A species of pulse or bean. We find Esau longing for a mess of pottage made of lentils, Genesis 25:34 . Augustine says, "Lentils are used as food in Egypt, for this plant grows abundantly in that country, which renders the lentils of Alexandria so valuable that they are brought from thence to us, as if none were grown among us." In Barbary, Dr. Shaw says "Lentils are dressed in the same manner as beans, dissolving easily into a mass, and marking a pottage of a chocolate color." See 2 Samuel 17:28; 23:11 .