flag Summary and Overview

(Heb., or rather Egyptian, ahu, Job 8:11), rendered "meadow" in Gen. 41:2, 18; probably the Cyperus esculentus, a species of rush eaten by cattle, the Nile reed. It also grows in Israel. In Ex. 2:3, 5, Isa. 19:6, it is the rendering of the Hebrew "suph", a word which occurs frequently in connection with "yam"; as "yam suph", to denote the "Red Sea" (q.v.) or the sea of weeds (as this word is rendered, Jonah 2:5). It denotes some kind of sedge or reed which grows in marshy places. (See PAPER T0002840, REED T0003087.)

There are two Hebrew words rendered "flag" in our Bible: 1. A word of Egyptian origin, and denoting "any green and course herbage, such as rushes and reeds, which grows in marshy places." #Ge 41:2,18| (here translated meadow). It is perhaps the Cyperus esculentus. 2. A word which appears to be used in a very wide sense to denote "weeds of any kind." #Ex 2:3,5; Isa 19:6|

FLAG . Probably used, as by us, somewhat indefinitely. Ex 2:3. If any special plant was intended, it may have been the edible rush or the flowering rush, both of which abound in Egypt, and the latter in Palestine.

KJV term for a water plant generally translated as reed (Exodus 2:3,Exodus 2:5; Job 8:11) or rush (Isaiah 19:6) by modern translations. See Plants in the Bible.