Greek word · G3001

λάχανον

lachanon

plant

Cultivated garden plants, vegetables and greens: the things grown in a kitchen plot for eating (from λαχαίνω, 'to dig'). Compare Rom 14:2 ('eats only vegetables') and Luke 11:42 ('mint and rue and every herb/garden plant').

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

λάχανον, -ου, τό

(λαχαίνω, to dig), [in LXX: Genesis 9:3; 1 Kings 21:2, Psalms 37:2, Proverbs 15:17 (יֶרֶק, יָרָק) * ;]

a garden herb, vegetable: Luke 11:42; usually in pl., Matthew 13:32, Mark 4:32, Romans 14:2.†

SYN.: βοτάνη, q.v (AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 13:32

Range of meaning

Cultivated garden plants, vegetables and greens: the things grown in a kitchen plot for eating (from λαχαίνω, 'to dig'). Compare Rom 14:2 ('eats only vegetables') and Luke 11:42 ('mint and rue and every herb/garden plant').

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'herbs'. In 1611 that meant any non-woody green plant, especially food plants. BSB and most modern versions have 'garden plants'.

How it drifted

Today 'herbs' usually means seasoning plants like basil or thyme, which makes the comparison sound far smaller than it is.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical and Koine Greek for vegetables. The Greek Old Testament uses it for 'a garden of vegetables' (3 Kgdms/1 Kings 21:2) and for a 'dinner of vegetables' (Prov 15:17).

From the study of Romans 14:2

Range of meaning

From λαχαίνω, 'to dig'. Garden produce: vegetables, greens, potherbs, as opposed to wild plants, grain, or meat. In the plural it means the vegetables on the table.

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'herbs', which in 1611 meant edible green plants in general (compare KJV Gen 1:29-30, 'every green herb for meat'). BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and NASB say 'vegetables', and most add 'only'. The Greek has no 'only', but it is implied by the contrast with 'all things'.

How it drifted

Modern English 'herbs' has narrowed to seasonings such as basil and thyme, or to herbal remedies. A modern reader of the KJV can picture something odd, as if the weak person lived on parsley. The point is that he eats a meatless diet.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Gen 9:3: after the flood God gives animals for food 'as the green plants' (ὡς λάχανα χόρτου). Deut 11:10 and 1 Kgs 21:2 (LXX 3 Kgdms 20:2) speak of a vegetable garden. Prov 15:17: 'better a meal of vegetables with love than a fattened ox with hatred'. Matt 13:32 and Luke 11:42 refer to garden plants. Jewish stories of keeping faithful in a foreign land show people choosing plant food to avoid defiling food: Daniel and his friends (Dan 1:8-16, pulses and water), Judas Maccabeus's men living on wild plants (2 Macc 5:27), and Josephus's priest friends in Rome who lived on figs and nuts (Josephus, Life 13-14).

From the study of Mark 4:32

Range of meaning

A cultivated plant grown for food: vegetables, pot-herbs, garden greens. The word is related to a verb for digging, so it means plants of the dug and tended plot, as opposed to wild growth or trees. It is used for the plain food of the poor or the scrupulous ('vegetables only', Romans 14:2), and Luke 11:42 has the Pharisees tithing 'every lachanon'.

Against the English

BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB give 'garden plants', which is accurate. The KJV, WEB and YLT have 'herbs', which in 1611 meant leafy vegetables and greens but today suggests seasonings like basil or thyme.

How it drifted

'Herb' narrowed in English. In older usage it meant any non-woody plant, especially edible greens. Modern usage restricts it to aromatic seasonings. The KJV's choice goes back through Tyndale to the Latin Vulgate's 'holeribus' (from holus, 'vegetables').

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament: Genesis 9:3, 'like the green plants (lachana) I have given you everything'; Proverbs 15:17, 'better a meal of vegetables where there is love'; 1 Kings 20:2 (= 21:2 in English Bibles), Naboth's vineyard wanted for 'a garden of vegetables'. In ordinary Greek usage generally it means market vegetables.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 13:32 λαχάνων garden plants

    Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

    Here: Garden vegetables and greens grown for food (cf. Rom 14:2; Luke 11:42). The mustard ends up towering over the cabbages and leeks, not over trees.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 4:32 λαχάνων garden plants

    But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.”

    Here: Cultivated vegetables and greens, the kind grown in a kitchen plot. Mark compares the mustard with vegetables, not with trees. It is the giant of the vegetable patch, not a forest tree.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 11:42 λάχανον herb

    Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

    Here: Cultivated garden greens and herbs, as opposed to field crops like grain. These were the small kitchen-garden plants that the Torah's tithe laws did not name explicitly.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 14:2 λάχανα vegetables

    For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.

    Here: Garden produce and greens: the ordinary vegetable side of a meal, as opposed to meat. Eating 'vegetables' here means keeping away from meat, and probably wine too (14:21). It is the result of a scruple, not a health choice.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.