APPLES OF SODOM

sod'-um: Josephus (BJ, IV, viii, 4) says that "the traces (or shadows) of the five cities (of the plain) are still to be seen, as well as the ashes growing in their fruits, which fruits have a color as if they were fit to be eaten; but if you pluck them with your hands they dissolve into smoke and ashes." What this "Dead Sea fruit" is, is uncertain. The name "Dead Sea apples" is often given to the fruit of the Solanum Sodomaean "a prickly shrub with fruit not unlike a small yellow tomato." Cheyne thinks that the fruits referred to by Josephus (compare Tacitus Hist. v.37) may be either

(1) those of the `osher tree (`usar, Calotropis procera, described by Hasselquist (Travels, 1766)), found in abundance about Jericho and near the Dead Sea, which are filled with dust when they have been attacked by an insect, leaving the skin only entire, and of a beautiful color. Tristram describes the fruit as being "as large as an apple of average size, of a bright yellow color, hanging three or four together close to the stem"; or as suggested by Tristram

(2) those of the wild colocynth; the fruit is fair of aspect with a pulp which dries up into a bitter powder (EB, article "Sodom," col. 4669, note 2). This colocynth is supposed to be the "wild vine" mentioned 2 Kings 4:39. The "vine of Sodom" of Deuteronomy 32:32 has been supposed to bear the "Dead Sea fruit"; but most modern writers regard the passage as figurative.

W. L. Walker

That the Ultimate Reason for Believing Miracles is the Omnipotence ...
... are facts, except in the case of that fountain in which burning torches are
extinguished and extinguished torches lit, and of the apples of Sodom, which are ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 7 that the ultimate reason.htm

Be not Deceived; God is not Mocked.
... error. They have held out hopes to us that have proved false; apples of
Sodom, fair without, but full of ashes within. They have ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/moody/sowing and reaping/chapter ii be not deceived.htm

That There are Many Things which Reason Cannot Account For, and ...
... Then there are the apples of Sodom which grow indeed to an appearance of ripeness,
but, when you touch them with hand or tooth, the peal cracks, and they ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 5 that there are many.htm

The Soul Winner
... Certainly it is as natural for the apples of Sodom to be found on the trees
of Sodom as for noxious plants to produce poisonous berries. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/sermons on proverbs/the soul winner.htm

Sin and Forgiveness
... Consider what the 'fruits' of sin are. 'Apples of Sodom.' How sin leads to sorrow.
This is an inevitable law. Sin fails to secure what it sought for. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/sin and forgiveness.htm

Ahab and Elijah
... coolness of its shade. It is like the apples of Sodom, fair to look upon, but
turning to acrid ashes on the unwary lips. It is like the ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/ahab and elijah.htm

A Christmas Question
... And if I mark upon you the apples of Sodom and the grapes of Gomorrah you are still
a tree accursed and doomed, notwithstanding all your fancied experience. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 6 1860/a christmas question.htm

The Form of Sound Words
... I have taken in my hands the apples of Sodom; they were fair to look upon, but they
are ashes in my mouth." If you would be peaceful, keep fast to the truth ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 2 1856/the form of sound words.htm

Close of the Colonial Era --The German Churches --The Beginnings ...
... This urgent appeal bore fruit like the apples of Sodom. It resulted in
a painful and pitiable correspondence with the chiefs of ...
/.../bacon/a history of american christianity/chapter xii close of the.htm

A New Order of Priests and Levites
... In their unregeneracy as bitter fruit, apples of Sodom, that crumbled into dust
and turned to ashes, yet so transformed by the renewing of their minds, that ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/a new order of priests.htm