HERB (אﯴרָה֮, H246, shining; אﯴר֮, H240, shining [or this word may mean light and not be a word for herb]; דֶּ֫שֶׁא, H2013, green; חָצִיר֒, H2945, grass; יָרָק, H3763, green; עֵ֫שֶׂב, H6912, green; Gr. βοτάνη, G1083, herbage; λάχανον, G3303, garden).

The word “herb” is used in different ways, for instance in 2 Kings 4:39, the young prophet prob. went to pick some wild herbs to give interesting flavor to the stew. The same word ’ōrâ is used in Isaiah 26:19, “a herb covered with dew”—hence the tr. “shining herb.” The word here could easily be a vegetable; on the other hand, the word deshe’ (Isa 6:14) tr. “herb,” merely means “green, tender grass.”

The green herbs ’yārāq’ of Proverbs 15:17 are prob. lettuce, for the reading is “better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it.” A fatted ox is a beautifully fattened beast in the stall, but the dinner of herbs would be a vegetarian dish.

The word ’ēseb undoubtedly means plants as a whole. Genesis 1:12 says: “herb yielding seed after his kind.” Exodus 9:25 says “The hail smote every herb of the field.” Psalm 104:14 is “herb for the service of man.” Isaiah 42:15 reads: “I will...dry up all their herbs.”

The general term herbs covering all plants is seen in Hebrews 6:7, whereas the Gr. lachanon in Luke 11:42 and Romans 14:2 obviously refers to culinary and medicinal herbs.