About…
mint in the Bible

Greek: heduosmon, i.e., “having a sweet smell”

The mint plant belongs to the Labiatae family (Lamiaceae) of plants. The species most common in Syria is the Mentha arvensis, the wild mint, which grows much larger than the garden mint).

It was much used as a condiment with food, and also as a medicine.

Pharisees

Mint is one of the garden herbs with which the Pharisees paid tithes (Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42).

The paying of tithes of mint was in accordance with the Mosiac law (Deuteronomy 14:22), but the error of the Pharisees lay in their being more careful about this little matter of the mint than about weightier matters.

More information

• Foods in the Bible
• Agriculture in the Bible
• What are the Pharisees?
• Tithes and tithing—What does the Bible say about it?