Bible Encyclopedias
Salt-Wort

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sôlt´wûrt ( מלּוּח , mallūaḥ , a word connected with melaḥ , "salt," translated ἄλιμος , hálimos ; the King James Version, mallows ): The halimos of the Greeks is the sea orache, Atriplex halimus , a silvery whitish shrub which flourishes upon the shores of the Dead Sea alongside the rutm (see JUNIPER ). Its leaves are oval and somewhat like those of an olive. They have a sour flavor and would never be eaten when better food was obtainable (Job 30:4 ). The translation "mallows" is due to the apparent similarity of the Hebrew mallūaḥ to the Greek μαλάχη , maláchē , which is the Latin malva and English "mallow." Certain species of malva known in Arabic, as khubbāzeh , are very commonly eaten by the poor of Palestine.