Mallow

Responding to the unhelpful and unkind words of his so-called friends, Job asks the following in Job 6:6: “Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the slime of the purslane [challamuth in Hebrew]?” The main ideas of these two parallel lines are: a) tasteless things need salt, and b) the slime of challamuth is tasteless.

There is much debate whether or not the Hebrew word challamuth refers to a plant at all here. Some versions render it as “white of an egg” (GNB, NLT, GW) or “egg white” (NIV), and one commentator suggests it could refer to “whitewash,” “plaster,” or even “one who has died.” However, on the basis of Arabic cognate word lachamut and the Mishnaic tradition, Zohary holds that challamuth may refer to one or more plants from the Malvaceae family, namely Mallow Malva sylvestris, Mallow Malva nicaeensis, or Hollyhock Alcea setosa. REB has “mallow.” Some species in this family are in fact eaten by goats and are used by Bedouins in cooking.

However, Hepper identifies challamuth as the Common Purslane Portulaca oleracea, another plant used in salad and as medicine. Moldenke does not find a plant at all in Job 6:6.