Carob in Scripture and Religious Traditions
Carob was so prevalent in the daily life of the Eastern Mediterranean that it found its way into religious texts and traditions. In the parable of the Prodigal Son in the New Testament, the pods eaten by pigs are often interpreted as carob; the name "St. John's bread" in English comes from a tradition of interpretation dating back to John the Baptist.
In Jewish tradition, carob has become a symbol of tree planting for future generations with the story of Honi in the Talmud and has become one of the indispensable fruits of the Tu BiShvat holiday. In this article, we discuss these narratives together with the texts on which they are based.
Why Carob in Religious Texts?
The inclusion of a plant in religious texts often shows how familiar that plant is in the daily life of the society in which the texts were written. Carob was also a food used in both human and animal nutrition in the Eastern Mediterranean, which could be stored for a long time when dried and saved lives during famine periods.
According to a review published in the Turkish Journal of Botany, Jewish texts from the Mishnah period, spanning from the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE, document the use and cultivation of carob. In the same compilation, it is stated that carob pods were eaten by humans during times of scarcity and used as animal feed during periods of abundance. This dual-fold identity—both "animal food" and "bread in difficult times," has also shaped its symbolic meaning in religious narratives.
Carob in the New Testament: The Parable of the Prodigal Son
The most well-known place of carob in the Christian tradition is in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Prodigal Son) in the Gospel of Luke. In the parable, the young man, who spends his inheritance and becomes poor, starts to work as a pig herder on a farm and wants to feed himself with the pods that the pigs eat, as described in Luke 15:16, but no one gives him anything.
According to text and dictionary records on the Bible Hub, the Greek word translated "pods" in this verse comes from the root word "keration" and is defined as "carob pods" in Strong's dictionary (2769). Some English translations render the word generically as "pods" (pods) or "husks" (shells), while translations such as NASB and NET directly use the phrase "carob pods", i.e. locust bean pods. The Ellicott and Pulpit commentaries on the Bible Hub also describe these pods as the long, bean-like pods of the carob tree; According to the Pulpit interpretation, these pods were used to feed pigs in Syria and Egypt.
The meaning of carob in the parable is clear: a humble food given to animals, to which man turns only when he is desperate. The subject encyclopedia on the Bible Hub also states that carob pods are mainly animal feed, especially pig feed, and are associated with poverty and desperation, showing how low the young person's desire for them has been. It is also interesting that the word "keration" here is the same as the word from which the carat measure originates.
"St. John's Bread": John the Baptist and Carob
In English, the names "St. John's bread" and "locust bean" are sometimes used for carob. According to a study by the University of Southern California, these names come from the biblical narrative of John the Baptist feeding on "locusts and wild honey" in the desert. According to this tradition of interpretation, the "locusts" that John ate were actually locust bean pods. An article in Tablet Magazine also states that carob is associated with Matthew 3:4 and that it is from this connection that he received the nickname "St. John's bread".
An important distinction should be emphasized here: this is not the precise meaning of the text, but a tradition of interpretation. In the University of Southern California study, this view is presented as an interpretation that the authors consider "probable"; whether the word "grasshopper" in the verse is really an insect or a carob is open to debate. Nevertheless, this interpretation has given carob a lasting name among the people and has even left its mark on the English term "locust bean gum".
Carob in the Talmud: Honi and the Fruit-Bearing Tree After Seventy Years
In Jewish tradition, carob does not appear in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible); however, it appears many times in the Talmud. The article in Tablet Magazine also draws attention to this distinction. The most well-known of these narratives is the story of Honi HaMe'agel (Honi Who Circles) in the Taanit treatise (23a) of the Babylonian Talmud.
The story, as summarized in an article published in Aish.com, is as follows: One day, Honi sees a man planting a carob tree and asks how long it will take for the tree to bear fruit. The man says it will take seventy years. Honi then falls asleep for seventy years; when he wakes up, he sees the grandson of the man who planted the tree picking fruit from that tree. According to the report in Tablet Magazine, the man who planted the tree says that he eats from the trees planted by his ancestors and that he planted trees for his children.
The story is still often told today in lectures on environmental awareness, intergenerational responsibility, and patience. The story is reinterpreted in different ways, as in the version retold for children by Temple Emanu-El in New York. In a Tu BiShvat article in the Detroit Jewish News in 1990, the Honi story is used to describe trees as a symbol of eternity and a legacy left to future generations.
It should be noted here: The expression "seventy years" is a number belonging to the narration of the story and should not be read as scientific data describing the actual fruiting time of the carob tree.
Other Carob Narratives in the Talmud
The article in Aish.com also includes other narratives in the Talmud in which carob is mentioned:
| Shimon bar Johay (Shabbat 33b) | Rabbi Shimon bar Yohay and his son hid in a cave for thirteen years; during this time, he lived on a carob tree and a water source. |
| Hanina ben Dosa (Berahot 17b) | It is said that Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, known for her poverty, spent a week with carob measuring a "cup". |
| Rabbi Eliezer (Bava Metzia 59b) | It is said that in an argument, he showed a carob tree as a witness to prove that he was right and that the tree was moved. |
The article in Tablet Magazine also conveys the cave story of Shimon bar Yohay and the Hanina ben Dosa narrative. In these narratives, the carob is often a symbol of simplicity, contentment, and survival in difficult conditions.
Tu BiShvat: Carob in the New Year of Trees
Tu BiShvat is a day in the Jewish calendar celebrated on the 15th of Shevat, known as the "new year of the trees." It is a tradition to eat fruit on this day, and carob is one of the most well-known fruits on these tables.
According to the article in Aish.com, carob is eaten on Tu BiShvat, although it is not among the "seven species" identified with the land of Israel. The author explains the reason for this with a practical explanation: carob is a native fruit of the region, it stores well when dried, and therefore it can be obtained in the middle of winter, at the time of Tu BiShvat, when many fruits are not available.
According to the article in Tablet Magazine, carob is referred to as "boxer" in Yiddish, and Jews traditionally eat carob on Tu BiShvat and Lag BaOmer. The carob tradition on Lag BaOmer is based on the commemoration of Shimon bar Yohay's living with carob in the cave. The same article also states that the carob tree is seen as a symbol of perseverance, fertility and lifelong labor in Jewish tradition due to its durability.
Carob in the Islamic World and on Ramadan Tables
Carob, known as "harrûb" in Arabic, also has a deep-rooted place in the Islamic world. According to the compilation in the Turkish Journal of Botany, carob cultivation reached its peak after the Arab conquests, especially in the Levant region; Arabic agricultural books and Andalusian agricultural writers recorded carob varieties and propagation methods in detail.
The most prominent tradition associated with the religious calendar is seen during Ramadan. In the article in Tablet Magazine, carob drink drunk during Ramadan is mentioned among the carob traditions in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. This drink is a familiar part of iftar tables in many Middle Eastern countries.
The same inscription also mentions a carob cookie tradition in Malta that is unique to Good Friday. This shows that carob is not only a part of a religion, but also a part of the common culinary and festive culture of the different faith communities of the Mediterranean.
Common Themes: Patience, Conviction and Future Generations
When looking at carob narratives across different religious traditions, several common themes stand out:
| Theme | Example narrative |
|---|---|
| Modesty and decline | How the Prodigal Son emulates the pods that the pigs eat (Luke 15:16) |
| Conviction and simplicity | Hanina ben Dosa spending the week with carob |
| Survival in difficult conditions | Shimon bar Yohay living with carob in the cave |
| Working for future generations | Honi and the tree that bears fruit after seventy years |
| Holidays and sharing | Tu BiShvat tables, Ramadan drinks |
What these themes have in common is that carob is not ostentatious but rather a durable and reliable food. It is not surprising that a tree that is long-lived, drought-resistant and can be stored intact when its fruit is dry is a symbol of the ideas of patience and continuity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the pods in the parable of the Prodigal Son really carob?
The Greek word in the verse is defined as carob pods in Strong's dictionary, and many translations and interpretations accept these pods as carob.
Why is carob called "St. John's bread"?
The name comes from a tradition of interpretation that suggests that the "locusts" that John the Baptist ate in the desert were actually locust bean pods. This interpretation is controversial.
Why eat carob on Tu BiShvat?
Carob is the native fruit of the region and has been an easily available fruit during this holiday in the middle of winter, as it stores well when dried.
Is carob mentioned in the Tanakh?
According to sources, carob does not appear in the Hebrew Bible; however, it appears in several narratives in the Talmud.
An Ancient Fruit with Carob Türkiye
Carob, which has been on the tables of different faith communities for thousands of years, is still used in traditional and modern products today. As Carob Türkiye, we supply carob fruit, cracks, flour/powder, seeds and extracts.
For dried carob Carob Fruit For the general properties of carob, our page What is Carob? You can review our article. For your wholesale and export requests Contact Now You can contact us on our page.
Domestic resources
Mahdad, Y. M., Gaouar, S. B. S., "Origin, distribution and domestication of the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.)", Turkish Journal of Botany (TÜBİTAK), 47(2), 89–96, 2023. doi.
org/ 10. 55730/ 1300- 008X. 2748 Foreign sources
Bible Hub, "Luke 15:16" (text, Strong's 2769 and commentaries). biblehub.
com/ Luke/ 15- 16. htm Bible Hub, "Topical Bible: Pods". mail.
biblehub. com/ topical/ p/ pods. htm Rosenfeld, D., "Carobs on Tu B'Shvat", Aish.com, 2015. aish.
com/ ?p=90377 Gavin, P., "The Beauty of Boxer", Tablet Magazine, February 7, 2025. tabletmag.
com/ sections/ food/ articles/ beauty- boxer- carob Kaiserman, S., "The Story of Honi and the Carob Tree" (based on Taanit 23a), Temple Emanu-El, New York. emanuelnyc.
org/ 2021/ 01/ 25/ the- story- of- honi- and- the- Carob... "Tu B'Shevat: A Variety of Interpretations", The Detroit Jewish News, February 2, 1990 (Bentley Historical Library digital archive). digital.
Bentley. umich. edu/ djnews/ DJN. 1990. 02. 02. 001/ 72 Fuson, C., Yee, S., "Carob: From Pod to Pantry", Plants & People: The Intersection of Botany and Human Experience, University of Southern California (Scalar), 2022. scalar.
Scientific ResourcesUSC. edu/ works/ plants- and- people/ carob- from- pod- to- …
