Salt glands are present on the undersurface of the saltbush leaf. In March, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Tel Hadya, Syria.
WHAT DO WILD GREENS AND mallow have in common? Numerous plants in different parts of the world provide “wild greens.” And as for mallows, this common name is usually associated with members of the genus Hibiscus. So what is this plant and why is it translated in such disparate ways? The only reference is in Job, in a discourse that is a tirade on Job’s part, impugning those whom he views as judging them. Put another way, he considers these coarse vagabonds with little credibility or, in his own words, “a base and nameless brood” (Job 30:8, NIV). Strong language for men who apparently know how to survive in nature.
Many plants have edible foliage but few are large enough to provide a meaningful amount of food. One of these is a common desert shrub translated “mallow” (in KJV)—not to be confused with a group of wetland plants by that common name—and translated “salt herbs” in NIV: “Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night. In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom tree” (Job 30:3–4, NIV).
The solitary reference to wild greens was translated from the Hebrew malluach, hence the inappropriate translation “mallow,” in this verse. The much-branched, gray-green shrub is often associated with broom, the desert plant. The precise identity of this food source is not clear, but it is likely Atriplex halimus, a desert plant sometimes referred to as saltbush, which can tolerate high levels of salinity. I have eaten the leaves, which possess salt secreting glands, and I found them pleasant. I like mallow slightly steamed, and it is edible raw. The plant, however, is not favored for fodder. The modern translation The Message renders malluach as “chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans,” eviscerating any botanical meaning from the text.
The semiarid regions of the Middle East provide few edible plant resources. The plant translated as “wild greens” (or mallow) is one of them.
Atriplex halimus is widely planted to improve land in steppe regions where vegetation has been heavily overgrazed. In March, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Tel Hadya, Syria.