Jonah's Gourd: Cucumber or Castor Oil Plant Identification
The plant that provided shade for Jonah in Jonah 4:6-10 is identified in the Hebrew text as kikayon [1, 2]. While the exact botanical identification has been a subject of discussion, two primary candidates emerge: the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) and a type of gourd or cucumber [1, 2, 4].
Many scholars and biblical dictionaries suggest that the kikayon is the castor oil plant, also known as palma Christi [1, 2, 6]. This plant is native to Asia and is now found in various parts of the world [2]. It can grow quite large, with some varieties reaching the size of a tree in India, though in other regions it might only grow a few feet tall [2]. Its leaves are described as large and palmate, with serrated lobes, which would offer substantial shade to someone like Jonah seeking relief from the sun [2, 6]. The castor oil plant is also known for its rapid growth and equally sudden wilting when damaged [6]. The oil derived from its seeds was known in ancient times [2, 8]. The Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, renders kikayon as "gourd" [8].
Another interpretation, supported by some, identifies the kikayon as a type of gourd or pumpkin, specifically the cucurbita or the el-keroa of the Arabs [1]. This plant is said to grow abundantly on the banks of the Tigris and near the ruins of Nineveh, where it is often trained to run over structures [1]. The term "gourd" itself can encompass various plants within the gourd family [5]. The Greek word for cucumber or gourd, sikyos, is used in some ancient texts [3].
Rabbinic tradition also grapples with the identity of the kikayon. The Babylonian Talmud discusses "kik oil," with some rabbis connecting it to the kikayon of Jonah, describing it as similar to the castor plant [7]. Other rabbinic texts, such as the Mishnah, frequently mention cucumbers (kishshuim) and gourds in discussions about agricultural laws, distinguishing between different types like Greek gourd, Egyptian gourd, and bitter gourd [9, 10, 11]. The Hebrew word for cucumber, kishshuim, is found in Numbers 11:5, referring to a vegetable extensively cultivated in the East and valued for its cooling properties [5].
The rapid growth and sudden demise of the plant are crucial to the narrative of Jonah, highlighting God's sovereignty and Jonah's misplaced priorities [6]. The plant's quick appearance and disappearance serve as a divine object lesson for Jonah, emphasizing the transient nature of earthly comforts compared to God's compassion [6].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Gourd — (1.) Jonah's gourd (Jonah 4:6-10), bearing the Hebrew name kikayon (found only here), was probably the kiki of the Egyptians, the croton. This is the castor-oil plant, a species of ricinus, the palma Christi, so called from the palmate division of its leaves. Others with more probability regard it as the cucurbita the el-keroa of the Arabs, a kind of pumpkin peculiar to the East. "It is grown in great abundance on the alluvial banks of the Tigris and on the plain between the river and the ruins of Nineveh." At the present day it is trained to run over structu”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Gourd — + Kikayan only in (Jonah 4:6-10) The plant which is intended by this word, and which afforded shade to the prophet Jonah before Nineveh, is the Ricinus commnunis, or castor-oil plant, which, a native of Asia, is now naturalized in America, Africa and the south of Europe. This plant varies considerably n size, being in India a tree, but in England seldom attaining a greater height than three or four feet. The leaves are large and palmate, with serrated lobes, and would form un excellent shelter for the sun-stroken prophet. The seeds contain the oil so well know”
- STEPBible TBESG “[G9081] G9081 = (G9081) — <b>a cucumber </b> or <b>gourd </b>, (Aristophanes Comicus) (ML)”
- STEPBible TBESG “[H7021] H7021 = (H7021) — 1) a plant<br>1a) perhaps a gourd, castor-oil plant, bottle-gourd”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Cucumbers — (Heb. plur. kishshuim; i.e., "hard," "difficult" of digestion, only in Num. 11:5). This vegetable is extensively cultivated in the East at the present day, as it appears to have been in earlier times among the Hebrews. It belongs to the gourd family of plants. In the East its cooling pulp and juice are most refreshing. "We need not altogether wonder that the Israelites, wearily marching through the arid solitudes of the Sinaitic peninsula, thought more of the cucumbers and watermelons of which they had had no lack in Egypt, rather than of the cruel bondag”
- Jonah (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Jonah 4:6: gourd--Hebrew, kikaion; the Egyptian kiki, the "ricinus" or castor-oil plant, commonly called "palm-christ" (palma-christi). It grows from eight to ten feet high. Only one leaf grows on a branch, but that leaf being often more than a foot large, the collective leaves give good shelter from the heat. It grows rapidly, and fades as suddenly when injured. to deliver him from his grief--It was therefore grief, not selfish anger, which Jonah felt (see on ). Some external comforts will often turn the mind away from its sorrowful bent.”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21a.3: And we learned in the mishna that one may not light the Shabbat lamp with kik oil. The Gemara asks: What is kik oil? Shmuel said: I asked all the seafarers, and they said to me that there is a bird in the cities on the sea coast, and kik is its name. Kik oil is produced from that bird. Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, said: This is referring to cotton oil. Reish Lakish said: It is the oil made from the seed of a plant like the castor plant [ kikayon ] of Jonah. Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: I have seen the species of the castor plant of Jonah, and it is similar to t”
- Jonah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Jonah 4:6: And the Lord God prepared a gourd,.... So the Septuagint render the word; but some say that a worm will not touch that; Jerom renders it an ivy; but neither the gourd nor that rise upwards without some props to support them. The Hebrew word is "kikaion", the same with the "kiki", or "cici", of Herodotus (c), Dioscorides (d), Strabo (e), and Pliny (f); a plant frequent in Egypt, of which the Egyptians made an oil; hence the Talmudists (g) make mention of the oil of "kik", which Reshlakish says is the "kikaion" of Jonah; and which is the same that the Arabians call "alche”
- Mishnah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishnah, Mishnah Kilayim 2:11: Stalks of grain which are leaning over other stalks of grain, or vegetable [plants] on other [] vegetable plants, or stalks of grain over vegetables plants or vegetable plants over stalks of grain, all this is permitted, except in the case of the Greek gourd. Rabbi Meir says: also in the case of the cucumber or Egyptian beans. But I recognize their words [as more acceptable] than mine.”
- Mishnah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishnah, Mishnah Kilayim 1:2: Cucumbers and melons do not constitute kilayim one with the other. Rabbi Judah said they do constitute kilayim. Lettuce and wild lettuce, endives and wild endives, leek and wild leek, coriander and wild coriander, or mustard and Egyptian mustard, Egyptian gourd and the bitter gourd, or Egyptian beans and carob shaped beans do not constitute kilayim one with the other.”
- Mishnah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishnah, Mishnah Kilayim 1:5: The radish and the cabbage turnip, mustard and charlock mustard, Greek gourd with Egyptian gourd or [Greek gourd] with bitter gourd, even though they are similar one to the other, are nevertheless kilayim one with the other.”