Gourd, Wild
Gourd, Wild
wld ( , pakkuoth sadheh, 2Ki 4:39): The root , paka, means to split or burst open, and on this ground these wild gourds have been identified with the fruit of the squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium). This little gourd, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, when fully ripe falls suddenly when touched or shaken, the bitter, irritating juice is squirted to a considerable distance, and the seeds are thrown all around. It is exceedingly common in Palestine, and its familiar poisonous properties, as a drastic cathartic, made it unlikely that under any circumstances its fruit could be mistaken for any edible gourd; it is, too, in no way vinelike (wild vine, 2Ki 4:39) in appearance; the stem is stiff and upright, and there are no tendrils. The traditional plant, Cucumis prophetarium, which grows in the desert, and has very small gourds, has nothing really to recommend it. By far the most probable plant is the Colocynth (Citrullus colocynthis), belonging like the last two, to Natural Order, Cucurbitaceae. This view has the support of the Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 ad) It is a vinelike plant which spreads over the ground or attaches itself by its spiral tendrils to other plants. The rounded gourds are 3 inches or more in diameter, and contain a pulp intensely bitter and, in any but minute quantities, extremely poisonous.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Gourd, Wild
paqquoth. In a time of dearth a lap-full of gourds from a wild vine was gathered to provide a meal for Elisha and the sons of the prophets. 2Ki 4:39. Some suppose this to have been the wild cucumber, the leaves of which resemble those of the vine, but have a bitter poisonous taste. Others think the poisonous Colocynth, the Colocynthis agri, to be referred to. The ancient versions support this. A kindred word is translated ‘knops’ in 1Ki 6:18 (‘gourds,’ margin ), as ornaments in the temple, for which the fruit of the Colocynth would be a graceful model.