Leek
Plants and Trees in the Bible
Leeks have leaves like onions and taste like them, although leek leaves are flat whereas onion leaves are round and hollow. The “bulb” of the leek, if it can be called such, is long (at least 10 centimeters [4 inches]) and slender. They are used fresh in salads and cooked in stews.
Pictures
In the Bible
The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used
חָצִיר chatsir · 1 verse
What it stands for
In the ancient world the leek was considered the food of the poor. In Numbers leeks are listed with onions and garlic as plants the Israelites longed for when they left Egypt.
More about it
According to Zohary, supported by Moldenke, the Hebrew word chatsir in refers to the True Leek Allium porrum, but Hepper argues that it is more likely the Salad Leek Allium kurrat (also known as Egyptian Leek), specimens of which have been found in Egyptian tombs. Moldenke and others hold that chatsir could also have been the Fenugreek Trigonella foenum-graecum, which was also known both in Egypt and in the Holy Land. The word chatsir occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament with the meaning of “grass,” “herb” or “hay,” so it could be a generic word for any edible green plant (see 5.1.2 Grass). However, in the context of “onions” and “garlics,” it is likely to refer to the leek. Zohary suggests that chatsir first referred to a specific plant and became a general word later.
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