“Prepared All Things”

George Reynolds, Janne M. Sjodahl

This included fruit and meat from the wilderness, and honey, and other provisions.

Just what kind of fruits they had we are not told. Palestine, anciently, produced a great variety of trees, shrubs and vegetables. Among many others, these are mentioned in the Scriptures: Almonds, wild and cultivated; apple, probably the quince, or the lemon; calamus, a sweet cane; figs, "husks," (Luke 15), the pods of the carob-tree, also known as the St. John's tree, which pods were often fed to pigs; the mandrake, the mulberry, which was a kind of fig; nuts of many varieties; olives, pomegranates, sycamore, a kind of fig; beans, millet, a small grain; lentils, and the grapevine, known in history ever since the days of Noah; also, cucumbers, garlic, leeks, melons, onions, anise, or dill; bay-tree, cassia, a kind of cinnamon; coriander, yielding a fruit (called "seed"), the size of a pepper corn; mustard, saffron, and flax. All these are mentioned in the Scriptures. Lehi, undoubtedly, had been instructed to take with him in the ship whatever fruit and vegetables were needed for food during the voyage, and for agricultural purposes in the promised land.

The "honey in abundance" may have been both the product of the bee, and the syrup made of dates, which the Hebrews called "honey" ("debash," Gen. 43:11).

Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1

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