pottage

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(pot-cooked). A thick stew of meat or vegetables, or both (Gen. 25:29²⁹And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: (Genesis 25:29); 2 Kings 4:39³⁹And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. (2 Kings 4:39)).

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Number:

5138 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)

Transliteration:

naziyd

Phonic:

naw-zeed’

Meaning:

from 2102; something boiled, i.e. soup

KJV Usage:

pottage

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 25:34³⁴Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:34). Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Pottage was often made of lentile, and is so made at this day. Dr. Shaw says that they are cooked like beans, which they very much resemble, “dissolving easily into a mass, and making a pottage of a Chocolate color.”

In India this sort of food is considered so cheap and common that it represents, in proverbial speech, anything that is worthless. “The fellow has sold his land for pottage”; that is, for an insignificant consideration. “The learned one has fallen into the pottage-pot”; that is, the wise man has done what was not expected of him—a mean thing. “He is trying to procure rubies by pottage”; that is, he wishes to get great things by small means (Roberts). These expressions illustrate the despicable conduct of Esau, who sold his priceless birthright for a mess of mean food, the emblem of worthlessness.