Coriander

נר , Exo 16:31; Num 11:7; a strongly aromatic plant. It bears a small round seed, of a very agreeable smell and taste. The manna might be compared to the coriander seed in respect to its form or shape, as it was to bdellium in its colour. See MANNA.

Fig. 135—Coriandrum sativum

Coriander occurs in two places in Scripture, viz. Exo 16:31, ’And it (manna) was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made of honey;’ Num 11:7, ’And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium.’ The coriander is known throughout Arabia, Persia, and India, in all of which it is cultivated, being universally employed as a grateful spice, and as one of the ingredients of curie-powder. It is also common in Egypt. It is now very common in the south of Europe, and also in this country, being cultivated, especially in Essex, on account of its seeds, which are required by confectioners, druggists, and distillers, in large quantities: in gardens it is reared on account of its leaves, which are used in soups and salads. The coriander is an umbelliferous plant, the Coriandrum sativum of botanists. The fruit, commonly called seeds, is globular, grayish-colored, about the size of peppercorn, having its surface marked with fine stria. Both its taste and smell are agreeable, depending on the presence of a volatile oil, which is separated by distillation.

A small round seed of an aromatic plant. The plant is a native of China, and is widely diffused in Asia and the south of Europe. Its seeds are planted in March. They are employed as a spice in the East, and are much used by druggists, confectionarists, etc. The manna which fell in the wilderness was like coriander-seed, Exo 16:31 Num 11:7 . See MANNA.\par

Coriander. The plant called Coriandrum sativum is found in Egypt, Persia and India, and has a round tall stalk; it bears umbelliferous white or reddish flowers, from which arise globular, grayish, spicy seed-corns, marked with fine striae. It is mentioned twice in the Bible. Exo 16:31; Num 11:7.

To it in form and color the manna is compared (Exo 16:31; Num 11:7). The gad, Phoenician, goid. An umbelliferous plant, with white or red flowers producing globular, gray, spicy, striated, seedvessels. Used as a condiment with food in Egypt, and in making confectionery.

(גָּד, from the root גָּדִד to make an incision, referring to the furrows in the seed). The Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic, with the Sept. and Vulg., render this word coriander (Gesenius, Thesaur. Heb. p. 264), as does our version in Exo 16:13; Num 11:7, the only passages where it occurs, and in both which the appearance of manna is compared to that of its seeds as to form, and in the former passage as to color also. SEE MANNA. According to Dioscorides also (3, 64) the ancient Carthaginian name for coriander was goid (γοίδ), evidently kindred with the Hebrew gad. Celsius states (Hierob. 2:78 sq.) that the coriander is frequently mentioned in the Talmud (where it is called כִּסְבִּר, kasbars, or כּוּסְבָר, kusebar’). It was known to and used medicinally by Hippocrates: it is mentioned by Theophrastus, as well as Dioscorides, under the name of κόριον or κορίαννον; and the Arabs, in their works on Materia Medica, give korion as the Greek synonym of coriander, which they call kuzecreh, the Persians kishneez, and the natives of India (compare Pliny, 20:82) dhunya. It is known throughout all these countries, in all of which it is cultivated, being universally employed as a grateful spice, and as one of the ingredients of currie-powder (see Busching, Wochentl. Nachr. 1775, p. 42; Rauwolff, Reise, p. 94; Gmelin, Reise durch Russl. 3, 282). It is also found in Egypt (Prosp. Alpin. Res. AEg. 2:9, p. 156). It is now very common in the south of Europe, and also in England, being cultivated, especially in Essex, on account of its seeds, which are required by confectioners, druggists, and distillers in large quantities; in gardens it is reared on account of its leaves, which are used in soups and salads (see Pereira’s Materia Medica). The coriander is the Coriandrum sativum of botanists, an umbelliferous plant, with a round tall stalk. The flowers are small and pale pink, the leaves are much divided (especially the upper ones) and smooth. The fruit, commonly called seeds, is globular, grayish-colored, about the size of peppercorn, having its surface marked with fine strime. Both its taste and smell are agreeable, depending on the presence of a volatile oil, which is separated by distillation(see Penny Cyclopaedia, s.v.). SEE BOTANY.

A round aromatic seed, the Coriandrum sativum, to which the manna was compared, both as to form and colour. Exo 16:31; Num 11:7.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., John Dyneley Prince

An umbelliferous plant with white blossoms, which is peculiar to the Mediterranean district (Coriandrum sativum). It is widely cultivated in the East, and grows wild in Egypt and Palestine. It is especially abundant in the valley of the Jordan. Its fruits or seeds, which have a distinctly aromatic flavor, are used in the preparation of confectionery and also in ordinary cooking. They are employed medicinally to produce a stimulative effect and to relieve flatulence.

The only allusions to the plant in the Bible are in Ex. xvi. 31; Num. xi. 7, where the seeds are compared to Manna.

The Hebrew name "gad" was thought by Lagarde to be of Indo-European origin ("Gesammelte Abhandlungen," p. 57). It is probably not connected with any Semitic root (compare Löw, "Aramäische Pflanzennamen," No. 155). By some scholars it is identified with "goid," which the Scholiast in Dioscorides, iii. 64 states is the Punic equivalent of κόριον ("coriandrum"). This Greek name is probably derived from κόρις ("bug"), owing to the unpleasant odor emitted by the plant when handled, which is highly suggestive of the effluvium of the bedbug. The Aramaic name "kusbara" appears in modern Greek in the form "kusbaras," which has supplanted the older name.

Bibliography:

H. B. Tristram, Natural History of the Bible, p. 439.

kor-i-an´dẽr (גּד, gadh; κόριον, kórion): The fruit of the Coriandrum Sativum (Natural Order Umbelliferae), a plant indigenous around the Mediterranean and extensively cultivated. The fruits are aromatic and stomatic-carminative. They are of a grayish-yellow color, ribbed, ovate-globular and in size about twice that of a hemp-seed. “The manna was like coriander seed” (Num 11:7; see also Exo 16:31.

Coriander. An annual herb, growing from one-half to one meter (two to three feet) tall, which produced grayish seeds used to flavor foods, for confections, and in medicine. The dried leaves of coriander were also used to flavor foods.