 The
etrog, esrog, citron (κίτρον, κίτριον); Citrus fruit of a tree
of the orange and lemon family. It is oblong in shape, and sometimes
as much as six inches in length. The skin is thick, somewhat hard,
fragrant, and covered with protuberances; the pulp is white and
subacid. Modern naturalists assume the north of India to be its
native home; but it passed to the countries of the Mediterranean
from Media or Persia ; hence the name of the tree, "Citrus medica,"
and of the fruit, "Malum medica," or "Malum Persica".
It is therefore possible that the Jews brought the tree with them
from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael on their return from the Babylonian
Captivity. |
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