Amomum
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
(ἄμωμον, perhaps from Arab. hamma , ‘heat’)
An aromatic balsam used as an unguent for the hair, made from the seeds of an eastern plant which has not been identified with certainty, Josephus ( Ant . xx. ii. 2) speaks of Harran as ‘a soil which bare amomum in plenty,’ and Vergil ( Ecl . iv. 25) predicts that in the Golden Age ‘Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum.’ The word came to be used generally for any pure and sweet odour. In Revelation 18:13 Authorized Version(with B אc) omits the word; Revised Version(with א* AC) accepts it and translates ‘spice’ (Revised Version margin ‘Gr. amomum’). The term is now applied to a genus of aromatic plants, some species of which yield cardamoms and grains of paradise.
James Strahan.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [2]
Amomum . Revelation 18:13 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] . See Spice.
Webster's Dictionary [3]
(n.) A genus of aromatic plants. It includes species which bear cardamoms, and grains of paradise.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [4]
( Ἄμωμον ) . This word is only found in Revelations 18:13 (between "cinnamon" and "odors"), and is even there omitted in the received text. It denoted an odoriferous plant or seed, used in preparing precious ointment. It probably differed from the modern amomum of the druggists ( Penny Cyclopcedia, s.v.), but the exact species is not known. It was of various qualities, growing in Armenia and Media, and also in Pontus, with seeds in clusters like grapes (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 12, 28; Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. 9, 7).
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [5]
A genus of plants, such as the cardamom and grains of paradise, remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties.
