Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
(Heb. plur. , “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. ” Groser’s Scripture Natural History.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(Heb. kishshuim). This word occurs in (Numbers 11:5) as one of the good things of Egypt produces excellent cucumbers, melons, etc., the Cucumis chate being the best of its tribe yet known. Besides the Cucumis chate, the common cucumber (C. sativus), of which the Arabs distinguish a number of varieties, is common in Egypt. “Both Cucumis chate and C. sativus,” says Mr. Tristram, “are now grown in great quantities in Palestine.
” The “lodge in a garden of cucumbers,” (Isaiah 1:8) is a rude temporary shelter erected int eh open grounds where vines, cucumbers, gourds, etc., are grown, in which some lonely man or boy is set to watch, either to guard the plants from robbers or to scare away the foxes and jackals from the vines.