Plants of the Bible

Florence Thinard was born in Royan, on France’s Atlantic coast. She traded her seaside town for Paris, where she immersed herself in study and earned degrees in history, political science, and international relations.After several years of discovering the world through books, Florence decided to see it for herself. She joined groups of other vacationers and explorers, traveling the world from the United States to Turkey and from Egypt to Thailand. Upon returning to France, she became a journalist, specializing in children’s press and current event analysis. For ten years, documentary writing has satisfied her intense curiosity about history and how the world works. To balance this rigorous work, she enjoys writing children’s novels and tending to her garden in Toulouse.At the end of a fulfilling career as a science and mathematics teacher, Marie-José Thinard embarked on a mission to read the Bible in its original form. Already competent in Latin, she began to study Hebrew, followed by Syriac and Greek. She complements her study of ancient languages and reflection on biblical texts with gardening, practicing Japanese calligraphy, and learning the Japanese language.

• Calamitous WORMWOOD ACACIA, Companion of the Exodus ALOES, Fragrance of the Afterlife When the ALMOND TREE Awakens TREES, Living Allegories BASALM, From Body to Soul WHEAT, Seed of Life A Strange BURNING BUSH CINNAMON, Fragrance of Mystery Bittersweet CAROB Majestic CEDAR Accursed THISTLE! OAK, Tree of Distinction WILD GOURD, the Death Knell Nostalgic CUCUMBER Delicate CUMIN CYPRESS, From Life into Death Divine FRANKINCENSE Punishing THORNS FIG, the First Tree Blessed POMEGRANATE GRASSES of Brief Beauty Bitter HERBS, Memories of Egypt Enigmatic HYSSOP Troublemaking TARES CASTOR of Anger For a Plate of LENTILS FLAX, Luxury and Spirituality LILY of Fields and Valleys Sulfurous MANDRAKE MANNA, Faithful Bread Small but Mighty MUSTARD Seed MYRRH, the Saintly Scent Renewing MYRTLE NARCISSUS, Flower of Beauty OLIVE, Tree of Light Humble BARLEY DATE PALM, Straight as an Arrow PAPYRUS, Son of the Nile Capable PLANE TREE APPLE, Fruit of Translation REEDS, Shaken in the Wind WILLOW, Tree of the Waters Scars of the SYCAMORE FIG Fateful TEREBINTH Eternally Cherished VINE