Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

VEGETABLES

Vegetables (Heb. yārāq, ʾōrōṯ) were a dietary mainstay of the ancient world, alongside oil and wine (Pliny Nat. hist. 19.52-189). Ancient Near Eastern varieties include cucumber, endive, garlic, leeks, and onions, for which Egypt was especially well known (cf. Deut. 11:10). Heb. zērūʿîm (“things sown”) includes legumes (2 Sam. 17:28; Dan. 1:12, 16).

The Greeks prized vegetables as healthy, simple food (Plato Republic 2.372; cf. Prov. 15:17). Generally “vegetables” (Gk. láchana) were leafy plants, as distinct from legumes. Included in the term were artichokes, asparagus, endive, watercress, lettuce, cucumbers, various cabbages, and some root vegetables such as radishes, carrots, onions, and occasionally herbs. Wild vegetables may also be láchana (Josephus BJ 5.437).

In the NT láchana includes vegetables and herbs (cf. the mustard seed that becomes the greatest of all garden plants, Mark 4:30-34 par.; and the Pharisees’ tithe of herbs, Luke 11:42). According to Rom. 14:2 the weak eat only vegetables. Since consistent vegetarianism (as opposed to occasional fasting) was alien to official Judaism, scholars debate the meaning of this passage. Some scholars maintain that “eating vegetables” stands for any abstinence from certain foods, and others argue that the phrase is evidence that observant Jewish Christians in Rome ate “only vegetables” because of the impossibility of obtaining ritually clean meat and wine in the aftermath of the rescinding of the edict of Claudius (cf. Dan. 1:12, 16; 2 Macc. 5:27).

Bibliography. G. Bornkamm, “láchanon,” TDNT 4:65-67; F. Watson, “The Two Roman Congregations: Romans 14:1–15:13,” in The Romans Debate, ed. K. Donfried, rev. ed. (Peabody, 1991), 203-15.

Thomas Scott Caulley

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

VEGETABLES

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)