Bible Dictionaries
Mallow

Holman Bible Dictionary

In Scripture mallow refers to two plants: 1. Atriplex halimus L ., the shrubby orache, is a salt marsh plant and unpleasant food (Job 30:4; “plant of the salt marshes,” NAS margin). The saltwort (REB) is another possibility for this plant associated with the marshy areas around the Dead Sea. 2. The true mallow (genus Malva ) is a flowering plant prominent around Jerusalem. Its fading flowers provide an image for the unrighteous according to one interpretation of Job 24:24 (NRSV, REB). Here mallow is supplied from the earliest Greek translation. Other translations follow the Hebrew text in reading “all.”