All translators agree that dill and not anise was the “anethon” named
with mint and cummin in the passage, Matthew, xxiii, 23. Anise was
never grown in Palestine. The other herbs were common in gardens,
and the allusion to paying tithe on them, and to rue in a similar
connection in Luke, xi, 42, appears to refer to the scrupulous
observance of the letter of the law by the Pharisees, even down to
such an insignificant matter as the tithe on these almost valueless
herbs. The law did not, in fact, require tithe to be paid except on
productions which yielded income. It was therefore rather to satisfy
their own self-righteousness that the Pharisees insisted on paying the
contribution on mint and anise and cummin.