Reference: Leek
American
A bulbous vegetable resembling the onion. The Hebrews complained in the wilderness, that manna grew insipid to them; they longed for the leeks and onions of Egypt, Nu 11:5. Hassel-quist says the karrat, or leek, is surely one of those after which the Israelites pined; for is has been cultivated in Egypt from time immemorial. The Hebrew word is usually translated "grass" in the English Bible. Its original meaning is supposed to be greens or grass.
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"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,
Easton
(Heb hatsir; the Allium porrum), rendered "grass" in 1Ki 18:5; 2Ki 19:26; Job 40:15, etc.; "herb" in Job 8:12; "hay" in Pr 27:25, and Isa 15:6; "leeks" only in Nu 11:5. This Hebrew word seems to denote in this last passage simply herbs, such as lettuce or savoury herbs cooked as kitchen vegetables, and not necessarily what are now called leeks. The leek was a favourite vegetable in Egypt, and is still largely cultivated there and in Palestine.
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"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,
Then Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle."
"Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.
When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
For the waters of Nimrim are desolate Surely the grass is withered, the tender grass died out, There is no green thing.
Watsons
LEEK, ????, in Nu 11:5, translated "leek;" in 1Ki 18:5; 2Ki 19:26; Job 40:15; Ps 37:2; 90:5; 103:15; 104:14; 129:6; 147:8; Isa 35:7; 37:27; 40:6, it is rendered "grass;" in Job 8:12, "herb;" in Pr 27:25; Isa 15:6, "hay;" and in Isa 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 Nu 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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"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,
"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,
Then Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle."
"Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.
For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.
You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth,
Let them be like grass upon the housetops, Which withers before it grows up;
Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
For the waters of Nimrim are desolate Surely the grass is withered, the tender grass died out, There is no green thing.
Thorns will come up in its fortified towers, Nettles and thistles in its fortified cities; It will also be a haunt of jackals And an abode of ostriches.
The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
"Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.