Kopher
Kopher
SEE CAMPHIRE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Kopher
Fig. 236Lawsonia inermis
Kopher or Copher, occurs twice in the Song of Solomon (Son 1:14; Son 4:13), and is in both places translated camphire in the Authorized Version. It has been supposed to indicate a bunch of grapes (Botrus kopher), also camphor. The word camphire is the old mode of spelling camphor, but this substance does not appear to have been known to ancient commerce; at least we cannot adduce any proof that it was so. The word Kopher closely resembles the Greek Kupros, usually written Cypros.Indeed, as has been observed, it is the same word, with the Greek pronunciation and termination. Mariti remarks, that ‘the shrub known in the Hebrew language by the name of kopher is common in the island of Cyprus, and thence had its ‘Latin name;’ also, that ‘the Botrus Cypri has been supposed to be a kind of rare and exquisite grapes, transplanted from Cyprus to Engedi; but the Botrus is known to the natives of Cyprus as an odoriferous shrub called henna, or alkanna.’This identity is now universally acknowledged: the Kupros, therefore, must have been Lawsonia inermis, as the Hinna of the Arabs is well known to be. If we examine the works of Oriental travelers and naturalists, we shall find that this plant is universally esteemed in Eastern countries, and appears to have been so from the earliest times, both on account of the fragrance of its flowers and the coloring properties of its leaves.
Thus Rauwolff, when at Tripoli, ‘found there another tree, not unlike unto our privet, by the Arabians called Alcana, or Henna, and by the Grecians, in their vulgar tongue, Schenna, which they have from Egypt, where, but above all in Cayre, they grow in abundance. The Turks and Moors nurse these up with great care and diligence, because of their sweet-smelling flowers. They also, as I am informed, keep their leaves all winter, which leaves they powder and mix with the juice of citrons, and stain therewith against great holidays the hair and nails of their children of a red color, which color may perhaps be seen with us on the manes and tails of Turkish horses.’ This custom of dyeing the nails and the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, of an iron-rust color, with henna, exists throughout the East, from the Mediterranean to the Ganges, as well as in Northern Africa. In some parts the practice is not confined to women and children, but is also followed by men, especially in Persia. In dyeing the beard, the hair is turned to red by this application, which is then changed to black by a preparation of indigo. In dyeing the hair of children, and the tails and manes of horses and asses, the process is allowed to stop at the red color which the henna produces. In reference to this universal practice of the East, Dr. Harris observes that ‘the expression in Deu 21:12, pare her nails, may perhaps rather mean adorn her nails, and imply the antiquity of this practice. This is a universal custom in Egypt, and not to conform to it would be considered indecent. It seems to have been practiced by the ancient Egyptians, for the nails of the mummies are most commonly of a reddish hue.’ Seeing, then, that the henna is so universally admired in the East, both on account of the fragrance of its flowers and the dye yielded by its leaves, and as there is no doubt that it is the Cypros of the Greeks, and as this word is so similar to the kopher of the Hebrews, there is every probability of this last being the henna of the Arabs, Lawsonia alba of botanists.