CUMMIN
[Heb., kam·monʹ, Gr., kyʹmi·non]; Black Cummin [Heb., qeʹtsahh].
The English word “cummin” is derived from the Hebrew through Greek and Latin. The cummin plant (Cuminum cyminum, L.) is of the carrot family, growing about one to two feet (.3 to .6 meter) high, with long, slender leaves and umbels (bouquetlike clusters) of small pink or white flowers growing at the ends of the upward-rising branches. The plant is best known for its pungently aromatic seeds, used in Near Eastern and other countries as a spice for flavoring bread, cakes, stews, and even liquors. Caraway seeds, which the cummin seeds resemble in flavor and appearance, have since become more commonly used than cummin due to being milder and of greater nutritive value.
Mentioned along with the cummin at Isaiah 28:25, 27 is the plant described by the Hebrew word qeʹtsahh. It has been variously identified by translators as “fitches” (AV), “fennel” (Mo), and “dill” (AT; RS); but the “black cummin” (JP; NW) seems to be favored by the context and also by the corresponding name in Arabic (qazha). Despite its English name, black cummin (Nigella sativa, L.) is not classified botanically with the cummin plant, and though known as “the nutmeg flower,” it likewise differs from the cultivated nutmeg. It is of the buttercup family, grows about the same height as the cummin, has similar feathery leaves, but blossoms with individual attractive white to blue petaled flowers. The seed vessels have interior compartments, and the tiny black seeds, smaller than the cummin, are acrid as well as aromatic, and are used on foods as a rather peppery seasoning. They were a favorite spice of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Though neither the cummin nor the black cummin are widely cultivated in the Palestine region today, in Bible times they were more popular there. Jehovah through the prophet Isaiah describes the Israelite farmer’s scattering seeds broadcast over the plowed land, while giving greater care to the sowing of the more valuable grains, such as wheat, millet and barley. He likewise shows that after harvesting, the threshing of the seeds of the cummin and black cummin plants was not done with heavy wheels or rollers of threshing instruments, but was accomplished by beating the seed capsules with a staff or, for the stouter pods of the black cummin, a rod so as not to damage the small tender seeds.
Coming, as it does, after Jehovah’s exhortation to the people of Israel to cease scoffing in view of the imminent extermination facing the northern kingdom, this illustration apparently was given to show that the people had the option of either responding to the disciplinary beating by Jehovah’s rod or of being subjected to severe and incessant threshing as under the crushing weight of a heavy rollered wagon.—Isa. 28:22-29.
Under the Mosaic law, the Israelites were to pay the tithe or tenth “of all the produce of your seed,” which would seem to include all cultivated crops. (Deut. 14:22; Lev. 27:30) In Jesus’ day the Pharisees were scrupulously careful to pay the tenth of such small products as mint, dill and cummin (all marketable commodities), but were guilty of passing over the more serious obligations. (Matt. 23:23; compare Luke 11:42.) It is of interest to note the ancient Greeks’ use of the word ky·mi·no·priʹstes (literally, “cummin-splitter”) to mean a “skinflint.”