Job 30:4
herbs <04408> [mallows.]
The Hebrew {mallu„ch,} in Arabic, {malluch,} and in Syriac {mallucho,} is probably the [Lalima or Lalimos] of the Greeks, and {halimus} of the Romans, which Dioscorides describes as a kind of bramble, without thorns, the leaves of which are boiled and eaten.
root .... broom tree <08328 07574> [juniper roots.]
The Hebrew {rothem,} in Arabic, {ratim,} and in Spanish, {retama,} most probably signifies the {genista} or broom, which is very abundant in the deserts of Arabia.
food <03899> [for their meat.]
Job 30:7
brayed <05101> [brayed.]
nettles <02738> [the nettles.]
{Charul} probably denotes some kind of briar or bramble: so Vulgate renders it by {spina} or {sentis,} (Pr 24:31. Zep 2:9.) Celsius and Scheuchzer are inclined to think it the {paliurus,} a shrub growing sometimes to a considerable height in desert places. "One of the inconveniences of the vegetable thickets of Egypt is," says Denon, "that it is difficult to remain in them, as nine tenths of the trees and plants are armed with inexorable thorns, which suffer only an unquiet enjoyment of the shadow which is so constantly desirable."
