 Joined: 6/28/2007(UTC)
Posts: 3,537
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I came across this reference to "love apples" in my copy of The Scriptures and, given the context, couldn't quite figure out the meaning: Quote:Gen 30:14 And Re’uḇĕn went in the days of wheat harvest and found love-apples in the field, and brought them to his mother Lĕ’ah. And Raḥĕl said to Lĕ’ah, “Please give me some of your son’s love-apples.”
Gen 30:15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s love-apples too?” And Raḥĕl said, “Therefore let him lie with you tonight for your son’s love-apples.”
Gen 30:16 And when Yaʽaqoḇ came out of the field in the evening, Lĕ’ah went out to meet him and said, “Do come in to me, for indeed, I have hired you with my son’s love-apples.” And he lay with her that night. In other versions, "love apples" are rendered as "mandrakes" but this doesn't help much. Does anyone know what "love apples" are? |
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 Joined: 7/4/2007(UTC) Posts: 1,470  Location: England Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)
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lol maybe they are like love handles? :D |
Signature Updated! Woo that was old... |
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 Joined: 9/5/2007(UTC) Posts: 641 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Was thanked: 3 time(s) in 2 post(s)
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I did a search for "love apples" and got this: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artloveapples.html wrote:THE LOVE APPLE OR POMME D’AMOUR (TOMATO)
Researchers determined that Aztecs developed the tomato, as we know it. When the first conquistadors arrived in Mexico, the red fruit attracted their attention and intrigued their taste buds. In the 1600’s, they shipped some to Europe, but at first tomato failed to enthuse the palates of Europeans. Then in a genial strike some “marketing guru” decided to label tomato as an aphrodisiac and named it poma amoris, the French in turn called it pomme d’amour. Of course it took off.
American colonists thought tomatoes to be poisonous because of the plant’s relation to the deadly nightshade family. If this is true and the tomato was developed by the Aztecs (which I have no reason to doubt), then I would guess that it was not something around in the Mid East. So, "love apples" is probably an incorrect rendering. Every reference I can find says that "love apples" are tomatos. I looked up mandrake and got this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandrake_(plant) wrote:Mandrake is the common name for members of the plant genus Mandragora belonging to the nightshades family (Solanaceae)...
There are classical Jewish commentaries which suggest that mandrakes help barren women to conceive a child.
Mandrake in Hebrew is דודאים (dûdã'im), meaning “love plant”. Among certain Asian cultures, it is believed to ensure conception. Most interpreters hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 ("love plant") and Song of Songs 7:13 ("the mandrakes send out their fragrance"). A number of other plants have been suggested such as bramble-berries, Zizyphus Lotus, the sidr of the Arabs, the banana, the lily, the citron, and the fig. None of these renderings is supported by satisfactory evidence.
So, I don't think we really know what fruit it was. Maybe we should find out if nightshade actually grew in that part of the world at the time. If it did not, then tomatos/mandrakes would obviously not be the correct rendering of "love plant." But, the simple answer to your question, "What are love apples?" is that "love apples" are tomatos. Now the question is, "Was that really what Scripture is indicating to us that it was?"
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