Gourd
“Uncertain; possibly related to Egyptian kiki (castor)”
Summary
A fast-growing plant that provided shade for Jonah outside Nineveh, and a wild gourd that nearly poisoned Elisha's company.
☩Jonah's Gourd
God prepared a gourd—the Hebrew 'qiqayon'—to grow up over Jonah and shelter him from the sun as he watched to see what would become of Nineveh. The plant grew miraculously in a single night and withered just as quickly when God sent a worm to destroy it. Its rapid rise and fall illustrated the fleeting nature of earthly comforts and rebuked Jonah's misplaced priorities.
☩Identification
Scholars debate whether Jonah's gourd was the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis), which grows quickly and has large, palmate leaves, or the bottle gourd (Cucurbita lagenaria), commonly trained over arbors in the East. Local tradition at Mosul (ancient Nineveh) favors the bottle gourd, called 'kera' in Arabic, which is still used to cover temporary sun-shelters. Both plants grow rapidly and wither quickly when damaged.
☩The Wild Gourd
During a famine at Gilgal, one of the sons of the prophets gathered wild gourds ('pakkuoth') from a field vine, thinking them good for food. When shredded into the pot, they proved poisonous. The company cried out, 'There is death in the pot!' Elisha cast in meal and miraculously neutralized the poison. This wild gourd was probably the colocynth, whose fruit resembles a small orange but is extremely bitter and purgative.
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Gourd," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Gourd," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.George Morrish, "Gourd," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Gourd," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).