Bible Dictionary · L
Leek
(Heb. hatsir; the Allium porrum), rendered “grass” in 1 Kgs 18:5, 2 Kgs 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 Palestine.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
