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By Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein When Pharaoh finally let the Jews leave Egypt, the Bible reports that the Jews were “chamushim” (Ex. 13:18). Most of my readers are likely familiar with the exegetical interpretations of this word cited by Mechilta and Rashi (there), which interpret the word “chamushim” as a cognate of the Hebrew word […]
The Torah twice describes the manna as resembling the
gad seed (Ex. 16:31, Num. 11:7), but the meaning of the word
gad is not readily understood. Targum Onkelos leaves the word untranslated in both cases, instead aramaicizing the Hebrew word
gad into the Aramaic
gada. Other commentators suggest identifying the Hebrew word
gad with known plants such as “coriander.” In this essay we will discuss multiple words for “coriander” in Hebrew and other Jewish languages. Afterwards we will cite several alternate commentators who explain
gad as something other than “coriander.”
While Targum Onkelos leaves the word
gad untranslated, Targum Yonatan (to Ex. 16:31 and Num. 11:7) translates it as