Bible references about marijuana use
In February, 27th 313 AD, the Emperor Constantine the Great declared Christianity the official religion in the Empire. Probably it wasn’t a question of conviction. It was a question of popularity because the new religion was followed by almost all the citizens. On top of it, the Barbarians from the North were invading the old Empire and bringing with them their customs.
At that time, Christianity was adapting the Barbarian beliefs to the new situation. The Christian Church began to change many parts of the old and New Testament. The Roman Catholic Church changed everything that could affect their interests. They added new things and suppressed many more. In this article we are going to review the real Testament to show you how many times cannabis was directly named and to prove it was an important part of its tradition and rituals.
In fact, just in the first book of the Bible, Exodus, we can read that cannabis was used ritually by Moses and the ancient Israelites. The Hebrew word “kaneh bosm” means cannabis. Moses and the Israelites lived in the region named Canaa in 1500 BCE. Cannabis was completely accepted in the land and had been used for thousands of years to make ropes, fiber, food and, of course, ganja. Ganja was used to get high and reach special doors of perception. Most of the scholars think “red Lebanese” was the marijuana available at that time.
The first reference to cannabis is in the story of Moses, where God gives him the proper instructions about how to correctly set up the Tabernacle for worship. The text includes a precise recipe to prepare a holy anointing oil made with different herbs. One of these herbs was cannabis. The flowers to be precise. This product was meant to be used at the temple and could not be shared.
We can read what Exodus says about it in his chapter 30: 23 – 25 1446 BCE
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus [cannabis], 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.’”
We are going to convert these measurements in the numbers of today.Liquid myrrh 500 shekels 5.75 kg (12.68 lbs)
Cassia 500 shekels 5.75 kg (12.68 lbs)
Cinnamon leaf 250 shekels 2.875 kg (6.34 lbs)
Cannabis flowers 250 shekels 2.875 kg (6.34 lbs)
Olive oil 1 hin 6.5 liters (1.72 gallons)
If you dissolve 6 pounds of ganja in two gallons of olive oil the product will be very potent. The oil was poured directly over the head of the priest. The skin absorbed the THC rapidly and it was very psychoactive. It was normal that the priest thought he was seeing God.
The second reference occurs in the most beautiful book of the Bible: the Song of Songs. It was written by the King Solomon in the 10th century BCE. In chapter 4 the poet the man describes the beauty of his lover, comparing her to the most beautiful flowers. These flowers were cannabis buds.
Song of Songs 4: 10-15 950 BCE
“ Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus [cannabis] and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.” – wrote King Solomon.
In the 8th century BCE, prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 43: 24 711 BCE) warned the Israelites about their sins and their consecuences. He said: “You have not bought any fragrant calamus [cannabis] for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.”
Once again another reference comes up in the book of Jeremiah. According to this prophet “ God is angry with the Israelites for their greed and deceit.” Cannabis is referenced as an offer God has rejected. This seems to be a change in worship practices. But anyway, cannabis appears one more time.
Jeremiah 6:20 627 BCE
“What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus [cannabis] from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.” Cannabis is listed among the items of trade most commonly used in Tyre (modern Lebanon)
Ezekiel 27: 18 – 19 586 BCE
The prophet wrote: “Damascus did business with you because of your many products and great wealth of goods. They offered wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar and casks of wine from Izal in exchange for your wares: wrought iron, cassia and calamus [cannabis].”
Probably you have realized the change of mentality about cannabis. In the beginning cannabis was sacred. But when King Salomon began to worship the Goddess of his foreign wife, the customs changed and suddenly cannabis wasn’t the same anymore.
What about Jesus?
No matter if you believe Jesus was a deity or just a simple man. Most probably Jesus used cannabis. Jesus lived in a culture where the use of the Judaic anointing oil described as containing cannabis. Jesus was known by his disciples as Christ, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, or “the anointed one.”.To be anointed you had to be covered up with a mixture of olive oils with all the ingredients we described in the beginning of this article. But this article is meant to research about the use of cannabis in the Old Testament In any case, all the historians coincide in this: cannabis was an important ingredient used since the times when Moses lead his people through the desert to the Promised Land and during the life of Jesus too.
