Click here to view a dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Click here to view endive (Cichorium endivia)
Click here to view lettuce (Lactuca sativa)
"Bitter herbs" included many different plants. These plants were available locally and grew wild. They are mostly associated with the Passover meal. This is a seven-day feast that includes a dinner of lamb served with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Walker identifies some likely bitter herbs as chichory-Cichorium endivia and C. intybus, lettuce- Lactuca sativa, watercress-Nasturtium officinale, sorrel-Rumex acetosella var. multifidus and mint. The dandelion was probably one of the herbs. Native to southern Europe and many parts of the world, the dandelion gets its name from the French dent de lion because the pointed leaves resemble a lion's tooth. Smith names also bitter cresses, hawkweeds, sow-thistles and wild lettuces, noting their availability in the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt. Nelson names coriander, wild endive, and nettles. Exodus 12 tells us the purpose of the observance of Passover was to recall the bitter bondage under Egypt. Today horseradish is used with this meal.
Numbers 9:9 (KJV) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Numbers 9:10 (KJV) Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
Numbers 9:11 (KJV) The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Numbers 9:12 (KJV) They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
Email comments to plants-of-old@juno.com
