The Israelites were commanded to eat the Paschal lamb "with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs." (Exodus 12:8) These "bitter herbs" consisted of such plants as chicory, bitter cresses, hawkweeds, sow-thistles and wild lettuces, which grow abundantly in the peninsula of Sinai, in Palestine and in Egypt. The purpose of this observance was to recall to the minds of the Israelites their deliverance from the bitter bondage of the Egyptians.
Bitter Herbs
2 verses
Exodus
Exodus 12:8
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Numbers
Numbers 9:11
The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
From Smith's Bible Dictionary
William Smith, 1884