14:15 (R.V., “seamew”). Some have interpreted the Hebrew word by
“petrel” or “shearwater” (Puffinus cinereus), which is found on the coast
of Syria; others think it denotes the “sea-gull” or “seamew.” The common
cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) feeds on reptiles and large insects. It is found in
Asia and Africa as well as in Europe. It only passes the winter in
Palestine. The Arabs suppose it to utter the cry Yakub, and hence they call
it tir el-Yakub; i.e., “Jacob’s bird.”
- CUCUMBERS (Hebrews plur. kishshuim; i.e., “hard,” “difficult” of
digestion, only in Numbers 11:5). This vegetable is extensively cultivated
in the East at the present day, as it appears to have been in earlier times
among the Hebrews. It belongs to the gourd family of plants. In the East
its cooling pulp and juice are most refreshing. “We need not altogether
wonder that the Israelites, wearily marching through the arid solitudes of
the Sinaitic peninsula, thought more of the cucumbers and watermelons of
which they had had no lack in Egypt, rather than of the cruel bondage
which was the price of these luxuries.” Groser’s Scripture Natural History.
Isaiah speaks of a “lodge” (1:8; Hebrews sukkah), i.e., a shed or edifice
more solid than a booth, for the protection throughout the season from
spring to autumn of the watchers in a “garden of cucumbers.”
- CUMMIN (Hebrews kammon; i.e., a “condiment”), the fruit or seed of an
umbelliferous plant, the Cuminum sativum, still extensively cultivated in
the East. Its fruit is mentioned in Isaiah 28:25, 27. In the New Testament
it is mentioned in Matthew 23:23, where our Lord pronounces a “woe” on
the scribes and Pharisees, who were zealous in paying tithes of “mint and
anise and cummin,” while they omitted the weightier matters of the law.”
“It is used as a spice, both bruised, to mix with bread, and also boiled, in
the various messes and stews which compose an Oriental banquet.”
Tristram, Natural History. - CUP a wine-cup (Genesis 40:11, 21), various forms of which are found
on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon’s drinking vessels
were of gold (1 Kings 10: 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament
were made after Roman and Greek models, and were sometimes of gold
(Revelation 17:4).
The art of divining by means of a cup was practiced in Egypt (Genesis
44:2-17), and in the East generally.