Balm of Gilead
From Patterns of Evidence
Originally published on Oct. 11, 2024
November 21, 2024
Jer 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
A 1,000-year-old seed found in the region of ancient Gilead has produced a plant that might be the healing “balm of Gilead.”
The following is from “Biblical Tree Resurrected,” Patterns of Evidence, Oct. 11, 2024:
“In the 1980s a mysterious 1,000-year-old seed was discovered during archaeological excavations of a cave in the Judean Desert. Now scientists have revived the seed, and the tree that has grown from it could belong to a lost lineage mentioned in the Bible, according to the researchers.
Dr. Sarah Sallon, a researcher at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, retrieved the seed from storage and successfully germinated it in 2010, nicknaming the plant ‘Sheba.’ It has taken almost 14 years for the ancient seed to grow into a tree with fully fledged characteristics that can be scientifically studied.
DNA sequencing and chemical analyses have revealed that the tree is part of the Commiphora genus, within the frankincense and myrrh family. ... The seed, from which Sheba grew, dates to between AD 993 and 1202.
... Before Sheba, Dr. Sallon had previous success resurrecting ancient plants, such as a date tree using 1,900-year-old seeds, which produced Judean dates in the region for the first time in centuries. ... The resin from the tree’s bark could be the source of ‘tsori’ extract associated with healing in Genesis, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. [‘Tsori’ is the Hebrew word translated ‘balm’ in Ge. 37:15; 43:11; Jer. 8:22; 46:11; 51:8; and Eze. 27:17.]
The substance is linked with the historical region of Gilead, which sits to the east of the Jordan River between the Yarmuk River and the northern end of the Dead Sea, close to where the seed was found.
... The Sheba tree has not flowered yet, so it remains unclear what specific species it belongs to. Hopefully, it will flower soon and scientists will be able to carry out even more detailed analyses of the tree’s reproductive material narrowing down its particular species.”
Consider – Jeremiah knew that the Lord was the only physician Who could heal the wounds of the people; but he also knew that their sins, idolatry, and following false teachers prevented it.
