For the past century various religious texts have been used as a weapon by many perpetrators of the failed war on drugs. The text of the Bible in particular has been wielded furiously by those who were part of the cannabis counterculture: the pot heads, reefer smokers, and heaven forbid, listeners of Jazz music. All to condemn the “new” bud loving behavior. However, during that same century astute scholars have brought forth a strong case demonstrating cannabis use is not only described but also prescribed and considered “sacred” by the ancients of the Bible. As with most other weapons of the war on drugs, could the rapier of religious text also have lost its edge?
Some of the most compelling instances of sensi in scripture come from the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament portion of the Bible in Christian parlance). Written in the Hebrew Bible is surely one of the world’s oldest known cannabis tincture recipes. As well as an implied method of hotboxing that the most astute of college students could appreciate. The irony is thick. Before we dig into the biblical text (you weren’t expecting to read that in a weed mag), first a brief and incomplete history of some of the research that has been done on the topic of cannabis and the Bible.
Over 100 years ago in 1906, the first modern work detailing cannabis’ presence in the Hebrew Bible was written by British Physician Dr. C. Creighton in On Indications of the Hashish-vice in the Old Testament. The next, and perhaps more compelling, was written by Professor Sula Benet in her work titled Early Diffusions and Folk Uses of Hemp. In both of their works, hypotheses are presented that cannabis use is described in the Hebrew Bible in both incense burning and sacrificial context. Sula Benet also details how a mistranslation of a key ingredient in the formula for anointing oil removed cannabis and replaced it with a marsh plant. A more recent article by Chris Bennett published in Cannabis Culture in 1996 titled Kaneh Bosm: Cannabis in the Old Testament was likely the first article of its kind in the internet era of cannabis journalism. But perhaps the most entertaining (and still informative!) of all media produced pertaining to this subject comes from the podcast: Great Moments in Weed History; Season 1, Episode 3 produced in 2018 by Abdullah Saeed and David Bienenstock.
As most of the aforementioned works hypothesize, the two most compelling textual instances in which cannabis is referenced in the Hebrew Bible are in relation to sacrificial incense, “burnt offerings”, and in a formula for anointing oil. By applying principles of textual criticism and exegesis we are able to recover these instances of biblical bud consumption.
In the book of Exodus 30:23 is the first direct reference we find to cannabis in the Old Testament. It states “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus” (NIV translation). The word calamus is likely the incorrect translation of the ancient Hebrew word קנה בשם (kaneh bosem). This mistranslation of kaneh bosem to calamus is found in many English translations starting with the King James Bible and even prior to that the original mistranslation occurred in the Greek Septuagint around 300 BC. The Hebrew word kaneh bosem appears five times throughout the Hebrew Bible, always in a sacred and ceremonial context. Why and how calamus replaced kaneh bosem is a bit of a mystery but likely an instance of simple mistranslation on part of the early translators. The KJV translation has long been the standard against which subsequent English translations were judged and thus the errant calamus translation proliferated to our modern day. By looking at the etymology of קנה בשם we are able to determine why calamus is arrant translation and what this term actually means.
The two parts of this word both carry their own meaning and combined they form a decent description of the plant in question: קנה kaneh meaning “reed” or “stalk” (see Strong’ Concordance entry #7070) with בשם bosem meaning “spice” and the BSM root carrying the general meaning of something being fragrant (see Strong’s Concordance entry #7069). The combined meaning and literal translation being something like “fragrant reed”. Calamus is a plant that grows in marshy areas in the Levant, preferring pond margins and the shores of fast-moving streams. Calamus is not reported to be particularly fragrant and has little to no known medicinal value. At face value the use of calamus appears to sort of fit the “fragrant reed” description, but not very convincingly.
Alternatively using cannabis as the translation of kaneh bosem checks off all the boxes. The fragrant description (apparently no one said “terps bro” back then) sits well and assuming the plant is growing wild, also fits the “reed” description as natural cannabis present in the Levant area that hasn’t been topped and trimmed will indeed grow tall and skinny like a reed. Comparing the immediate features of calamus to those of cannabis, it becomes clear that calamus doesn’t to fit the bill of the Hebrew word to which it has been attached.
In addition, the textual context of how and where קנה בשם kaneh bosem is used in the Hebrew Bible also adds weight to the case for cannabis. In the example of Exodus 30:23 referenced prior, a recipe is being given for an anointing oil, meaning that it was meant and intended to be put onto the skin. When one takes into account the other ingredients in the anointing solution, it becomes clear that a psychoactive plant like cannabis could have been consumed via the described tincture affectively. The oil solution would absorb cannabinoids, with the cinnamon and myrrh acting as transdermal penetration enhancer . This would allow the person being anointed to absorb the cannabis through their skin, much like a modern salve. The religious implications of this are vast, meaning that the priests of Israel were actively using cannabis, a psychoactive substance, in religious ritual. In addition to tinctures, cannabis was also being consumed via inhalation.
The root קנה kaneh is found multiple times elsewhere in the Old Testament, most often in relation to incense and sacrifice burning. For example, in relation to sacrifice we find in Isaiah 43:24 “You have not brought any fragrant calamus for me..” (NIV translation).
Incredibly, recent archeological evidence has further supported the use of cannabis in these types of ritual settings. Scientists in Israel recently discovered the resin from cannabis on an altar in the Negev desert. The site in question was a Judahite religious location, dated 760-715 B.C., used for sacrificial offerings and incense burning. It is worth noting that the cannabis sample taken from the altar had a high enough THC percentage as to affect those inhaling its smoke. These altars are often contained with a walled or curtained off space with an opening that can be closed or sealed off. This would trap the smoke from the incense in the room, leading to a “hot-box” effect. High Priests indeed.
The words of the Bible, appearing initially unfriendly to cannabis culture, become all the more kind as logic and reason are used to parse the text. Perhaps with a greater understanding of the Biblical text those who believe in it will follow its words… right to the nearest cannabis pharmacy to pick up an infused tincture or perhaps supplies for a “burnt offering”. To paraphrase the words Bruce McConkie, those who can’t see the obvious connection between biblical calamus and cannabis must have “the intellect of an ant and the understanding of a clod of miry clay in a primordial swamp”.
Larson Quick graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelors Degree in Ancient Near Eastern: Hebrew Bible Studies.
