(Hebrew la'anah.)
Wormwood, known for its repulsive bitterness (Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15; Deuteronomy 29:18; Lamentations 3:19; Proverbs 5:4). Figuratively it stands for a curse or calamity (Lamentations 3:15), or also for injustice (Amos 5:7; 6:13). In Apocalypse 8:11, the Greek equivalent ho apsinthos is given as a proper name to the star which fell into the waters and made them bitter. The Vulgate renders the Hebrew expression by absinithium, except in Deuteronomy 29:18, where it translates it amaritudo. It seems that the biblical absinthe is identical with the Artemisia monosperma (Delile), or the Artemisia herba-alba (Asso); or, again, the Artemisia juidaica Linné. (See PLANTS IN BIBLE.)
HAGEN, Lexicon Biblicum (Paris, 1905); VIGOUROUX, in Dict. de la Bible (Paris, 1895); TRISTAM, Natural History of the Bible (London, 1889).