The common view is that the word Cannabis is Scythian in origin, but it seems the Scythians had a decent amount of contact with Ancient Israel and Judah, they are refereed to in The Bible as Magog after all, and a Hebrew artifact was once found in the grave of a Scythian warrior woman.
Cannabis comes from combing the Hebrew words Qaneh (Strong number 7070) three times rendered in the KJV Calamus, and Bosem (Strong number 1314). Qaneh on it's own could also be a reference to the plant in question, but Bosem just means sweet smelling or fragrance. The actual Calamus plant does not have the qualities The Bible describes this plant as having. Two other KJV occurrences render it Cane.
The usually cited first appearance is Exodus 30:23.
Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,This is from the instructions for The Tabernacle given by Yahuah himself. This is probably one of the incense refereed to in Exodus 30:8-10.
Then there is the Song of Solomon 4:14.
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:Definitely not a negative reference.
Next is Isaiah 43:24
Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.Another clear reference to it being an incense offered to Yahuah.
After that is Jeremiah 6:20.
To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.A negative passage, but still clearly consistent with it being an incense used in The Worship of Yahuah.
Finally is Ezekial 27:19.
Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.It's part of the Prophecy of Tyre's destruction, referring to it as a plant Tyre traded. Remember much of what was used in Solomon's Temple was available via his trade partnership with Tyre.
And this is the Dan and Javan verse I so often refer to. Perhaps Dan is a factor in how the Scythians came to use the same term for the plant.
Most others discussing this topic think these five are the only verses. Basically directly correlating to when the KJV renders Qaneh either Calamus or Cane. Now the Strongs does have a tendency to classify things as the same word when they're really different forms of the same root, so it can be complicated, clearly many uses of 7070 seemingly are not a plant or herb. Like when it's used of the Branches of the Menorah in Exodus 25.
Only three of the five also use Bosem ("Sweet" in the KJV).
It's actual first occurrence is in Genesis 41 where it is twice translated "stalk", in reference to Corn Stalks. The Canibus plant also grows on stalks.
There is also 7071, a river in Israel called Kanah. Mentioned in Joshua 16:8, 17:9 and 19:28, in the land allotted to Ephraim.
Now a lot of religions out there want to use these Biblical references to the plant for their own agenda. It's important to note none of these references seem to refer to recreational drug use.
The point is, don't let anyone convince you Cannabis is an evil plant.
There are also possibly references to Hemp.
HEMPUpdate May 29th 2020: There seems to be some new News related to this issue archaeologically.
(Cannabis sativa, Linn.)
“Thy raiment was of fine linen.”—EZEK. 16:13.
THE Hebrew word shesh or sheshi, translated “fine linen,” occurs, according to Royle, twenty-eight times in EXODUS, once in Genesis, once in Proverbs, and three times in Ezekiel. This fine linen was spun by women, as mentioned in Exodus 35:25, where it is said, “All the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.” Ezekiel says of Tyrus, “Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail” (Ezek. 27:7). The material of which this fine linen was wrought is considered by many to have been the produce of the hemp plant. This is rendered probable also by the similarity between shesh and the Arabic word haschesch, which is applied to hemp. Hemp consists of the fibres of Cannabis sativa, a plant belonging to the natural order Urticaceæ or nettleworts. It is a native of Persia, and is now extensively cultivated in Europe as well as in India. The variety cultivated in India is sometimes called Cannabis indica, and is remarkable for its narcotic qualities. The dried flowering tops of the female plant from which the resin has been removed are used to form a medicinal extract and tincture. The resinous matter covering the leaves is called churrus; and the names bhang, gunjah, and haschesch, are given to the dried plant in different states. It seems likely that the hemp plant was cultivated in Egypt in ancient times as well as the flax plant; but accurate information on the subject is still wanting. The Hebrew word bad is also translated “linen.” Thus it occurs in Exodus 39:28, where it is said that they made for Aaron and his sons “a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen.” The Hebrew word butz or buz is also translated “fine linen” and “white linen,” as in 1 Chronicles 4:21; Esther 1:6; Ezekiel 27:16, etc. In the New Testament the Greek word byssus is translated “fine linen,” as in Luke 16:19; Rev. 18:12, 16, and 19:8, 14. (See also Flax.)
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Balfour, John Hutton. The Plants of the Bible. London; Edinburgh; New York: T. Nelson and Sons, 1885. Print.
https://twitter.com/MichaelDPress/status/1266369067499180038
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/28/world/tel-arad-shrine-israel-cannabis-study-scn/index.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03344355.2020.1732046
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-reveals-cannabis-frankincense-judahite-shrine.html
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