Herbs
Summary
Plants used for food, medicine, and religious purposes, including the bitter herbs of the Passover meal.
☩Passover Herbs
The Passover required eating the lamb 'with bitter herbs' (Exodus 12:8; Numbers 9:11), traditionally identified as lettuce, endive, chicory, and similar plants. These symbolized the bitterness of Egyptian bondage.
☩Other Uses
Genesis 1:29-30 grants herbs for food. The manna tasted 'like coriander seed' (Exodus 16:31). Jesus rebuked Pharisees for tithing 'mint, dill and cumin' while neglecting justice and mercy (Matthew 23:23). Proverbs 15:17 compares 'a dinner of herbs where love is' favorably with 'a fattened calf with hatred.'