When describing Tarsus, the home city of the Apostle Paul, I adjust my voice to a reverent tone and speak of it as a center of first-century scholarship. Case in point: Pedanus Dioscorides. The life of this famous physician (and Tarsus resident) overlapped that of Paul. Between AD 50 and 70 Pedanus wrote a five-volume work on medicine that set the standard for 1,500 years of herbal remedies.
Among the plants he describes is the Nerium oleander (oleander may be drawn from the Greek, "man-killer"!). Pedanus says eating it or drinking its broth will "kill most four-footed creatures." However, it may be diluted with wine as an antidote against "the bites of venomous creatures."
I'd get a second opinion from Dr. Luke.
I captured this shot of Nerium oleander in the Wadi ath-Thamad in central Jordan. And by the way, I didn't see any snakes.
