Concise Bible Dictionary:
In a time of dearth a lap-full of gourds from a wild vine was gathered to provide a meal for Elisha and the sons of the prophets (2 Kings 4:39). Some suppose this to have been the wild cucumber, the leaves of which resemble those of the vine, but have a bitter poisonous taste. Others think the poisonous Colocynth, the Colocynthis agri, to be referred to. The ancient versions support this. A kindred word is translated “knops” in 1 Kings 6:18 (“gourds,” margin), as ornaments in the temple, for which the fruit of the Colocynth would be a graceful model.