Editing Pomegranate (section)

====Hebrew Bible====
Some Jewish scholars believe the pomegranate was the [[forbidden fruit]] in the [[Garden of Eden]].<ref name=PomRel>[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/179/story_17974_2.html "A Pomegranate for All Religions"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521201241/http://www.beliefnet.com/story/179/story_17974_2.html |date=21 May 2008 }} by Nancy Haught, ''Religious News Service''</ref>

Pomegranates were known in [[Land of Israel|Ancient Israel]] as the fruits that the [[The Twelve Spies|scouts]] brought to [[Moses]] to demonstrate the fertility of the "[[Promised Land]]".<ref>''Why Hebrew Goes from Right to Left: 201 Things You Never Knew about Judaism'', Ronald H. Isaacs (Newark, 2008), page 129</ref> The [[Book of Exodus]]<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Exodus|28:33–34|}}</ref> describes the ''[[me'il]]'' ("robe of the [[ephod]]") worn by the [[Kohen Gadol|Hebrew high priest]] as having pomegranates embroidered on the hem, alternating with golden bells, which could be heard as the high priest entered and left the [[Holy of Holies]]. According to the [[Books of Kings]],<ref>{{bibleverse-nb|1|Kings|7:13–22|}}</ref> the capitals of the two pillars ([[Jachin and Boaz]]) that stood in front of [[Solomon's Temple]] in [[Jerusalem]] were engraved with pomegranates. Solomon is said to have designed his coronet based on the pomegranate's "crown" ([[Sepal|calyx]]).<ref name=PT />

Pomegranates are one of the [[Seven Species]] (Hebrew: שבעת המינים, ''Shiv'at Ha-Minim'') of fruits and grains enumerated in the [[Hebrew Bible]] ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|8:8|HE}}) as special products of the [[Land of Israel]], and the Songs of Solomon mentions pomegranate six times<ref name="Seeram-2006" /> and contains this particular quote: "Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks." ({{Bibleverse|Song of Solomon| 4:3}}).