Difference between revisions of "Husks"

<p> <b> [[Husks.]] </b> —The only mention of husks (κεράτια, so called from their shape, which resembles ‘horns’) occurs in &nbsp;Luke 15:16. [[Husks]] were the pods of the carob-tree, which is also known as the locust-tree ( <i> Ceratonia siliqua </i> ). This tree, which is common in Palestine, belongs to the order Leguminosae, and is an evergreen. It attains to a height of about 30 feet, and has a dense foliage. Its leaves are of a dark, glossy green. The pods are from 6 to 10 inches in length and 1 in breadth. They contain a thick, sweet pulp, not unpleasant to the palate, and are used as food for pigs, cattle, and horses. They are also, because of their cheapness, eaten by the very poor. </p> <p> Some have identified the pods of the carob with the ‘locusts’ (ἀκρίδες) which John the [[Baptist]] ate (&nbsp;Matthew 3:4). It is true they are sometimes called ‘St. John’s bread,’ this name having been given to them by the monks of [[Palestine]] or by ‘pious pilgrims’ (Thomson, <i> [[L]] </i> [[B]] [Note: The Land and the Book.] p. 655), but there can be little doubt that the Baptist’s food was not carob-pods, but the insect, which is still eaten by the wandering Arabs. See Locust. </p> <p> Hugh Duncan. </p>

<div> '''1: κεράτιον ''' (Strong'S #2769 — Noun Neuter — keration — ker-at'-ee-on ) </div> <p> "a little horn" (a diminutive of keras, "a horn;" see [[Horn),]] is used in the plural in &nbsp;Luke 15:16 , of carob pods, given to swine, and translated "husks." </p>

<p> <strong> [[Husks]] </strong> ( <em> keratia </em> , &nbsp; Luke 15:16 ) are almost certainly the pods of the <strong> carob </strong> tree ( <em> Ceratonia siliqua </em> ), commonly called the <strong> locust </strong> tree. This common Palestine tree is distinguished by its beautiful dark glossy foliage. The long pods, which ripen from May to August according to the altitude, are even to-day used as food by the poor; a confection is made from them. But they are used chiefly for cattle. The name ‘St. John’s bread’ is given to these pods, from a tradition that these, and not locusts, composed the food of St. John the Baptist, but see Food, 18. </p> <p> [[E.]] [[W.]] [[G.]] Masterman. </p>

<p> '''Husks.''' This word in &nbsp;Luke 16:16, describes really the fruit of a particular kind of tree, namely, the carob or '''Ceratonia siliqua''' of botanists. It belongs to the locust family. </p> <p> This tree is very commonly met with in Syria and Egypt; it produces pods, shaped like a horn, varying in length from six to ten inches, and about a finger's breadth, or rather more; it is dark-brown, glossy, filled with seeds and has a sweetish taste. It is used much for food by the poor, and for the feeding of swine. </p>

<p> Ceratonia Siliqua </p> <p> The word which is thus rendered in the Auth. Vers. is really the name of a tree called in English Carob-tree. It is extremely common in the south of Europe, in Syria, and in Egypt. [[Celsius]] states that no tree is more frequently mentioned in the Talmud, where its fruit is stated to be given as food to cattle and swine: it is now given to horses, asses, and mules. During the Peninsular war the horses of the British cavalry were often fed on the beans of the Carob-tree. Both Pliny and Columella mention that it was given as food to swine. By some it has been thought, but apparently without reason, that it was upon the husks of this tree that John the Baptist fed in the wilderness: from this idea, however, it is often called St. John's [[Bread]] and Locust-tree. </p> <p> The Carob-tree grows in the south of Europe and north of Africa, usually to a moderate size, but it sometimes becomes very large, with a trunk of great thickness, and affords an agreeable shade. The quantity of pods borne by each tree is very considerable, being often as much as 800 or 900 pounds weight: they are flat, brownish-colored, from six to eight inches in length, of a sub-astringent taste when unripe, but when come to maturity they secrete, within the husks and round the seeds, a sweetish-tasted pulp. When on the tree, the pods have an unpleasant odor; but when dried upon hurdles they become eatable, and are valued by poor people, and during famine in the countries where the tree is grown, especially in Spain and Egypt, and by the Arabs. They are given as food to cattle in modern, as we read they were in ancient, times; but at the best can only be considered very poor fare. </p>