Bible Dictionary
Coriander
Coriander is an aromatic plant whose seed resembles the appearance and color of manna. It was known in the wilderness provisions described in Exodus 16:31 and Numbers 11:7.
Definition
Coriander is the aromatic seed of Coriandrum sativum, an annual plant with a round stalk and umbrella-shaped flowers. Its small, globular, spicy seeds were used as a spice and medicinally.
Biblical Usage
The appearance and color of manna were compared with coriander seed. The comparison occurs in the wilderness accounts.
Historical Background
The plant was cultivated in Eastern countries, Egypt, Persia, India, the Mediterranean region, and southern Europe. Its fruits are aromatic, ribbed, grayish-yellow, and approximately the size described in the supplied material.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Heb. gad, (Ex. 16:31; Num. 11:7), seed to which the manna is likened in its form and colour. It is the Coriandrum sativum of botanists, an umbelliferous annual plant with a round stalk, about two feet high. It is widely cultivated in Eastern countries and in the south of Europe for the sake of its seeds, which are in the form of a little ball of the size of a peppercorn. They are used medicinally and as a spice. The Greek name of this plant is korion or koriannon, whence the name “coriander.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The plant called Coriandrum sativum is found in Egypt, Persia and India, and has a round tall stalk; it bears umbelliferous white or reddish flowers, from which arise globular, grayish, spicy seed-corns, marked with fine striae. It is mentioned twice in the Bible. (Exodus 16:31; Numbers 11:7)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kor-i-an'-der (gadh; korion): The fruit of the Coriandrum Sativum (Natural Order Umbelliferae), a plant indigenous around the Mediterranean and extensively cultivated. The fruits are aromatic and stomatic-carminative. They are of a grayish-yellow color, ribbed, ovate-globular and in size about twice that of a hemp-seed. "The manna was like coriander seed" (Nu 11:7; see also Ex 16:31).</p>