A vegetable very plentiful in the East, especially in Egypt, Nu 11:5, where they are esteemed delicacies, and form a great part of the food of the lower class of people, especially during the hot months. The Egyptian cucumber is similar in form to ours, but larger, being usually a foot in length. It is described by Hasselquist as greener, smoother, softer, sweeter, and more digestible than our cucumber.

A product abounding in Egypt, a variety of which, the Cucurtis chafe, is "the queen of cucumbers" (Hasselquist). A variety of the melon; hence the Israelites pined for this Egyptian dainty in the wilderness (Nu 11:5). Qishu, from qaasha' "to be hard," it being an indigestible food. Tristram observed quantities of the common cucumber in Palestine. Isa 1:8; "a lodge (a lonely box for watching in against depredations) in a garden of cucumbers," so solitary was Zion to be, as such a lodge when deserted and wrecked by the winds, the poles fallen or leaning every way, and the green boughs which had shaded it scattered.

qishshuim. Probably the water melon, common in Egypt and highly valued in that hot country: the Israelites longed for them. Nu 11:5; Isa 1:8.

CUCUMBER, ?????, ??????, cucumis, Nu 11:5, the fruit of a plant very common in our gardens. Tournefort mentions six kinds, of which the white and green are most esteemed. They are very plentiful in the east, especially in Egypt, and much superior to ours. Maillet, in describing the vegetables which the modern Egyptians have for food, tells us, that melons, cucumbers, and onions are the most common; and Celsius and Alpinus describe the Egyptian cucumbers as more agreeable to the taste and of more easy digestion than the European.