Leeks (Tsn hazir, LXX jrpdffa). The Heb. name u.sed in Nu 11° literally means 'green herb,' and is rendered grass, hay, or green herb in 15 other passages ; but as these are not human food, the translators have here followed the LXX, leeks being supposed to resemble grass in habit and colour. Leeks are eaten raw with bread, or sliced and put into vinegar, or boiled in pottage (Arte- midorus, i. 67). Nero is said to have on stated dajy^s fed only on leeks and oil to improve his voice (Pliny, xix. 6). The Egyptian leek was particu- larly esteemed by the Romans. It was known as aga (Copt, egi), while the Assyrians called it ezallu usuraiti. Ludolf translates /wci'r ' lettuce,' and Scheuchzer says that it probably means tlie Nclumbium lotii^ ; but the balance ot evidence is in favour of the common leek (Allitan purrum).
Garlic {c-ef shAm, LXX uKopSov). The cloves or bulbs of Allium sativum were so commonly used as flavouring that the Jews were reproaclicd for their liking for these strongly-scented herbs. In Shabbat Jehuda tl»>y are said to smell foully of
garlic ; and Salomon Levi defends their taste lE Theriac. Jud. i. § 20. In Egypt this plant was, and is still, much used (Herod, ii. 125 ; Wilkinson, i. 169 ; Lane, i. 257). Garlic was supposed to have the power of neutralizing the poison of the asp, and its use by penitent criminals was believed to purify them and absolve them of guilt. In Maaser sheni, v. § 8, garlic is called the ' Lord of tears.' At the present day it is much prized in the East as a remedy for many ailments and as an antidote for many poisons ; Pliny enumerates 61 ways in which it was recommended medicinally, and "Prudentius speaks of an altar to the garlic as being erected at Pelusium. The Egyptians called it sesen (Copt, jgsere).
Bitter Herbs (ditd mSrorim, LXX riKplScs, Vulg. lactuc(E agrestes) are mentioned in Ex 12*, Nu 9", and referred to in La3'''(EV 'bitterness'). Bitter salads are often eaten with meat in Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere, the commonest plant used for this purpose being the lettuce (Lactuca sativn), the dfa of tlie Egyptians, called by the Hebrews hazereth (probably the Assyrian haserottu). According to the rabbinical writers {Fesachim, ii. § 6), there were five bitter herbs which might be eaten with the paschal lamb : the endive [Lactuca endivia) was the second of these, called by them ulshin (probably the Assyr. harussu) ; it also is common in Egypt. The third is called thamkah, describeil by Maimon- ides as a garden endive, the cichorium of Pliny (xix. 6), but said in Aruch to be a carduus, in the Geiiiara to be a gingidium, probably the Artcdia squamata ol botanists, a bitter aromatic umbellifer- ous plant. In Zematt David it is said to be a kind of helminthia which grows near date palms. The fourth, luirkabinti, was probably vmrrubium, or the horehound, but according to Lightfoot the beet ; and the fifth, maror, is called in Aruch a pot-herb, possibly Inula Helenium or Elecampane, which was a plant highly esteemed as a stomachic in the Regimen sanitatis of Salernum. Maimonides says it was a bitter coriander, which, according to Varro, was often pounded, mixed ^vith ^'inegar, and sprinkled over meat ; but Lightfoot thinks that maror is horehound (Ministerium Templi, XIII. v. 2).
It is probable that the words of the ordinance of the passover were not meant to specify any particular bitter herb. According to Fesachim, li. § 6, the herbs might be eaten fresh or dried, but must not be soaked, stewed, or boiled. Delitzsch gives marru and muraru as the names of bitter garden plants {Assyr. Handworterbuch, 427).
For Mandrakes see Mkdicixe.
(«) The fruits mentioned in the Bible are not very numerous.
Almonds (IBS' shAkcd, LXX Kapvov) are mentioned in Gn 43" as part of the present sent by Jacob to the Egyptian viceroy. They are saiil not to be common in Egypt, and the Egyptian name of the fruit is doubttul. Brugsch believes it to be the tree called net' ; but the Coptic uses the Greek name, which means any nut. According to Heracleon, Epicharmos, and Philyllius, ndpvov is specially used for the almond, the bitter almond being distinguished in Greek as xdpva iriKpd or a/ivydaXa (see Athenanis, Dcipnos, ii. 38). The almond was supposed to prevent the intoxicating ell'cct of wine, and wasconserjuently takun at wine banquets (Pliny, xxiii. 8 ; Plutarch, Quiist. Conviy. vi. 4). This tree grows wild on Carmel and in Moab, and is cultivated extensively in Palestine. The llcb. name means ' hastener ' in reference to its early blossoming, hence the paronomasia in Jer 1". The blossoms, wliich look white at a distance, arc compared to grey l.air in Kc 12", ana their shajie was the pattern from wliich the clips of the seven-branched candlestick were miuie (Ex 25^"). Aaron's rod was probably an almond branch
(Nu 17') ; but there was an old tradition that it was of storax wood, and tliat its bearing almonds was miraculous (see the verses falsely attributed to Tertullian, contra Marcion. iv. 117). In Gn 3')" the almond tree is named ii'? liiz, the word from which the old name of IJetliel was derived. Robin- son notes a sweetmeat made of a mixture of almonds and dates as a pre.sent given to distin- guished guests (i. 115). Tlie ancient Medes mixed almonds with tlieir bread.