Bible Dictionary
Doves Dung
“Dove’s dung” is mentioned as an extremely costly item during the famine in besieged Samaria. It may refer literally to dung or, according to some interpretations, to a poor or inedible vegetable substance.
Definition
“Dove’s dung” is the expression found in the account of the famine during the siege of Samaria. Its precise meaning has been disputed. It may refer literally to dung, or to a vegetable substance, seed, pulse, or root known by that name.
Biblical Usage
The expression occurs in 2 Kings 6:25, where it is reported as an extremely costly item during the famine in besieged Samaria.
Historical Background
Suggested identifications include chick-peas, millet, an inferior pulse, and the root of the ornithogalum or star-of-Bethlehem. The literal interpretation has also been defended because siege histories record the use of offensive substances as food.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Various explanations have been given of the passage in (2 Kings 6:25) Bochart has labored to show that it denotes a species of cicer, “chick-pea,” which he says the Arabs call usnan, and sometimes improperly “dove’s” or “sparrow’s dung.” Great quantities of these are sold in Cairo to the pilgrims going to Mecca. Later authorities incline to think it the bulbous root of the Star of Bethlehem (ornithogalum, i.e. bird-milk), a common root in Palestine, and sometimes eaten.—ED. It can scarcely be believed that even in the worst horrors of a siege a substance so vile as is implied by the literal rendering should have been used for food.