| Easton's Bible Dictionary (Hebrews plur. kishshuim; i.e., "hard, " "difficult" of digestion, only in Numbers 11:5). This vegetable is extensively cultivated in the East at the present day, as it appears to have been in earlier times among the Hebrews. It belongs to the gourd family of plants. In the East its cooling pulp and juice are most refreshing. "We need not altogether wonder that the Israelites, wearily marching through the arid solitudes of the Sinaitic peninsula, thought more of the cucumbers and watermelons of which they had had no lack in Egypt, rather than of the cruel bondage which was the price of these luxuries." Groser's Scripture Natural History. Isaiah speaks of a "lodge" (1:8; Hebrews sukkah), i.e., a shed or edifice more solid than a booth, for the protection throughout the season from spring to autumn of the watchers in a "garden of cucumbers." |  | Multi-Version Concordance Cucumbers (3 Occurrences) Numbers 11:5 We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Isaiah 1:8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. (KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT) Jeremiah 10:5 They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. (See JPS) |