H1211 H1211
The onions, a vegetable the Israelites recalled from Egypt
This plural noun with the definite article appears only in Numbers 11:5, in the Israelites' nostalgic complaint about Egyptian food. They list the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions (ha-betzalim), and garlic they once enjoyed. The word is cognate with Arabic 'basal' and Aramaic forms, all referring to the common bulb onion widely cultivated in ancient Egypt. This list of vegetables provides a window into the Mediterranean diet of antiquity and the very human longing for familiar foods during wilderness hardship.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The plural definite noun for onions, appearing in the famous catalog of Egyptian foods the Israelites craved in the wilderness (Numbers 11:5). The onion was a staple of Egyptian agriculture and diet, mentioned alongside other garden vegetables. The multilingual evidence (las-cebollas, le-onions, der-onions) shows consistent identification of this common bulb vegetable, though some translations retain English 'onions' even in French and German contexts, suggesting potential textual uncertainty or the universal recognizability of the plant. 1×
AR["الْبَصَلِ"]·ben["-পেঁয়াজ"]·DE["der-onions"]·EN["the-onions"]·FR["le-onions"]·heb["ה-בצלים"]·HI["प्याज़"]·ID["bawang-merah"]·IT["il-onions"]·jav["bawang-brambang"]·KO["그-양파들"]·PT["as-cebolas"]·RU["лук"]·ES["las-cebollas"]·SW["vitunguu"]·TR["soğanları"]·urd["پیاز"]
Related Senses
H8081 1. oil (substance) (180×)H3196 1. wine (fermented grape juice) (141×)H1706 1. honey (54×)H4682 1. unleavened bread/cakes (53×)H2461 1. milk (42×)H8492 1. new wine / must (38×)H0400 1. food, nourishment (36×)G3631 1. wine (34×)H3978 1. food, nourishment (30×)H1314 1. spice / perfume / balsam (29×)H7416 1. pomegranate (fruit/ornament) (28×)H3323 1. fresh oil, olive oil (23×)H2964 1. prey, torn flesh (19×)H3899 2. food, sustenance (19×)G1033 1. food (17×)G5160 1. food (16×)H5561 1. spices, aromatic substances (16×)H0402 1. food, nourishment (14×)G2219 1. leaven (13×)H4478a 1. manna (13×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [בָּצָל] n.m. onion (NH בָּצֵל or בֶּ֫צֶל, Arabic بَصَلٌ, Ethiopic በጸል Aramaic בּוּצְלָא, ܒܶܨܠܴܐ )—בְּצָלִים Nu 11:5 (אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים וְאֶת־הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת־הַבּ׳ וְאֵת־הַשּׁוּמִים).