Vers. for the Hebrews , kanek’ (Sept. , elsewhere reed): Exo 30:23, among the ingredients of the holy anointing oil; Son 4:14, in an enumeration of sweet scents; and Eze 27:19, among the articles brought to the markets of Tyre. The term designates the marsh and river reed generally, SEE REED; but in the places just referred to it appears to signify the sweet flag ( , Dioscor. 1:17), an Oriental plant (calamus odoratus, Plin. 12:12, 48); of which the Linnsean name is Acorus calamus. No doubt the same plant is intended in Isa 43:24;Jer 6:20, where the Auth. Vers. has sweet cane. In the latter text the Hebrews is , kaneh’ hat-tob’ (i.e. good cane), and in Exo 30:23, , kaneh’ bo’sem (i.e. odoriferous cane). Ascented cane is said to have been found in a valley of Mount Lebanon (Polyb. 5:46; Strab. 16:4). The plant has a reed-like stem, which is exceedingly fragrant, like the leaves, especially when bruised. It is of a tawny color, much jointed, breaking into splinters, and having the hollow stem filled with pith like a spider’s web (Kalisch on Exo 30:23.) The calamus of Scripture is probably the reed by that name sometimes found in Europe, but usually in Asia (Thephrast. Plantt. 9:7; Pliny, 12:12), and especially in India and Arablia (Diod. Sic. 2:49; Pliny, 12:48). It grows in moist places in Egypt and Judaea, and in several parts of Syria, bearing from the root a knotted stalk, containing in its cavity a soft white pith. It has an agreeable aromatic smell, and when cut, dried, and powdered, it forms an ingredient in the richest perfumes (Pliny, 15:7; see Celsii Hierob.2:326 sq.). The plant from which the aromaticus of modern shops is obtained appears to be a different species (Penny Cyclopcedia, s.v. Acorus). SEE CANE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Calamus (2)
in ecclesiastical usage, is
(1) the reed the single upright shaft which supported the table of an altar, called also Columella. In the 5th century there were, according to local usages, two or four pillars, and a fifth, in the centre, which supported the reliquary, was sometimes added, as in St. Martha’s at Tarascon, St. Agricola’s at Avignon, and one at Marseilles, formerly at St. Victor’s Abbey. The space between these columns served as a sanctuary for fugitives.
(2) Called also Fistula, Siphon, and Canna-ai narrow tube or pipe of precious metal, which was for some time used after the 10th century, or, as some say, a still earlier date, in the Western Church, by the communicants, for suction, when partaking of the chalice. Bishop Leofric, in 1046, gave a silver pipe to Exeter Cathedral; William Rufus gave other kinds to Worcester. The custom was long retained at St. Denys and Cluny, at the coronation of the kings of France; and the pope still, at a grand pontifical mass, uses a golden pipe at communion when he celebrates in public together with his deacon and subdeacon. The Benedictines and Carthusians communicated the laity with a reed in Italy, in memory of the bitter draught of vinegar, gall, and myrrh offered in a reed to the dying Saviour, on the cross, and also to avoid any risk of spilling the consecrated wine, and to obviate the repugnance of some persons to drinking from the same cup with others.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Calamus
the Latin for cane, Hebrew _Kaneh_, mentioned (Ex. 30:23) as one of the ingredients in the holy anointing oil, one of the sweet scents (Cant. 4:14), and among the articles sold in the markets of Tyre (Ezek. 27:19). The word designates an Oriental plant called the “sweet flag,” the Acorus calamus of Linnaeus. It is elsewhere called “sweet cane” (Isa. 43:24; Jer. 6:20). It has an aromatic smell, and when its knotted stalk is cut and dried and reduced to powder, it forms an ingredient in the most precious perfumes. It was not a native of Palestine, but was imported from Arabia Felix or from India. It was probably that which is now known in India by the name of “lemon grass” or “ginger grass,” the Andropogon schoenanthus. (See CANE)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Calamus
(Exo 30:23). An ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Son 4:14; Eze 27:19), an import to Tyre. Aromatic cane: an Indian and Arabian plant. TheAcorus Calamus (Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20), “sweet cane.” A scented cane is said to have been found in a valley of Lebanon, reedlike, much jointed, and very fragrant when bruised.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Calamus
CALAMUS.See Reed.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Calamus
kala-mus. See REED.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Calamus
The word is qaneh, and is often translated ‘reed.’ It was one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil. Exo 30:23. It is mentioned among a list of spices and was brought to the market of Tyre. Son 4:14; Eze 27:19. It is the calamus odoratus, a reed growing in India and Arabia, and which is said to have been found in the valley of Lebanon. It has a fragrant smell, and when dried and pounded forms a valuable ingredient for rich perfumes.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Calamus
A sweet cane of Palestine
Son 4:14; Eze 27:19
An ingredient of the holy ointment
Exo 30:23; Isa 43:24
Commerce in
Jer 6:20; Eze 27:19
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Calamus
Calamus, Son 4:14; Eze 27:19, or Sweet Calamus, Exo 30:23, or Sweet Cane, Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20. These are probably names for the same plant. It seems to have been an aromatic reed brought “from a far country.” Lemon-grass is “a plant of remarkable fragrance and a native of Central India, where it is used to mix with ointments, on account of the delicacy of its odor.” Calamus may have been a species of this.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Calamus
Calamus. See Reed.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Calamus
Exo 30:23; Son 4:14; Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20; Eze 27:19. An aromatic reed, growing in moist places in Egypt, in Judea near lake Genezareth, and in several parts of Syria. It grows to about two feet in height; bearing from the root a knotted stalk, quite round, containing in its cavity a soft white pith. The whole is of an agreeable aromatic smell; and the plant is said to scent the air with a fragrance even while growing. When cut down, dried, and powdered; it makes an ingredient in the richest perfumes. It was used for this purpose by the Jews.
CALAMUS SCRIPTORIUS, a reed answering the purpose of a pen to write with. The ancients used styles, to write on tablets covered with wax; but reeds, to write on parchment or papyrus. The Psalmist says, My tongue is the pen of a ready writer, Psa 45:1. The Hebrew signifies rather a style. The third book of Maccabees states, that the writers employed in making a list of the Jews in Egypt, produced their reeds quite worn out. Baruch wrote his prophecies with ink, Jer 36:4; and, consequently, used reeds; for it does not appear that quills were then used to write with. In 3Jn 1:13, the Apostle says, he did not design to write with pen (reed) and ink. The Arabians, Persians, Turks, Greeks, and Armenians, to this day, write with reeds or rushes.