leek Summary and Overview

(Heb. hatsir; the Allium porrum), rendered "grass" in 1 Kings 18:5, 2 Kings 19:26, Job 40:15, etc.; "herb" in Job 8:12; "hay" in Prov. 27:25, and Isa. 15:6; "leeks" only in Num. 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 Israel.

LEEK , a bulbous vegetable like the onion, a particular species of which has been cultivated in Egypt from a very early period. Num 11:5. It is eaten raw with bread. In the passage cited it is supposed that lettuce, salads, or savory herbs generally may be intended, as the original word in the O.T. is twelve times rendered '"grass" and once "herb."