the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Leek
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or הציר , in Numbers 11:5 , translated "leek;" in 1 Kings 18:5; 2 Kings 19:26; Job 40:15; Psalms 37:2; Psalms 90:5; Psalms 103:15; Psalms 104:14; Psalms 129:6; Psalms 147:8; Isaiah 35:7; Isaiah 37:27; Isaiah 40:6 , it is rendered "grass;" in Job 8:12 , "herb;" in Proverbs 27:25; Isaiah 15:6 , "hay;" and in Isaiah 34:13 , "a court." It is much of the same nature with the onion. The kind called karrat by the Arabians, the allium porrum of Linnaeus, Hasselquist says, must certainly have been one of those desired by the children of Israel, as it has been cultivated and esteemed from the earliest times to the present in Egypt. The inhabitants are very fond of eating it raw, as sauce for their roasted meat; and the poor people eat it raw with their bread, especially for breakfast. There is reason, however, to doubt whether this plant is intended in Numbers 11:5 , and so differently rendered every where else: it should rather intend such vegetables as grow promiscuously with grass. Ludolphus supposes that it may mean lettuce and sallads in general; and Maillet observes, that the succory and endive are eaten with great relish by the people in Egypt: some or all of these may be meant.
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Leek'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/l/leek.html. 1831-2.
