Image from here.
An alarming cry was heard when the stew was served: “death in the pot!”
I know the sound. I’ve been the siren. I’ve spent my life avoiding dishes with squishy veggies like okra.
As the narrative of 2 Kings 4:38-41 goes, a famine forced new food choices. A cook unwittingly added a poisonous ingredient to a stew prepared for a group of prophets-in-training. Fortunately, the danger was recognized before anybody went down. Elisha “healed” the meal by adding flour to the mix. It became edible.
The account is brief but baffling. A lack of explicit teaching makes it all the more odd. Was the cook unfamiliar with the plants in his area? Was he just that desperate? Who detected the poison and how? Can flour really serve as an emulsifier to “heal” such a brew? And most importantly, should the seminary cafeteria be avoided at all costs?
Interpreters often read this passage as just another item in Elisha’s impressive (and eclectic) résumé. The prophet is the ultimate “man of God” (he practically owns the phrase), a miracle-worker a problem-solver. I would add a bit more. Elisha acts on behalf of YHWH to administer the antidote of life in atmospheres of death (such as a famine).
Sodom apples (Calotropis procera), growing in a ditch beside the road in Jericho.
While identifying the death-dealing ingredient in the stew does little to help interpreters make sense of the story, it is part of our fascination. The word translated as “gourds” in most English bibles is drawn from the Hebrew paqquot, a rare term possibly describing a ball- or knob-shaped item. Some specialists have suggested the secret ingredient might be wild cucumber. Cucumis prophetarum is a plant found in arid areas of the biblical Heartland. It packs a bitter punch to the palate, can make your inner organs swell and pop, causes dehydration, and will slam your blood pressure. (Fun fact: the Latin Cucumis prophetarum means “prophetic cucumber” . . . and now you know the rest of the story!) No thanks. Not on my table.
Similarly, Citrullus colocynthis, colocynth, or “bitter apple,” has been suggested as our mystery ingredient. It looks like a creepy vine with little stripy watermelons, grows naturally in the area, and finds use in traditional medicine kits. However, as is often the case, there is a fine line between a medicine and a toxin. When consumed, the colocynth is a laxative with the finesse of a hand grenade. It loosens a locked door but can also blow it off the hinges. Permanently. Nope. Keep all explosive melons out of the kitchen, please!
A third possibility for our stew-of-death is Calotropis procera or the “apple of Sodom.” The name itself should provoke terror. All parts of this plant are dangerous. Its milky sap can cause lesions on the skin, blindness if rubbed in the eyes, and if ingested, can initiate cardiac failure. Needless to say, this baaaaad plant will make a meal to die for! It would certainly prompt an alarming cry of “death in the pot”!
It takes a lot of faith to be a vegetarian. And a careful cook.
Care to lean more? I wrote about Sodom apples several years ago. Check out our post here: https://www.markziese.com/stories/2015/10/22/dmdoziw72gexrz2j8bmp6du1ta16rf
