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Specific Bible Studies - Bible Foods - Watermelon, Melon
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SUBJECT: Bible Foods - Watermelon, Melon
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
Melon. A type of gourd which bears sweet fruit. Both cantaloupes and watermelons may have grown along the banks of the Nile River in Egypt. Melons were used as food and medicine. An intoxicating drink was made from their juice.
The Hebrews had become accustomed to eating melons and other tasty foods in Egypt. They looked back on these fondly while in the wilderness (Num 1:5). This word is translated watermelon by the NEB.
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia)
MELON
(mel'-unz) (`abhattichim; compare Arabic battikh, the "water melon"; pepones): In Num 11:5, the melon is referred to as common in Egypt, and there can be no doubt that the variety indicated is the watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris) which is indigenous in tropical Africa. It has been cultivated in Egypt since the earliest times.
(from Fausset's Bible Dictionary)
MELON
Num 11:5: 'abatchiym. The Arabs call the water melon (Cucumis citrullus) batech. Cultivated on the Nile banks after the inundation from May to July. It is meat, drink and physic to the Egyptians. The common melon (C. melo) also grows well in Egypt. The same heat (in God's gracious providence) which dries up the animal frame fills with refrigerant liquid the vegetables and fruits of this class.
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