Bible Dictionary
Leeks
Leeks were a green bulbous vegetable associated with the food of Egypt. The Israelites remembered them, along with onions and garlic, when they complained in the wilderness.
Definition
Leeks are bulbous green vegetables identified with Allium porrum. The Hebrew term may also have the wider sense of green food or “greens,” including such vegetables as lettuce or endive.
Biblical Usage
In Numbers 11:5 the Israelites longed for the leeks, onions, and garlic they had eaten in Egypt. The association with onions and garlic led the ancient versions to understand the term as leeks.
Historical Background
Leeks were renowned in ancient Egypt and are still much cultivated in Palestine. They produce small, beanlike or bulbous food portions and were commonly valued as a vegetable.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(Heb. chatsir). The leek was a bulbous vegetable resembling the onion. Its botanical name is Allium porrum. The Israelites in the wilderness longed for the leeks and onions of Egypt. (Numbers 11:5) The word chatsir, which in (Numbers 11:5) is translated leeks, occurs twenty times in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew term, which properly denotes grass, is derived from a root signifying “to be green,” and may therefore stand in this passage for any green food—lettuce, endive, etc.; it would thus be applied somewhat in the same manner as we use the term “greens;” yet as the chatsir is mentioned together with onions and garlic in the text, and as the most ancient versions unanimously understand leeks by the Hebrew word, we may be satisfied with our own translation.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>leks (chatsir; ta prasa): This word, elsewhere translated "grass," is in Nu 11:5 rendered "leeks" in all the ancient VSS, on account of its association with garlic and onions; such a use of the word occurs in the Talmud The leek (Allium porrum) is much grown today in Palestine, while in ancient Egypt this vegetable was renowned.</p>