זֵרֹעַ

From the study of Daniel 1:12

Range of meaning

A rare noun. It occurs only here, with the related form zer'onim in 1:16. It comes from the common root zara', 'to sow' (compare zera', 'seed, offspring'). HALOT and BDB both give 'vegetables' in a broad sense: what grows from sown seed, so edible plants, garden produce and probably cereals and pulses (beans, lentils).

Against the English

KJV 'pulse' (in 1611, edible seeds such as beans and lentils). BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT have 'vegetables.' NJPS chooses legumes. Each English word cuts the term down a little. 'Vegetables' suggests garden greens rather than grain. 'Pulse' and 'legumes' suggest only beans. The Hebrew points to a category, 'plant food from sown seed,' set against meat.

How it drifted

'Pulse' was accurate in 1611, from Latin puls, a porridge of grain or beans. Today it mostly means a heartbeat. 'Vegetables' in modern use often means non-grain produce, which is narrower than the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

The ancient Greek translators took it two ways. The Old Greek has, as far as can be reconstructed, 'pulses of the earth' (ospria). Theodotion's Greek has 'seeds' (spermata). The Latin Vulgate has legumina (legumes). The root z-r-' runs all through the Hebrew Bible for sowing and seed (Genesis 1:11–12, 29: 'seed-bearing plants... for food').