Fitches
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) · International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
THE DICTIONARY — Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
(Isaiah 28:25, 27), the rendering of the Hebrew ketsah , “without doubt the Nigella sativa, a small annual of the order Ranunculacece, which grows wild in the Mediterranean countries, and is cultivated in Egypt and Syria for its seed.” It is rendered in margin of the Revised Version “black cummin.” The seeds are used as a condiment. In Ezekiel 4:9 this word is the rendering of the Hebrew kussemeth (incorrectly rendered “rye” in the Authorized Version of Exodus 9:32 and Isaiah 28:25, but “spelt” in the Revised Version). The reading “fitches” here is an error; it should be “spelt.”
THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.
fich'-iz (the English word "fitch" is the same as "vetch"):
(1) qetsach (Isa 28:25,27; the Revised Version, margin has "black cummin" (Nigella sativa)). This is the "nutmeg flower," an annual herb (Natural Order, Ranunculaceae), the black seeds of which are sprinkled over some kinds of bread in Palestin. They were used as a condiment by the ancient Greeks and Romans. These seeds have a warm aromatic flavor and are carminative in their properties, assisting digestion. They, like all such plants which readily yield their seed, are still beaten out with rods. The contrast between the stouter staff for the "fitches" and the lighter rod for the cummin is all the more noticeable when the great similarity of the two seeds is noticed.
(2) kuccemim (pl.) (Eze 4:9) the Revised Version (British and American) "spelt" (which see).
E. W. G. Masterman