Note 383 — Chapter III · (continued 2)
Reading edition
I quote Professor Canney's notes on the word dūdā'im (Genesis xxx. 14) verbatim: "The Encyclopædia Biblica says (s.v. 'Mandrakes'): 'The Hebrew name, dūdā'im, was no doubt popularly associated with dōdīm, דוֹדִים , "love"; but its real etymology (like that of μανδράγορας) is obscure".
"The same word is translated 'mandrakes' in Song of Songs vii. 13.
"Dūdā'īm occurs also in Jeremiah xxiv, 1, where it is usually translated 'baskets' ('baskets of figs'). Here it is the plural of a word dūd, which means sometimes a 'pot' or 'kettle,' sometimes a 'basket'. The etymology is again doubtful.
"I should imagine that the words in Jeremiah and Genesis have somehow or other the same etymology, and that dūdā-īm in Genesis has no real connexion with dōdīm 'love'.
"The meaning 'pot' (dūd, plur. dūdā-īm) is probably more original than 'basket'. Does dūdā-īm in Genesis and Song of Songs denote some kind of pot or caldron-shaped flower or fruit?"