ADASHIM (a."-clash'im), (Heb. ad-aw% shim). "Lentiles" is the interpretation given by our own and most other versions, and there is no reason to question its accuracy. In Syria lentiles are still called in Arabic addas (Russel, N. H. of i :74).
(1) Red Pottage. Lentiles appear to have been chiefly used for making a kind of pottage. The red pottage for which Esau bartered his birthright was of lentiles (Gen. xxv :29-34). The tern, rrd was, as with us, extended to yellowish brawn, which must have been the true color of the pottage, if derived from lentiles. The Greeks and Romans also called lentiles red. (See authori ties in Celsius 1:105).
(2) Brought to David. Lentiles were among the provisions brought to David when he fled from Absalom (2 Sam. xvii :28), and a field of lentiles was the scene of an exploit of one of David's heroes (2 Sam. xxiii :II).
(3) Used for Bread. From Ezek. iv :9 it would appear that lentiles were sometimes used as bread. This was, doubtless, in times of scar city, or by the poor. Sonnini (Travels, p. 603, English translation) assures us that in south ernmost Egypt, where corn is comparatively scarce, lentiles mixed with a little barley form almost the only bread in use among the poorer classes. It is called bettor:, is of a golden-yellow color, and is not bad, although rather heavy. In that country, indeed, probably even more than in Palestine, lentiles anciently, as now, formed a chief article of food among the laboring classes.
This is repeatedly noticed by ancient authors, and so much attention was paid to the culture of this useful pulse that certain varieties became re markable for their excellence.
(4) Egyptian Lentiles. The lentiles of Pelu sium, in the part of Egypt nearest to Palestine, were esteemed both in Egypt and foreign countries (Vir. Georg. i :228), and this is probably the val ued Egyptian variety which is mentioned in the Mishno (tit. Kilvim xviii :8) as neither large nor small. Large quantities of lentiles were exported front Alexandria (Augustin. Comm. ix Ps. xlvi). Pliny, in mentioning two Egyptian varieties, inci dentally lets us know that one of them was red, by remarking that they like a red soil, and by speculating whether the pulse may not have thence derived the reddish color which it im parted to the pottage made with it (Hist. Nat. xviii :12). This illustrates Jacob's red pottage. Dr. Shaw (i :257) also states that these lentiles easily dissolve in boiling, and form a red or chocolate colored pottage, much esteemed in North Africa and Western Asia. Putting these facts to gether, it is likely that the reddish lentile, which is now so common in Egypt (Descript. de l'Egypte xix :65), is the sort to which all these statements refer. (See POTTAGE; LENTILES.)