Anise: This word is found only in Matt. 23:23. It is the plant commonly
known by the name of dill, the Peucedanum graveolens of the
botanist. This name dill is derived from a Norse word which
means to soothe, the plant having the carminative property of
allaying pain. The common dill, the Anethum graveolens, is an
annual growing wild in the cornfields of Spain and Portugal and
the south of Europe generally. There is also a species of dill
cultivated in Eastern countries known by the name of shubit. It
was this species of garden plant of which the Pharisees were in
the habit of paying tithes. The Talmud requires that the seeds,
leaves, and stem of dill shall pay tithes. It is an
umbelliferous plant, very like the caraway, its leaves, which
are aromatic, being used in soups and pickles. The proper anise
is the Pimpinella anisum.