Garlic
Plants and Trees in the Bible
Garlic has a bulb something like that of an onion, but smaller, and it is divided into four or five parts, each of which can be planted to start a new plant, since garlic is not propagated by seeds. These sections are called “cloves” in English. Because of its distinctive taste and smell, garlic is used for seasoning food throughout the world and also as medicine.
Pictures
In the Bible
The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used
שׁוּמִים shum · 1 verse
What it stands for
In garlic is cited with onions, leeks and other tasty things that the Israelites longed for as they wandered in the Sinai Desert.
More about it
Garlic Allium sativum is immensely popular in Egypt, West Asia and Europe, and probably was so in Bible times. Large numbers of these plants have been found in ancient tombs in Egypt and the Dead Sea area dating around 3500–3000 B.C., attesting to their popularity long before the days of the Exodus. The Roman writer Pliny knew of three types of garlic. They were used as offerings for the gods, as medicine, as food flavoring, and in preserving meat.
Also in Leafy vegetables
Sources
Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema