Melons (Abattichim)

Narrator: Chris Genthree

Duration: 1min

Numbers 11:5

The similar Arabic word batekh is a generic name for melons, &c., and would include different species. The common melon in the East is the cucumis melo, and the water melon the cucurbita citrullus. The melon was one of the fruits the Israelites had eaten in Egypt, and for which they longed in the wilderness (Num. 11:5⁵We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: (Numbers 11:5)). Kitto long remembered the gratitude with which he received a slice of melon when traveling in a hot and dry plain in the East.