LENTIL
Legume plant (“Ervum lens”); this grain was boiled into a stew (Gen. 25:29, 34); In periods of hardship, bread was made from them (Ez. 4:9). The lentil (Heb. «’dashim») is a papilionaceae. Its leaves are compound, with five to six pairs of leaflets. It has white flowers, with violet stripes.
Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew (Gen. 25:30-34), from whose red color comes his name Edom.
When David and his followers were facing Absalom’s rebellion, lentils were part of the provisions given to them by his followers (2 Sam. 17:28).
Shammah, a mighty man of David, defended a field of lentils against the Philistines (2 Samuel 23:11).
It grows wild in Moab and is cultivated in Palestine.