Bible Dictionaries
Gourd

Holman Bible Dictionary

A hard-rinded, inedible fruit of the genera Lagenaria or Cucurbita . Gourd motifs were used in the ornamentation of the interior of the Temple (1 Kings 6:18 , KJV knobs) and of the rim of the bronze sea (1 Kings 7:24 ). The gourd of Jonah 4:6-10 cannot be identified precisely. The KJV followed the earliest Greek translation with its rendering gourd. The Vulgate or early Latin translation understood the plant as ivy. Many modern translations simply refer to a plant (NAS, RSV, TEV) or bush (NRSV). The NIV renders the term “vine”; REB, “climbing gourd.” Many interpreters think a castor oil plant ( Ricinus Communis ) is meant.