Calamus

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

קנה  Exodus 30:23;  Song of Solomon 4:14;  Isaiah 43:24;  Jeremiah 6:20;  Ezekiel 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,"  Psalms 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,   Jeremiah 36:4; and, consequently, used reeds; for it does not appear that quills were then used to write with. In  3 John 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.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Calamus,  Song of Solomon 4:14;  Ezekiel 27:19, or Sweet Calamus,  Exodus 30:23, or Sweet Cane,  Isaiah 43:24;  Jeremiah 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.

King James Dictionary

Calamus, n.

1. The generic name of the Indian cane, called also rotang. It is without branches, has a crown at the top, and is beset with spines. 2. In antiquity, a pipe or fistula, a wind instrument, made of a reed or oaten stalk. 3. A rush or reed used anciently as a pen to write on parchment or papyrus. 4. A sort of reed, or sweet-scented cane, used by the Jews as a perfume. It is a knotty root, reddish without and white within, and filled with a spungy substance. It has an aromatic smell. 5. The sweet flag, called by Linne Acorus.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The word is qaneh, and is often translated 'reed.' It was one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil.  Exodus 30:23 . It is mentioned among a list of spices and was brought to the market of Tyre.  Song of Solomon 4:14;  Ezekiel 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.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

( Exodus 30:23). An ingredient in the holy anointing oil ( Song of Solomon 4:14;  Ezekiel 27:19), an import to Tyre. Aromatic cane: an Indian and Arabian plant. TheΑcorus Calamus ( Isaiah 43:24;  Jeremiah 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.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) The indian cane, a plant of the Palm family. It furnishes the common rattan. See Rattan, and Dragon's blood.

(2): (n.) A species of Acorus (A. calamus), commonly called calamus, or sweet flag. The root has a pungent, aromatic taste, and is used in medicine as a stomachic; the leaves have an aromatic odor, and were formerly used instead of rushes to strew on floors.

(3): (n.) The horny basal portion of a feather; the barrel or quill.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Kaneh   Exodus 30:23 Song of Solomon 4:14 Ezekiel 27:19 Isaiah 43:24 Jeremiah 6:20Cane

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Calamus. See Reed .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 30:23

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

See Cane .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Calamus . See Reed.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

occurs in three passages of the Auth. Vers. for the Hebrews קָנֶה, kanek (Sept. κάλαμος, elsewhere "reed"):  Exodus 30:23, among the ingredients of the holy anointing oil;  Song of Solomon 4:14, in an enumeration of sweet scents; and  Ezekiel 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 (κάλαμος ἀρωματικός, 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  Isaiah 43:24; Jeremiah 6:20, where the Auth. Vers. has sweet cane. In the latter text the Hebrews is קָנֶה הִטּוֹב, kaneh' hat-tob (i.e. good cane), and in  Exodus 30:23, קָנֵה בשֶם, 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  Exodus 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).