ROTHEM (ro'th6m), written also ROTEM ro-thern'), occurs in four passages of the Old Testament, in all of which it is translated juniter in the Auth.Vers., though it is now consid ered very clear that a kind of broom is intended.
Beloit mentions finding it in several places when traveling in the East. Burckhardt also fre quently mentions the shrub rethem in the deserts to the south of Palestine, and he thought it to be the same plant as the Gcnista ra'ta'm of Forskal.
He states that whole plains are sometimes cov ered with this shrub, and that such places are favorite places of pasturage, as sheep arc re markably fond of the pods. Lord Lindsay again, while traveling in the middle of the valleys of Mount Sinai, says. 'The rattan a species of broom, bearing a white flower, delicately streaked with purple, afforded me frequent shelter from the sun while in advance of the caravan.' Mr. Kato on this well observes, 'It is a remarkable, because undesigned, coincidence, that in travel ing to the very same Mount of Horeb, the prophet Elijah rested, as did Lord Lindsay, un der a rattans shrub.' There can be no reasonable doubt, therefore, that the Hebrew rothem de notes the same plant as the Arabic reteni, though it has been rendered juniper in the English, and several other translations as in 1 Kings xix :4; but he (Elijah or Elias) himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper (rothem) tree,' etc.; 'And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree,' etc.
In the other passages the meaning is not so clear, and therefore different interpretations have been given. Thus, Job (xxx :4) says of the half famished people who despised him, 'who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper (rothcm) roots for their food.' Though the broom root may perhaps be more suitable for diet than the juniper, yet they are both too bitter and medicinal to be considered or used as nutritious, and, there fore, some say, that 'when we read that rat cm roots were their food, we are to suppose a great deal more than the words express, namely, that their hunger was so violent, as not to refrain even from these roots,' which were neither refreshing nor nourishing. Ursinus supposes, that instead of the roots of this broom, we are to understand a plant which grows upon these roots, as well as upon some other plants, and which is well known by the English name of broom-rape, the oro banche of botanists. These are sometimes eaten. Thus Dioscorides (ii, 136) observes that the oro banche, which grows from the roots of broom, was sometimes eaten raw, or boiled like asparagus.
Celsius again suggests an amendment in the sen tence, and thinks that we should understand it to mean that the broom roots were required for fuel, and not for food, as the Hebrew words signifying fuel and food, though very similar to each other, arc very different in their derivation: zgitur suet votes Lachman, panis eorum, et Lach mam, ad calefaciendum se, scriptionc Beet et literis atquc punctis exact(' conveniant;' and this sense is confirmed by some of the Talmudical writers, as R. Levi Ben Gerson, who commenting on this passage says : 'ut signified, ad calcfacicn dum Sc; quia opus habcbant, quo caleficrent, quod vcrsarentur in locis frigidis, sine ullo perfugio.' The broom is the only fuel procurable in many of these desert situations, as mentioned by several travelers. Thus Thevenot, Tuis nous nous re Posdntes en tin lieu on it y avail nit pen de genets, car its tic 7101IS faisoicnt point reposer qu'en des lieux ow il y eut de quoi br,iler, (ant pour se chauffer, quc pour fairc cuire le cabve et lcur inafrouca.' In Ps. cxx :4, David observes that the calumnies of his enemies were 'like ar rows of the mighty, with coals of juniper' (rothent). The broom, being, no doubt, very commonly used as fuel in a country where it is abundant, and other plants scarce, might readily suggest itself in a comparison ; but it is also de scribed as sparkling, burning and crackling more vehemently than other wood. (See JUNIPER.) J. F. R.
ROW (ro), (Heb. tee-raw', usually a wall, Ezek. xlvi:23). "It was made with boiling places under the rows round about." Row here means a row or shelf of brickwork which had separate shelves under which hearths for cooking were placed, RUBY (rp'by), (Heb. r-";"'-%?, fien-ee-neem' kad-kode', striking fire, sparkling).
The word rendered 'ruby' in the Authorized Version (Job xxviii :IS; Prov. :15 ; viii :1 t ; xx :t5 ; xxxi :to ; Lam. iv :7) appears rather to indicate 'pearls.' The ruby is, however, gener ally supposed to be represented by kadhode, which occurs in Ezek. xxvii :6 and Is. liv :12, where the Authorized Version renders it 'agate.' An Arabic word of similar sound (kadskadsat) sig nifies 'vivid redness ;' and as the Hebrew word may be derived from a root of like signification, it is inferred that it denotes the Oriental ruby, which is distinguished for its vivid red color, and was regarded as the most valuable of precious stones next after the diamond.