Sycamine
Sycamine
See Mulberry
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Sycamine
(; Vulg. morus) is mentioned once only in the Bible, viz. in Luk 17:6, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say to this sycamine-tree, Be thou plucked up, etc. There is no reason to doubt that the is distinct from the of the same evangelist (19, 4), although we learn from Dioscorides (1, 180) that this name was sometimes given to the . SEE SYCAMORE.
Thesycamine is the mulberry-tree (morus), as is evident from Dioscorides, Theophrastus (H. P. 1, 6, 1; 10. 10; 13, 4, etc.), and various other Greek writers (see Celsius, Hierob. 1, 288). A form of the same word, , is still one of the names for the mulberry tree in Greece (see Heldreich, Nutzpfianzen Griechenlandzs [Athens, 1862 ], p. 19: Morus alba L. and M. Nigra L., , , and , also ; pelasg. mure). In his learned essay on the Trees and Shrubs of the A ncients (1865). Dr. Daubeny adopts the distinction pointed out by Bodoeus and confirmed by Fraas: the sycamorus of the Romans, the or ( ) of Dioscorides, the of Theophrastus. is the sycamore-fig, or Ficus sycomorus of modern botany. On the other hand, the of the Greeks, used simply and without the qualification Egyptian, the of Dioscorides, is the morus of the Romans-our mulberry. Dr. Sibthorpe, who traveled as a botanist in Greece for the express purpose of identifying the plants known to the Greeks, says that in Greece the white mulberry-tree is called ; the black mulberry-tree, . Not only is it the species whose fruit is prized, but it may be questioned whether the Morus alba had found its way into those regions before the introduction of the silk-worm had made its favorite food an object of cultivation. Believed to be a native of Persia, the mulberry, commonly so called, Morus nigra, is now spread over the milder regions, of Europe, and is continually mentioned by travelers in the Holy Land. As the mulberry- tree is common, as it is lofty and affords shade, it is well: calculated for the illustration of the above passage of Luke. See Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 396; Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 296. SEE MULBERRY.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Sycamine
SYCAMINE.The sycamine-tree () is mentioned in the Gospels only once, viz. in Luk 17:6. The Heb. from which the Gr. name seems to be derived, denotes the sycomore, but the sycamine is by general consent identified with the black mulberry (Morus nigra). In his Hebrew NT, Delitzsch renders by , which is the name given to the mulberry in the Mishna (cf. Arab. [Note: Arabic.] tt). Two species are common in modern Palestine, the black mulberry and the white (M. alba). The latter, however, which is cultivated for purposes of sericulture, and whose fruit, owing to its insipidity, was little eaten, was hardly likely to be known in our Lords time. The black mulberry, on the other hand, yields a compound fruit which, eaten fresh, is of fine flavour, and is a great favourite in the East. This tree, which is deciduous, has a dense foliage, and affords a most welcome shade during the heat of summer.
Thomson (LB [Note: The Land and the Book.] pp. 23, 24) would identify the sycamine with the sycomore. In support of this view he appeals to the common Hebrew origin of the two names; but his main argument is that
the mulberry is more easily plucked up by the roots than any other tree of the same size in the country, and the thing is oftener done. Hundreds of them are plucked up every year in this vicinity, and brought to the city for firewood. It is not to be supposed,1 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] he adds, that He who spake as man never spoke would select this tree, with its short, feeble roots, to illustrate the irresistible power of faith.
The argument is plausible, but not conclusive. On the contrary, what weight it has must be laid in the scale against this theory rather than in its support. The rooting up of the mulberry tree was a common practice. Granted; but was it not from the commonest doings and happenings that our Lord habitually drew His illustrations? When He would find some fit emblem of the Kingdom of God, He appealed not to the unusual but to the familiar, not to the heroic but to the homely. One of the marked charms of His teaching is the gift He had of making the commonplaces of earth speak the language of heaven. When, therefore, He would figure forth the irresistible power of faith, it need not surprise us that He selected the mulberry tree, the uprooting of which was quite familiar to His hearers. True, it was more easily plucked up than any other tree of the size. But that fact does not impair the force of the figure. The law of gravitation is as clearly manifested in the fall of the leaf as in the majestic order of the planets, and the power of faith is as vividly illustrated in the figure of uprooting a mulberry tree by the word of command, as in that of uprooting a sycomore, or even of moving a mountain.
Hugh Duncan.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Sycamine
SYCAMINE (Luk 17:6).sykaminos is, strictly speaking, the black mulberry (Morus nigra the tt shm of the Syrians), and it is probably this tree that is referred to in Luk 17:6 and in 1Ma 6:34. But sykaminos is also used in LXX [Note: Septuagint.] in many passages as the equivalent of the shiqmm or sycomore (wh. see).
E. W. G. Masterman.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Sycamine
. This is mentioned only in Luk 17:6; and as the same writer speaks also of the sycamore tree, the two are deemed to be distinct. The sycamine is supposed to be the mulberry, still called in Greece sycamenia. Both the black and white mulberry (Morus nigra and alba ) are common in Palestine, their leaves being the food of silkworms.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Sycamine
occurs in Luk 17:6. It is generally recognized as the black mulberry, with fruit like blackberries. The leaves are too tough for silkworms and thus are unlike the white mulberry. Neither kind is the same as the mulberry of 2Sa 5:23-24, etc. The town Haifa was called Sycaminopolis, from the name of the tree.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Sycamine
, in Arabic sokam, Luk 17:6. This is a different tree from the sycamore, mentioned Luk 19:4. Dioscorides says that this tree is the mulberry, though he allows that some apprehend that it is the same with the sycamore. Galen has a separate article on the sycamorus, which he speaks of as rare, and mentions as having seen it at Alexandria in Egypt. The Greeks name the morus the sycamine. Grotius says the word has no connection with , the fig-tree, but is entirely Syrian, , in Hebrew, . It should seem, indeed, to be very similar to the mulberry, as not only the Latin, but the Syriac and the Arabic, render it by morus; and thus Coverdale’s, the Rheim’s and Purver’s English translations render it by the mulberry; and so it is in Bishop Wilson’s Bible.