Mint
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Matt. 23:23)—a garden herb of various kinds. The Law of Moses prescribed that the Jews pay tithes to the temple from the produce of the field (Deut. 14:22). The Pharisees carefully paid tithes even from mint, although this was not directly prescribed in the Law, and this plant, like many other herbs, was of no particular importance. The Pharisees only wished, by this, to demonstrate that they strictly observed even the small matters of the Law of Moses, although at the same time they left undone the weightier duties.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” the Savior rebuked them for this, “for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matt. 23:23).