melons

Melons are mentioned only in Numbers 11:5, the translation of the Hebrew abattihim, the Septuagint and Vulgate pepones, Arabic britikh.

Of this plant there are various kinds, the Egyptian melon, the Cucumus chate, which has been called “the queen of cucumbers;” the watermelon, the Cucurbita citrullus; and the common or flesh melon, the Cucumus melo.

“A traveller in the East who recollects the intense gratitude which a gift of a slice of melon inspired while journeying over the hot and dry plains, will readily comprehend the regret with which the Hebrews in the Arabian desert looked back upon the melons of Egypt.” —John Kitto, editor

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