Agriculture

VIEW:59 DATA:01-04-2020
AGRICULTURE.—Throughout the whole period of their national existence, agriculture was the principal occupation of the Hebrews. According to the priestly theory, the land was the property of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ; His people enjoyed the usufruct (Lev_25:23). In actual practice, the bulk of the land was owned by the towns and village communities, each free husbandman having his allotted portion of the common lands. The remainder included the Crown lands and the estates of the nobility, at least under the monarchy. Husbandry—the Biblical term for agriculture (2Ch_26:10)—was highly esteemed, and was regarded as dating from the very earliest times (Gen_4:2). It was J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ; Himself who taught the husbandman his art (Isa_28:26).
Of the wide range of topics embraced by agriculture in the wider significance of the term, some of the more important will be treated in separate articles, such as Cart, Flax, Food, Garden, Olive, Ox, Thorns, Vine, etc. The present article will deal only with the more restricted field of the cultivation of the principal cereals. These were, in the first rank, wheat and barley; less important were the crops of millet and spelt, and those of the pulse family—lentils, beans, and the like.
1. The agricultural year began in the latter half of October, with the advent of the early rains, which soften the ground baked by the summer heat. Then the husbandman began to prepare his fields for the winter seed by means of the plough. From the details given in post-Biblical literature, it is evident that the Hebrew plough differed but little from its modern Syrian counterpart (see PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1891). The essential part or ‘body’ of the latter, corresponding in position to the modern plough-tail or ‘stilt,’ consists of a piece of tough wood bent and pointed at the foot to receive an iron sheath or share (1Sa_13:20), the upper end being furnished with a short cross-piece to serve as a handle. The pole is usually in two parts: one stout and curved, through the lower end of which the ‘body’ is passed just above the share; at the other end is attached the lighter part of the pole, through the upper end of which a stout pin is passed to serve as attachment for the yoke. The plough was usually drawn by two or more oxen (Amo_6:12), or by asses (Isa_30:24), but the employment of one of each kind was forbidden (Deu_22:10). The yoke is a short piece of wood—the bar of Lev_26:13 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] )—fitted with two pairs of converging pegs, the lower ends connected by thongs, to receive the necks of the draught animals. Two smaller pegs in the middle of the upper side hold in position a ring of willow, rope, or other material, which is passed over the end of the pole and kept in position by the pin above mentioned. As the ploughman required but one hand to guide the plough, the other was free to wield the ox-goad, a light wooden pole shod at one end with an iron spike wherewith to prick the oxen (cf. Act_9:5), and having at the other a small spade with which to clean the plough-share. Gardens, vineyards (Isa_5:6 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), and parts too difficult to plough were worked with the hoe or mattock (Isa_7:25).
The prevailing mode of sowing was by hand, as in the parable of the Sower, the seed being immediately ploughed in. It was possible, however, to combine both operations by fixing a seed-box to the plough-tail. The seed passed through an aperture at the bottom of the box and was conducted by a pipe along the tail. It thus fell into the drill behind the share and was immediately covered in. The patriarch Abraham was credited by Jewish legend with the invention of this form of seeding-plough (Bk. of Jubilees 11:23ff.). This mode of sowing is probably referred to in Isa_28:25 (‘the wheat in rows’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). There is no evidence that harrows were used for covering in the seed.
2. During the period of growth the crops were exposed to a variety of risks, such as the delay or scanty fall of the spring rains (the ‘latter rain’ of the OT, Amo_4:9), blasting by the hot sirocco wind, mildew, hail—these three are named together in Hag_2:17; cf. Deu_28:22, Amo_4:9—and worst of all a visitation of locusts. The productiveness of the soil naturally varied greatly (cf. Mat_13:8). Under favourable conditions, as in the Hauran, wheat is said to yield a hundredfold return.
3. Owing to the wide range of climatic conditions in Palestine, the time of the harvest was not uniform, being earliest in the semi-tropical Jordan valley, and latest in the uplands of Galilee. The average harvest period, reckoned by the Hebrew legislation (Lev_23:15, Deu_16:9) to cover seven weeks, may be set down as from the middle of April to the beginning of June, the barley ripening about a fortnight sooner than the wheat.
The standing corn was reaped with the sickle (Deu_16:9 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), the stalks being cut considerably higher up than with us. The handfuls of ears were gathered into sheaves, and these into heaps (not into shocks) for transportation to the threshing-floor. The corners of the field were left to be reaped, and the fallen ears to be gleaned, by the poor and the stranger (Lev_19:9 f., Deu_24:19, Rth_2:2 ff.).
For small quantities the ears were stripped by beating with a stick (Rth_2:17, Jdg_6:11 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), otherwise the threshing was done at the village threshing-floor. This was a large, specially prepared (Jer_51:33 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) space on an elevated situation. Hither the corn was brought on asses or on a cart (Amo_2:13), and piled in heaps. Enough sheaves were drawn out to form a layer, 6 to 8 ft. wide, all round the heap. Over this layer several oxen, unmuzzled according to law (Deu_25:4), and harnessed together as represented on the Egyptian monuments, might be driven. More effective work, however, was got from the threshing-drag and the threshing-wagon, both still in use in the East, the former being the favourite in Syria, the latter in Egypt. The former consists of two or three thick wooden planks held together by a couple of cross-pieces, the whole measuring from 5 to 7 ft. in length by 3 to 4 ft. in breadth. The underside of the drag is set with sharp pieces of hardstone (cf. Isa_41:15), which strip the ears as the drag, on which the driver sits or stands, is driven over the sheaves, and at the same time cut up the stalks into small lengths. The threshing-wagon is simply a wooden frame containing three or more rollers set with parallel metal discs, and supporting a seat for the driver. The former instrument was used by Araunah the Jebusite (2Sa_24:22), while the latter is probably referred to in ‘the threshing wheel’ of Pro_20:26 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). Both are mentioned together in the original of Isa_28:27.
After the threshing came the winnowing. By means of a five- or six-pronged fork, the ‘fan’ of the OT and NT, the mass of grain, chaff, and chopped straw is tossed into the air in the western evening breeze. The chaff is carried farthest away (Psa_1:4, the light morsels of straw to a shorter distance, while the heavy grains of wheat or barley fall at the winnower’s feet. After being thoroughly sifted with a variety of sieves (Amo_9:9, Isa_30:28), the grain was stored in jars for immediate use, and in cisterns (Jer_41:8), or in specially constructed granaries, the ‘barns’ of Mat_6:26.
4. Of several important matters, such as irrigation, the terracing of slopes, manuring of the fields, the conditions of lease, etc.—regarding which Vogelstein’s treatise Die Landwirtschaft in Palästina is a mine of information for the Roman period—there is little direct evidence in Scripture. Agriculture, as is natural, bulks largely in the legislative codes of the Pentateuch. Some of the provisions have already been cited. To these may be added the solemn injunction against removing a neighbour’s ‘landmarks,’ the upright stones marking the boundaries of his fields (Deu_19:14; Deu_27:17), the humanitarian provision regarding strayed cattle (Exo_23:4, Deu_22:1 ff.), the law that every field must lie fallow for one year in seven (Exo_23:10 f.; see, for later development, Sabbatical Year), the law forbidding the breeding of hybrids and the sowing of a field with two kinds of seed (Lev_19:19 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), and the far-reaching provision as to the inalienability of the land (Lev_25:8 ff.).
The fact that no department of human activity has enriched the language of Scripture, and in consequence the language of the spiritual life in all after ages, with so many appropriate figures of speech, is a striking testimony to the place occupied by agriculture in the life and thought of the Hebrew people.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


While the patriarchs were in Canaan, they led a pastoral life, and little attended to tillage; Isaac and Jacob indeed tilled at times (Gen_26:12; Gen_37:7), but the herdsmen strove with Isaac for his wells not for his crops. The wealth of Gerar and Shechem was chiefly pastoral (Gen_20:14; Gen_34:28). The recurrence of famines and intercourse with Egypt taught the Canaanites subsequently to attend more to tillage, so that by the time of the spies who brought samples of the land's produce from Eshcol much progress had been made (Deu_8:8; Num_13:23). Providence happily arranged it so that Israel, while yet a family, was kept by the pastoral life from blending with and settling among idolaters around. In Egypt the native prejudice against shepherds kept them separate in Goshen (Gen_47:4-6; Gen_46:34). But there they unlearned the exclusively pastoral life and learned husbandry (Deu_11:10), while the deserts beyond supplied pasture for their cattle (1Ch_7:21).
On the other hand, when they became a nation, occupying Canaan, their agriculture learned in Egypt made them a self subsisting nation, independent of external supplies, and so less open to external corrupting influences. Agriculture was the basis of the Mosaic commonwealth; it checked the tendency to the roving habits of nomad tribes, gave each man a stake in the soil by the law of inalienable inheritances, and made a numerous offspring profitable as to the culture of the land. God claimed the lordship of the soil (Lev_25:23), so that each held by a divine tenure; subject to the tithe, a quit rent to the theocratic head landlord, also subject to the sabbatical year. Accumulation of debt was obviated by prohibiting interest on principal lent to fellow citizens (Lev_25:8-16; Lev_25:28-87). Every seventh, sabbatic year, or the year of Jubilee, every 50th year, lands alienated for a time reverted to the original owner.
Compare Isaiah's "woe" to them who "add field to field," clearing away families (1 Kings 21) to absorb all, as Ahab did to Naboth. Houses in towns, if not redeemed in a year, were alienated for ever; thus land property had an advantage over city property, an inducement to cultivate and reside on one's own land. The husband of an heiress passed by adoption into the family into which he married, so as not to alienate the land. The condition of military service was attached to the land, but with merciful qualifications (Deuteronomy 20); thus a national yeomanry of infantry, officered by its own hereditary chiefs, was secured. Horses were forbidden to be multiplied (Deu_17:16). Purificatory rites for a day after warfare were required (Num_19:16; Num_31:19). These regulations, and that of attendance thrice a year at Jerusalem for the great feasts, discouraged the appetite for war. The soil is fertile still, wherever industry is secure. The Hauran (Peraea) is highly reputed for productiveness.
The soil of Gaza is dark and rich, though light, and retains rain; olives abound in it. The Israelites cleared away most of the wood which they found in Canaan (Jos_17:18), and seem to have had a scanty supply, as they imported but little; compare such extreme expedients for getting wood for sacrifice as in 1Sa_6:14; 2Sa_24:22; 1Ki_19:21; dung and hay fuel heated their ovens (Eze_4:12; Eze_4:15; Mat_6:30). The water supply was from rain, and rills from the hills, and the river Jordan, whereas Egypt depended solely on the Nile overflow. Irrigation was effected by ducts from cisterns in the rocky sub-surface. The country had thus expansive resources for an enlarging population. When the people were few, as they are now, the valleys sufficed to until for food; when many, the more difficult culture of the hills was resorted to and yielded abundance.
The rich red loam of the valleys placed on the sides of the hills would form fertile terraces sufficient for a large population, if only there were good government. The lightness of husbandry work in the plains set them free for watering the soil, and terracing the hills by low stone walls across their face, one above another, arresting the soil washed down by the rams, and affording a series of levels for the husbandman. The rain is chiefly in the autumn and winter, November and December, rare after March, almost never as late as May. It often is partial. A drought earlier or later is not so bad, but just three months before harvest is fatal (Amo_4:7-8). The crop depended for its amount on timely rain. The "early" rain (Pro_16:15; Jas_5:7) fell from about the September equinox to sowing time in November or December, to revive the parched soil that the seed might germinate. The "latter rain" in February and March ripened the crop for harvest.
A typical pledge that, as there has been the early outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, so there shall be a latter outpouring previous to the great harvest of Israel and the Gentile nations (Zec_12:10; Joe_2:23; Joe_2:28-32). Wheat, barley, and rye (and millet rarely) were their cereals. The barley harvest was earlier than the wheat. With the undesigned propriety that marks truth, Exo_9:31-32 records that by the plague of hail "the flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled i.e. in blossom, but the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up." Accordingly, at the Passover (just after the time of the hail) the barley was just fit for the sickle, and the wave sheaf was offered; and not until Pentecost feast, 50 days after, the wheat was ripe for cutting, and the firstfruit loaves were offered. The vine, olive, and fig abounded; and traces everywhere remain of former wine and olive presses.
Cummin (including the black "fitches," Isa_28:27), peas, beans, lentils, lettuce, endive, leek, garlic, onion, melon, cucumber, and cabbage also were cultivated. The Passover in the month Nisan answered to the green stage of produce; the feast of weeks in Sivan to the ripe; and the feast of tabernacles in Tisri to the harvest home or ingathered. A month (Veader) was often intercalated before Nisan, to obviate the inaccuracy of their non-astronomical reckoning. Thus the six months from Tisri to Nisan was occupied with cultivation, the six months from Nisan to Tisri with gathering fruits. The season of rains from Tisri equinox to Nisan is pretty continuous, but is more decidedly marked at the beginning (the early rain) and the end (the latter rain). Rain in harvest was unknown (Pro_26:1).
The plow was light, and drawn by one yoke. Fallows were cleared of stones and thorns early in the year (Jer_4:3; Hos_10:12; Isa_5:2). To sow among thorns was deemed bad husbandry (Job_5:5; Pro_24:30-31). Seed was scattered broadcast, as in the parable of the sower (Mat_13:3-8), and plowed in afterward, the stubble of the previous crop becoming manure by decay. The seed was trodden in by cattle in irrigated lands (Deu_11:10; Isa_32:20). Hoeing and weeding were seldom needed in their fine tilth. Seventy days sufficed between sowing barley and the wave sheaf offering from the ripe grain at Passover. Oxen were urged on with a spearlike goad (Jdg_3:31). Boaz slept on the threshingfloor, a circular high spot, of hard ground, 80 or 90 feet in diameter, exposed to the wind for winnowing, (2Sa_24:16-18) to watch against depredations (Rth_3:4-7). Sowing divers seed in a field was forbidden (Deu_22:9), to mark God is not the author of confusion, there is no transmutation of species, such as modern skeptical naturalists imagine. Oxen unmuzzled (Deu_25:4) five abreast trod out the grain on the floor, to separate the grain from chaff and straw; flails were used for small quantities and lighter grain (Isa_28:27).
A threshing sledge (moreg), Isa_41:15) was also employed, probably like the Egyptian still in use, a stage with three rollers ridged with iron, which cut the straw for fodder, while crushing out the grain. The shovel and fan winnowed the grain afterward by help of the evening breeze (Rth_3:2; Isa_30:24); lastly, it was shaken in a sieve. Amo_9:9; Psa_83:10, and 2Ki_9:37 prove the use of animal manure. The poor man's claim was remembered, the self sown produce of the seventh year being his perquisite (Lev_25:1-7): hereby the Israelites' faith was tested; national apostasy produced gradual neglect of this compassionate law, and was punished by retribution in kind (Lev_26:34-35); after the captivity it was revived. The gleanings, the grainers of the field, and the forgotten sheaf and remaining grapes and olives, were also the poor man's right; and perhaps a second tithe every third year (Lev_19:9-10; Deu_14:28; Deu_26:12; Amo_4:4). The fruit of newly planted trees was not to be eaten for the first three years, in the fourth it was holy as firstfruits, and on the fifth eaten commonly.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Agriculture. This was little cared for by the patriarchs. The pastoral life, however, was the means of keeping the sacred race, whilst yet a family, distinct from mixture and locally unattached, especially whilst in Egypt. When grown into a nation, it supplied a similar check on the foreign intercourse, and became the basis of the Mosaic commonwealth.
"The land is mine," Lev_25:23, was a dictum which made agriculture, likewise, the basis of the theocratic relation. Thus, every family felt its own life with intense keenness, and had its divine tenure which it was to guard from alienation. The prohibition of culture in the Sabbatical Year formed a kind of rent reserved by the divine Owner. Landmarks were deemed sacred, Deu_19:14, and the inalienability of the heritage was insured by its reversion to the owner in the Year of Jubilee; so that only so many years of occupancy could be sold. Lev_25:8-16; Lev_25:23-35.
Rain. ? Water was abundant in Palestine from natural sources. Deu_8:7; Deu_11:8-12. Rain was commonly expected soon after the autumnal equinox. The period denoted by the common scriptural expressions of the "early" and the "latter rain," Deu_11:14; Jer_5:24; Hos_6:3; Zec_10:1; Jas_5:7, generally reaching from November to April, constituted the "rainy season," and the remainder of the year the "dry season."
Crops. ? The cereal crops of constant mention are wheat and barley, and more rarely rye and millet (?). Of the two former, together with the vine, olive and fig, the use of irrigation, the plough and the harrow, mention is made in the book of Job_31:40; Job_15:33; Job_24:6; Job_29:19; Job_39:10. Two kinds of cumin (the black variety called fitches), Isa_28:27, and such podded plants as beans and lentils may be named among the staple produce.
Ploughing and Sowing. ? The plough was probably very light, one yoke of oxen usually sufficing to draw it. Mountains and steep places were hoed. Isa_7:25. New ground and fallows, Jer_4:3; Hos_10:12, were cleared of stones and of thorns, Isa_5:2, early in the year, sowing or gathering from "among thorns" being a proverb for slovenly husbandry. Job_5:5; Pro_24:30-31.
Sowing also took place without previous ploughing, the seed being scattered broad cast and ploughed in afterwards. The soil was then brushed over with a light harrow, often of thorn bushes. In highly-irrigated spots, the seed was trampled by cattle. Isa_32:20.
Seventy days before the Passover was the time prescribed for sowing. The oxen were urged on by a goad like a spear. Jdg_3:31. The proportion of harvest gathered to seed sown was often vast; a hundred fold is mentioned, but in such a way as to signify that it was a limit rarely attained. Gen_26:12; Mat_13:8. Sowing a field with divers seed was forbidden. Deu_22:9.
Reaping and Threshing. ? The wheat etc., was reaped by the sickle or pulled by the roots. It was bound in sheaves. The sheaves or heaps were carted, Amo_2:13, to the floor ? a circular spot of hard ground, probably, as now, from 50 to 80 or 100 feet in diameter. Gen_1:10-11; 2Sa_24:16; 2Sa_24:18.
On these, the oxen, etc., forbidden to be muzzled, Deu_25:4, trampled out the grain. At a later time, the Jews used a threshing sledge called a morag, Isa_41:15; 2Sa_24:22; 1Ch_21:23, probably resembling the noreg, still employed in Egypt ? a stage with three rollers ridged with iron, which, aided by the driver's weight crushed out, often injuring, the grain, as well as cut or tore the straw, which thus became fit for fodder. Lighter grains were beaten out with a stick. Isa_28:27. The use of animal manure was frequent. Psa_83:10; 2Ki_9:37; Jer_8:2, etc.
Winnowing. ? The shovel and fan, Isa_30:24, indicate the process of winnowing ? a conspicuous part of ancient husbandry. Psa_35:5; Job_21:18; Isa_17:13. Evening was the favorite time, Rth_3:2, when there was mostly a breeze. The fan, Mat_3:12, was perhaps a broad shovel which threw the grain up against the wind. The last process was the shaking in a sieve to separate dirt and refuse. Amo_9:9.
Fields and floors were not commonly enclosed; vineyard mostly were, with a tower and other buildings. Num_22:24; Psa_80:13; Isa_5:5; Mat_21:33, compare Jdg_6:11. The gardens also and orchards were enclosed, frequently by banks of mud from ditches. With regard to occupancy, a tenant might pay a fixed money rent, Son_8:11, or a stipulated share of the fruits. 2Sa_9:10; Mat_21:34. A passerby might eat any quantity of corn or grapes, but not reap or carry off fruit. Deu_23:24-25; Mat_12:1.
The rights of the corner to be left, and of gleaning, see Corner; Gleaning, formed the poor man's claim on the soil for support. For his benefit, too, a sheaf forgotten in carrying to the floor was to be left; so also with regard to the vineyard and the olive grove. Lev_19:9-10; Lev_24:19.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


ag?ri-kul-t̬ū̇r, ag?ri-kul-chur:
I. Development of Agriculture
II. Climatic Conditions and Fertility
III. Agricultural Pursuits
1. Growing of Grain
(1) Plowing and Sowing
(2) Reaping
(3) Threshing
2. Care of Vineyards
3. Raising of Flocks
I. Development of Agriculture
One may witness in Syria and Palestine today the various stages of social progress through which the people of Bible times passed in which the development of their agriculture played an important part. To the East the sons of Ishmael still wander in tribes from place to place, depending upon their animals for food and raiment, unless by a raid they can secure the fruits of the soil from the peoples, mostly of their own blood, who have given up wandering and are supporting themselves by tilling the ground. It is only a short step from this frontier life to the more protected territory toward the Mediterranean, where in comparatively peaceful surroundings, the wanderers become stationary. If the land which they have come to possess is barren and waterless, they become impoverished physically and spiritually, but if they have chosen the rarer spots where underground streams burst forth into valleys covered with alluvial deposits (Exo_3:8), they prosper and there springs up the more complicated community life with its servants, hirelings, gardeners, etc. A division of labor ensues. Some leave the soil for the crafts and professions but still depend upon their farmer neighbors for theft sustenance. (1Ki_5:11) Such was the variety of life of the people among whom Jesus lived, and of their ancestors, and of the inhabitants of the land long before the children of Israel came to take possession of it. Bible history deals with the Hebrews at a period when a large proportion of that people were engaged in agrarian pursuits, hence we find its pages filled with references to agricultural occupations.
II. Climatic Conditions and Fertility
With climatic conditions and fertility so varied, the mode of cultivation, seedtime and harvest differed even in closely adjacent territory. On the coastal plains and in the low Jordan valley the soil was usually rich and the season was early, whereas the mountainous regions and high interior plains the planting and reaping times were from two weeks to a month later. To make use of the soil on the hillsides, terracing was frequently necessary. Examples of these old terraces still exist. On the unwatered plains the crops could be grown only In the winter and spring, i.e. during the rainy season. These districts dried up in May or June and remained fallow during the rainless summer. The same was true of the hilly regions and valleys except where water from a stream could be diverted from its channel and spread over the fields. In such districts crops could be grown irrespective of the seasons. See IRRIGATION.
III. Agricultural Pursuits
To appreciate the many references in the Bible to agricultural pursuits and the frequent allusions of our Lord to the fields and their products, we must remember how different were the surroundings of the farmers of that day from those among which most of us live or with which we are acquainted. What knowledge we have of these pursuits is drawn from such references as disclose methods bearing a close similarity to those of the present day. The strong tendency to resist change which is everywhere manifest throughout the country and the survival of ancient descriptive words in the language of today further confirm our belief that we now witness in this country the identical operations which were used two thousand or more years ago. It would be strange if there were not a variety of ways by which the same object was accomplished when we remember that the Hebrew people benefited by the experience of the Egyptians, of the Babylonians, of the inhabitants of the land of their adoption, as well as of its late European conquerors. For this reason the drawings found on the Egyptian monuments, depicting agricultural scenes, help us to explain the probable methods used in Palestine.
Three branches of agriculture were more prominent than the others; the growing of grain, the care of vineyards (Num_18:30), and the raising of flocks. Most households owned fields and vineyards and the richer added to these a wealth of flocks. The description of Job's wealth (in Job 1) shows that he was engaged in all these pursuits. Hezekiah's riches as enumerated in 2Ch_32:27, 2Ch_32:28 suggest activity in each of these branches.
1. Growing of Grain
In this and following descriptions, present-day methods as far as they correspond to ancient records will be dealt with.
(1) Plowing and Sowing
On the plains, little or no preparation for plowing is needed, but in the hilly regions, the larger stones, which the tilling of the previous season has loosened and which the winter's rains have washed bare, are picked out and piled into heaps on some ledge, or are thrown into the paths, which thus become elevated above the fields which they traverse. (See FIELD.) If grain is to be planted, the seed is scattered broadcast by the sower. If the land has not been used for some time the ground is first plowed, and when the seed has been scattered is plowed again. The sower may keep his supply of seed in a pocket made by pulling up his outer garment through his girdle to a sufficient extent for it to sag down outside his girdle in the form of a loose pouch. He may, on the other hand, carry it in a jar or basket as the sowers are pictured as doing on the Egyptian monuments. As soon as the seed is scattered it is plowed in before the ever-present crows and ravens can gather it up. The path of the plow in the fields of the hilly regions is a tortuous one because of the boulders jutting out here and there (Mat_13:3) or because of the ledges which frequently lie hidden just beneath the surface (the rocky places of Christ's parable). When the plowman respects the footpaths which the sufferance of the owner has allowed to be trodden across his fields or which mark the boundaries between the lands of different owners, and leaves them unplowed, then the seed which has fallen on these portions becomes the food of the birds. Corners of the field where the plow cannot reach are hoed by hand. Harrowing-in as we know it is not practiced today, except on some of the larger plains, and probably was not used in Palestine in earlier times. See HARROW.
(2) Reaping
After the plowing is over, the fields are deserted until after the winter rains, unless an unusually severe storm of rain and hail (Exo_9:25) has destroyed the young shoots. Then a second sowing is made. In April, if the hot east winds have not blasted the grain (see BLASTING) the barley begins to ripen. The wheat follows from a week to six weeks later, depending upon the altitude. Toward the end of May or the first week in June, which marks the beginning of the dry season, reaping begins. Whole families move out from their village homes to spend the time in the fields until the harvest is over. Men and women join in the work of cutting the grain. A handful of grain is gathered together by means of a sickle held in the right hand. The stalks thus gathered in a bunch are then grasped by the left hand and at the same time a pull is given which cuts off some of the stalks a few inches above ground (see STUBBLE) and pulls the rest up by the roots. These handfuls are laid behind the reapers and are gathered up by the helpers (see GLEANING), usually the children, and made into piles for transporting to the threshing-floor.
(3) Threshing
The threshing-floors are constructed in the fields, preferably in an exposed position in order to get the full benefit of the winds. If there is a danger of marauders they are clustered together close to the village. The floor is a level, circular area 25 to 40 ft. in diameter, prepared by first picking out the stones, and then wetting the ground, tamping or rolling it, and finally sweeping it. A border of stones usually surrounds the floor to keep in the grain. The sheaves of grain which have been brought on the backs of men, donkeys, camels, or oxen, are heaped on this area, and the process of tramping out begins. In some localities several animals, commonly oxen or donkeys, are tied abreast and driven round and round the floor. In other places two oxen are yoked together to a drag, the bottom of which is studded with pieces of basaltic stone. This drag, on which the driver, and perhaps his family, sits or stands, is driven in a circular path over the grain. In still other districts an instrument resembling a wheel harrow is used, the antiquity of which is confirmed by the Egyptian records. The supply of unthreshed grain is kept in the center of the floor. Some of this is pulled down from time to time into the path of the animals. All the while the partly threshed grain is being turned over with a fork. The stalks gradually become broken into short pieces and the husks about the grain are torn off. This mixture of chaff and grain must now be winnowed. This is done by tossing it into the air so that the wind may blow away the chaff (see WINNOWING). When the chaff is gone then the grain is tossed in a wooden tray to separate from it the stones and lumps of soil which clung to the roots when the grain was reaped. The difference in weight between the stones and grain makes separation by this process possible (see SIFT). The grain is now poled in heaps and in many localities is also sealed. This process consists in pressing a large wooden seal against the pile. When the instrument is removed it leaves an impression which would be destroyed should any of the grain be taken away. This allows the government offers to keep account of the tithes and enables the owner to detect any theft of grain. Until the wheat is transferred to bags some one sleeps by the pries on the threshing-floor. If the wheat is to be stored for home consumption it is often first washed with water and spread out on goats' hair mats to dry before it is stored in the wall compartments found in every house (see STOREHOUSES). Formerly the wheat was ground only as needed. This was then a household task which was accomplished with the hand-mill or mortar (see MILL).
2. Care of Vineyards
No clearer picture to correspond with present-day practice in vine culture (see VINE) in Palestine could be given than that mentioned in Isa_5:1, Isa_5:6. Grapes probably served an important part in the diet of Bible times as they do at present. In the season which begins in July and extends for at least three months, the humblest peasant as well as the richest landlord considers grapes as a necessary part of at least one meal each day. The grapes were not only eaten fresh but were made into wine (see WINEPRESS). No parallel however can be found in the Bible for the molasses which is made by boiling down the fresh grape juice. Some writers believe that this substance was meant in some passages translated by wine or honey, but it is doubtful. The care of the vineyards fitted well into the farmer's routine, as most of the attention required could be given when the other crops demanded no time.
3. Raising of Flocks
The leaders of ancient Israel reckoned their flocks as a necessary part of their wealth (see SHEEP TENDING). When a man's flocks were his sole possession he often lived with them and led them in and out in search of pasturage (Psa_23:1-6; Mat_18:12), but a man with other interests delegated this task to his sons (1Sa_16:11) or to hirelings. Human nature has not changed since the time when Christ made the distinction between the true shepherd and the hireling (Joh_10:12). Within a short time of the writing of these words the writer saw a hireling cursing and abusing the stray members of a flock which he was driving, not leading as do good shepherds.
The flock furnished both food and raiment. The milk of camels, sheep and goats was eaten fresh or made into curdled milk, butter or cheese. More rarely was the flesh of these animals eaten (see FOOD). The peasant's outer coat is still made of a tawed sheepskin or woven of goats' hair or wool (see WEAVING). The various agricultural operations are treated more fully under their respective names, (which see).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


The antiquity of agriculture is intimated in the brief history of Cain and Abel (Gen_4:2-3). But of the actual state of agriculture before the deluge we know nothing. Whatever knowledge was possessed by the old world was doubtless transmitted to the new by Noah and his sons; and that this knowledge was considerable is implied in the fact that one of the operations of Noah, when he 'began to be a husbandman,' was to plant a vineyard, and to make wine with the fruit (Gen_9:20). There are few agricultural notices belonging to the patriarchal period, but they suffice to show that the land of Canaan was in a state of cultivation, and that the inhabitants possessed what were at a later date the principal products of the soil in the same country. In giving to the Israelites possession of a country already under cultivation, it was the Divine intention that they should keep up that cultivation, and become themselves an agricultural people; and in doing this they doubtless adopted the practices of agriculture which they found already established in the country.
As the condition of the seasons lies at the root of all agricultural operations, it should be noticed that the variations of sunshine and rain, which with us extend throughout the year, are in Palestine confined chiefly to the latter part of autumn and the winter. During all the rest of the year the sky is almost uninterruptedly cloudless, and rain very rarely falls. The autumnal rains usually commence at the latter end of October or the beginning of November, not suddenly, but by degrees, which gives opportunity to the husbandman to sow his wheat and barley. The rains continue during November and December, but afterwards they occur at longer intervals; and rain is rare after March, and almost never occurs as late as May. The cold of winter is not severe; and as the ground is never frozen, the labors of the husbandman are not entirely interrupted. Snow falls in different parts of the country, but never lies long on the ground. In the plains and valleys the heat of summer is oppressive, but not in the more elevated tracts. In such high grounds the nights are cool, often with heavy dew. The total absence of rain in summer soon destroys the verdure of the fields, and gives to the general landscape, even in the high country, an aspect of drought and barrenness. No green thing remains but the foliage of the scattered fruit-trees, and occasional vineyards and fields of millet. In autumn the whole land becomes dry and parched; the cisterns are nearly empty; and all nature, animate and inanimate, looks forward with longing for the return of the rainy season. In the hill country the time of harvest is later than in the plains of the Jordan and of the sea-coast. The barley harvest is about a fortnight earlier than that of wheat. In the plain of the Jordan the wheat harvest is early in May; in the plains of the coast and of Esdraelon it is towards the latter end of that month; and in the hills, not until June. The general vintage is in September, but the first grapes ripen in July; and from that time the towns are well supplied with this fruit.
Soil, etc.?The geological characters of the soil in Palestine have never been satisfactorily stated; but the different epithets of description which travelers employ enable us to know that it differs considerably, both in its appearance and character, in different parts of the land; but wherever soil of any kind exists, even to a very slight depth, it is found to be highly fertile. As parts of Palestine are hilly, and hills have seldom much depth of soil, the mode of cultivating them in terraces was anciently, and is now, much employed. A series of low stone walls, one above another, across the face of the hill, arrested the soil brought down by the rains, and afforded a series of levels for the operations of the husbandman. This mode of cultivation is usual in Lebanon, and is not infrequent in Palestine, where the remains of terraces across the hills, in various parts of the country, attest the extent to which it was anciently carried.
In such a climate as that of Palestine, water is the great fertilizing agent. The rains of autumn and winter, and the dews of spring, suffice for the ordinary objects of agriculture; but the ancient inhabitants were able, in some parts, to avert even the aridity which, the summer droughts occasioned, and to keep up a garden-like verdure, by means of aqueducts communicating with the brooks and rivers (Psa_1:3; Psa_65:10; Pro_21:1; Isa_30:25; Isa_32:2; Isa_32:20; Hos_12:11). Hence springs, fountains, and rivulets were as much esteemed by husbandmen as by shepherds (Jos_15:19; Jdg_1:15). The soil was also cleared of stones, and carefully cultivated; and its fertility was increased by the ashes to which the dry stubble and herbage were occasionally reduced by burning over the surface of the ground (Pro_24:31; Isa_7:23; Isa_10:17; Isa_32:13; Isa_47:14; Mat_3:12; Luk_3:17). The dung, and, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, the blood of animals, were also used to enrich the soil (2Ki_9:37; Psa_83:10; Isa_25:10; Jer_9:22; Luk_14:34-35).
That the soil might not be exhausted, it was ordered that every seventh year should be a sabbath of rest to the land. There was to be no sowing or reaping, no pruning of vines or olives, no vintage or gathering of fruits; and whatever grew of itself was to be left to the poor, the stranger, and the beast of the field (Lev_25:1-7). But such an observance required more faith than the Israelites were prepared to exercise. It was for a long time utterly neglected (Lev_26:34-35; 2Ch_36:21), but after the Captivity it was more observed. By this remarkable institution the Hebrews were also trained to habits of economy and foresight, and invited to exercise a large degree of trust in the bountiful providence of their Divine King.
Fields

Fig. 9?Modern Syrian Plow
Syria, including Palestine, was regarded by the ancients as one of the first countries for corn. Wheat was abundant and excellent; and there is still one bearded sort, the ear of which is three times as heavy, and contains twice as many grains, as our common English wheat. Barley was also much cultivated, not only for bread, but because it was the only kind of corn which was given to beasts; for oats and rye do not grow in warm climates. Hay was not in use; and therefore the barley was mixed with chopped straw to form the food of cattle (Gen_24:25; Gen_24:32; Jdg_19:19, etc.). Other objects of field culture were millet, spelt, various kinds of beans and peas, pepperwort, cummin, cucumbers, melons, flax, and, perhaps, cotton. Many other articles might be mentioned as being now cultivated in Palestine; but, as their names do not occur in Scripture, we cannot with certainty know which of them were grown there in the ancient times.
Anciently, as now, in Palestine and the East the arable lands were not divided by hedges into fields, as in this country. The ripening products therefore presented an expanse of culture unbroken, although perhaps variegated, in a large view, by the difference of the products grown. The boundaries of lands were therefore marked by stones as landmarks, which, even in patriarchal times, it was deemed a heinous wrong to remove (Job_24:2); and the law pronounced a curse upon those who, without authority, displaced them (Deu_19:14; Deu_27:17). The walls and hedges which are occasionally mentioned in Scripture belonged to orchards, gardens, and vineyards.
Agricultural Operations
Of late years much light has been thrown upon the agricultural operations and implements of ancient times, by the discovery of various representations on the sculptured monuments and painted tombs of Egypt. As these agree surprisingly with the notices in the Bible, and, indeed, differ little from what is still employed in Syria and Egypt, it is very safe to receive the instruction which they offer.

Fig. 10?Ancient Egyptian Plow
Plowing?This has always been a light and superficial operation in the East. At first, the ground was opened with pointed sticks; then, a kind of hoe was employed; and this, in many parts of the world, is still the substitute for a plow. But the plow was known in Egypt and Syria before the Hebrews became cultivators (Job_1:14). In the East, however, it has always been a light and inartificial implement. At first, it was little more than a stout branch of a tree, from which projected another limb, shortened and pointed. This, being turned into the ground, made the furrows; while at the farther end of the larger branch was fastened a transverse yoke, to which the oxen were harnessed. Afterwards a handle to guide the plow was added. Thus the plow consisted of?1. the pole; 2. the point or share; 3. the handle; 4. the yoke. The Syrian plow is, and doubtless was, light enough for a man to carry in his hand. We annex a figure of the ancient Egyptian plow, which had the most resemblance to the one now used (as in the figure of the Modern Syrian Plow), and the comparison between them will probably suggest a fair idea of the plow which was in use among the Hebrews. The following cut (from Sir Charles Fellows' work on Asia Minor) shows the parts of a still lighter plow used in Asia Minor and Syria, with but a single handle, and with different shares according to the work it has to execute.

Fig. 11?Plow Parts

1. The plow 2. The pole 3. Shares (various)
4. Handle 5. Yokes 6. Ox-goad
The plow was drawn by oxen, which were sometimes impelled by a scourge (Isa_10:26; Nah_3:2); but oftener by a long staff, furnished at one end with a flat piece of metal for clearing the plow, and at the other with a spike for goading the oxen. This ox-goad might be easily used as a spear (Jdg_3:31; 1Sa_13:21). Sometimes men followed the plow with hoes to break the clods (Isa_28:24); but in later times a kind of hammer was employed, which appears to have been then, as now, merely a thick block of wood, pressed down by a weight, or by a man sitting on it, and drawn over the plowed field.
Sowing?The ground, having been plowed as soon as the autumnal rains had mollified the soil, was fit, by the end of October, to receive the seed; and the sowing of wheat continued, in different situations, through November into December. Barley was not generally sown till January and February. The seed appears to have been sown and harrowed at the same time; although sometimes it was plowed in by a cross furrow.

Fig. 12?Sowing, Ancient Egyptian
Plowing in the Seed?The Egyptian paintings illustrate the Scriptures by showing that in those soils which needed no previous preparation by the hoe (for breaking the clods) the sower followed the plow, holding in the left hand a basket of seed, which he scattered with the right hand, while another person filled a fresh basket. We also see that the mode of sowing was what we call 'broad-cast,' in which the seed is thrown loosely over the field (Mat_13:3-8). In Egypt, when the levels were low, and the water had continued long upon the land, they often dispensed with the plow altogether; and probably, like the present inhabitants, broke up the ground with hoes, or simply dragged the moist mud with bushes after the seed had been thrown upon the surface. To this cultivation without plowing Moses probably alludes (Deu_11:10), when he tells the Hebrews that the land to which they were going was not like the land of Egypt, where they 'sowed their seed and watered it with their foot as a garden of herbs.' It does not seem that any instrument resembling our harrow was known; the word rendered to harrow, in Job_39:10, means literally to break the clods, and is so rendered in Isa_28:24; Hos_10:11 : and for this purpose the means used have been already indicated. The passage in Job is, however, important. It shows that this breaking of clods was not always by hand, but that some kind of instrument was drawn by an animal over the plowed field, most probably the rough log which is still in use.

Fig. 13?Plowing and Sowing, Ancient Egyptian
Harvest?It has been already indicated that the time of the wheat harvest in Palestine varies, in different situations, from early in May to late in June; and that the barley harvest is about a fortnight earlier than that of wheat. Among the Israelites, as with all other people, the harvest was a season of joy, and as such is more than once alluded to in Scripture (Psa_126:5; Isa_9:3).

Fig. 14?Reaping
Reaping?Different modes of reaping are indicated in Scripture, and illustrated by the Egyptian monuments. In the most ancient times, the corn was plucked up by the roots, which continued to be the practice with particular kinds of grain after the sickle was known. In Egypt, at this day, barley and dhurah (maize) are pulled up by the roots. 'Wheat, as well as barley in general,' says Russell, 'does not grow half as high as in Britain; and is therefore, like other grain, not reaped with the sickle, but plucked up by the roots with the hand. In other parts of the country, where the corn grows ranker, the sickle is used.' When the sickle was used, the wheat was either cropped off under the ear or cut close to the ground. In the former case, the straw was afterwards plucked up for use; in the latter, the stubble was left and burnt on the ground for manure. As the Egyptians needed not such manure, and were economical of straw, they generally followed the former method; while the Israelites, whose lands derived benefit from the burnt stubble, used the latter; although the practice of cutting off the ears was also known to them (Job_24:24). Cropping the ears short, the Egyptians did not generally bind them into sheaves, but removed them in baskets. Sometimes, however, they bound them into double sheaves; and such as they plucked up were bound into single long sheaves. The Israelites appear generally to have made up their corn into sheaves (Gen_37:7; Lev_23:10-15; Rth_2:7; Rth_2:15; Job_24:10; Jer_9:22; Mic_4:12), which were collected into a heap, or removed in a cart (Amo_2:13) to the threshing-floor. The carts were probably similar to those which are still employed for the same purpose.

Fig. 15?Binding Sheaves


Fig. 16?Sickles
With regard to the sickles, there appear to have been two kinds in use as among the Egyptians. The figures of these Egyptian sickles probably mark the difference between them. One was very much like our common reaping-hook, while the other had more resemblance in its shape to a scythe, and in the Egyptian examples appears to have been toothed. The reapers were the owners and their children, men-servants and women-servants, and day-laborers (Rth_2:4; Rth_2:6; Rth_2:21; Rth_2:23; Joh_4:36; Jam_5:4). Refreshments were provided for them, especially drink, of which the gleaners were allowed to partake (Rth_2:9). So in the Egyptian harvest-scenes, we perceive a provision of water in skins, hung against trees, or in jars upon stands, with the reapers drinking, and gleaners applying to share the draught. Among the Israelites, gleaning was one of the stated provisions for the poor: and for their benefit the corners of the field were left unreaped, and the reapers might not return for a forgotten sheaf. The gleaners were however to obtain in the first place the express permission of the proprietor or his steward (Lev_19:9-10; Deu_24:19; Rth_2:2; Rth_2:7).

Fig. 17?Egyptian Harvest Scene


Fig. 18?Threshing by Cattle
Threshing?The ancient mode of threshing, as described in Scripture and figured on the Egyptian monuments, is still preserved in Palestine. Formerly the sheaves were conveyed from the field to the threshing-floor in carts; but now they are borne, generally, on the backs of camels and asses. The threshing-floor is a level plot of ground, of a circular shape, generally about fifty feet in diameter, prepared for use by beating down the earth till a hard floor is formed (Gen_50:10; Jdg_6:37; 2Sa_24:16; 2Sa_24:24). Sometimes several of these floors are contiguous to each other. The sheaves are spread out upon them; and the grain is trodden out by oxen, cows, and young cattle, arranged five abreast, and driven in a circle, or rather in all directions, over the floor. This was the common mode in the Bible times; and Moses forbade that the oxen thus employed should be muzzled to prevent them from tasting the corn (Deu_25:4; Isa_28:28). Flails, or sticks, were only used in threshing small quantities, or for the lighter kinds of grain (Rth_2:17; Isa_28:27). There were, however, some kinds of threshing-machines, which are still used in Palestine and Egypt. One of them, represented in the annexed figure, is very much used in Palestine. It is composed of two thick planks, fastened together side by side, and bent upwards in front. Sharp fragments of stone are fixed into holes bored in the bottom. This machine is drawn over the corn by oxen, a man or boy sometimes sitting on it to increase the weight. It not only separates the grain, but cuts the straw and makes it fit for fodder (2Ki_13:7).

Fig. 19?Syrian Corn-Drag


Fig. 20?Threshing by the Noreg
This is, most probably, the 'corn-drag,' which is mentioned in Scripture (Isa_28:27; Isa_41:15; Amo_1:3, rendered 'threshing instrument'), and would seem to have been sometimes furnished with iron points instead of stones. The Bible also notices a machine called a Moreg (2Sa_24:22; 1Ch_21:23; Isa_41:15), which is unquestionably the same which bears in Arabic the name of Noreg. This machine is not now often seen in Palestine; but is more used in some parts of Syria, and is common in Egypt. It is a sort of frame of wood, in which are inserted three wooden rollers, armed with iron teeth, etc. It bears a sort of seat or chair, in which the driver sits to give the benefit of his weight. It is generally drawn over the corn by two oxen, and separates the grain, and breaks up the straw even more effectually than the drag. In all these processes, the corn is occasionally turned by a fork; and, when sufficiently threshed, is thrown up by the same fork against the wind to separate the grain, which is then gathered up and winnowed.

Fig. 21?Winnowing
Winnowing?This was generally accomplished by repeating the process of tossing up the grain against the wind with a fork (Jer_4:11-12), by which the broken straw and chaff were dispersed, and the grain fell to the ground. The grain afterwards passed through a sieve to separate the bits of earth and other impurities. After this, it underwent a still further purification, by being tossed up with wooden scoops or short-handled shovels, such as we see in Egyptian paintings.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Agriculture
the art or profession of cultivating the soil. SEE FARM; SEE TILLAGE.
I. History. — The antiquity of agriculture is indicated in the brief history of Cain and Abel, when it tells us that the former was a "tiller of the ground," and brought some of the fruits of his labor as an offering to God (Gen_4:2-3), and that part of the ultimate curse upon him was, “When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to thee her strength" (Gen_4:12). Of the actual state of agriculture before the Deluge we know nothing. SEE ANTEDILUVIANS.
Whatever knowledge was possessed by the Old World was doubtless transmitted to the New by Noah and his sons; and that this knowledge was considerable is implied in the fact that one of the operations of Noah, when he “began to be a husbandman," was to plant a vineyard, and to make wine with the fruit (Gen_9:2). There are few agricultural notices belonging to the patriarchal period, but they suffice to show that the land of Canaan was in a state of cultivation, and that the inhabitants possessed what were at a later date the principal products of the soil in the same country. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude that the modes of operation were then similar to those which we afterward find among the Jews in the same country, and concerning which our information is more exact. SEE ARABIA.
Agriculture was little cared for by the patriarchs; more so, however, by Isaac and Jacob than by Abraham (Gen_26:12; Gen_37:7), in whose time probably, if we except the lower Jordan valley (Gen_13:10), there was little regular culture in Canaan. Thus Gerar and Shechem seem to have been cities where pastoral wealth predominated. The herdmen strove with Isaac about his wells; about his crop there was no contention (Gen_10:14; Gen_34:28). In Joshua's time, as shown by the story of the "Eshcol" (Num_13:23-24), Canaan was found in a much more advanced agricultural state than when Jacob had left it (Deu_8:8), resulting probably from the severe experience of famines, and the example of Egypt, to which its people were thus led. The pastoral life was the means of keeping the sacred race, while yet a family, distinct from mixture and locally unattached, especially while in Egypt. When, grown into a nation, they conquered their future seats, agriculture supplied a similar check on the foreign intercourse and speedy demoralization, especially as regards idolatry, which commerce would have caused. Thus agriculture became the basis of the Mosaic commonwealth (Michaelis, 37-41). It tended to check also the freebooting and nomad life, and made a numerous offspring profitable, as it was already honorable by natural sentiment and by law. Thus, too, it indirectly discouraged slavery, or, where it existed, made the slave somewhat like a son, though it made the son also somewhat of a slave. Taken in connection with the inalienable character of inheritances, it gave each man and each family a stake in the soil, and nurtured a hardy patriotism. "The land is Mine" (Lev_25:23) was a dictum which made agriculture likewise the basis of the theocratic relation. Thus every family felt its own life with intense keenness, and had its divine tenure which it was to guard from alienation. The prohibition of culture in the sabbatical year formed, under this aspect, a kind of rent reserved by the Divine Owner. Landmarks were deemed sacred (Deu_19:14), and the inalienability of the heritage was insured by its reversion to the owner in the year of jubilee; so that only so many years of occupancy could be sold (Lev_25:8-16; Lev_25:23-35). The prophet Isaiah (Isa_5:8) denounces the contempt of such restrictions by wealthy grandees who sought to “add field to field," erasing families and depopulating districts. SEE LAND.
In giving to the Israelites possession of a country already under cultivation, it was the Divine intention that they should keep up that cultivation, and become themselves an agricultural people; and in doing this they doubtless adopted the practices of agriculture which they found already established in the country. This may have been the more necessary, as agriculture is a practical art; and those of the Hebrew who were acquainted with the practices of Egyptian husbandry had died in the wilderness; and even had they lived, the processes proper to a hot climate and alluvial soil, watered by river inundation, like that of Egypt, although the same in essential forms, could not have been altogether applicable to so different a country as Palestine. SEE EGYPT.
II. Weather, etc. — As the nature of the seasons lies at the root of all agricultural operations, it should be noticed that the variations of sunshine and rain, which with us extend throughout the year, are in Palestine confined chiefly to the latter part of autumn and the winter. During all the rest of the year the sky is almost uninterruptedly cloudless, and rain very rarely falls. The autumnal rains usually commence at the latter end of October or beginning of November, not suddenly, but by degrees, which gives opportunity to the husbandman to sow his wheat and barley. The rains continue during November and December, but afterward they occur at longer intervals, and rain is rare after March, and almost never occurs as late as May. The cold of winter is not severe; and as the ground is never frozen, the labors of the husbandman are not entirely interrupted. Snow falls in different parts of the country, but never lies long on the ground. In the plains and valleys the heat of summer is oppressive, but not in the more elevated tracts. In these high grounds the nights are cool, often with heavy dew. The total absence of rain in summer soon destroys the verdure of the fields, and gives to the general landscape, even in the high country, an aspect of drought and barrenness. No green thing remains but the foliage of the scattered fruit-trees, and occasional vineyards and fields of millet. In autumn the whole land becomes dry and parched, the cisterns are nearly empty, and all nature, animate and inanimate, looks forward with longing for the return of the rainy season. In the hill-country the time of harvest is later than in the plains of the Jordan and of the seacoast. The barley harvest is about a fortnight earlier than that of wheat. In the plain of the Jordan the wheat harvest is early in May; in the plains of the coast and of Esdraelon, it is toward the latter end of that month, and in the hills not until June. The general vintage is in September, but the first grapes ripen in July; and from that time the towns are well supplied with this fruit. — Robinson, Biblical Researches, 2, 96-100. See PALESTINE.
The Jewish calendar (q.v.), as fixed by the three great festivals, turned on the seasons of green, ripe, and fully-gathered produce. Hence, if the season was backward, or, owing to the imperfections of a non-astronomical reckoning, seemed to be so, a month was intercalated. This rude system was fondly retained long after mental progress and foreign intercourse placed a correct calendar within their power; so that notice of a Veadar, i.e., second or intercalated Adar, on account of the lambs being not yet of a paschal size, and the barley not forward enough for the Abib (green sheaf), was sent to the Jews of Babylon and Egypt (Ugol. de Re Rust. Isa_5:22) early in the season. SEE TIME. The year, ordinarily consisting of twelve months, was divided into six agricultural periods, as follows (Mishna, Tosaphta Taanith, ch. 1):
(1.) SOWING TIME.
Tisri, latter half beginning about autumnal equinox. Early rain due.
Marchesvan......................... Early rain due
Fasleu, former half ................ Early rain due
(2.) UNRIPE TIME
Kisleu, latter half.
Tebeth.
Sebat, former half.
(3.) COLD SEASON.
Sebat, latter half ................... Latter rain due
Adar ............ ............, Latter rain due.
[Veadar]……. Latter rain due
Nisan, former half ................. Latter rain due
(4.) HARVEST TIME.
Nisan, latter half ..................( Beginning about vernal equinox. Barley green. Passover.)
Ijar. .......... Wheat ripe....... Pentecost
Sivan, former half .......... Wheat ripe....... Pentecost.
(5.) SUMMER.
Sivan, latter half.
Tammuz.
Ab, former half.
(6.) SULTRY SEASON.
Ab, latter half.
I lul.
Tisri, former half. ................... Ingathering of fruits.
Thus the six months from mid Tisri to mid Nisan were mainly occupied with the process of cultivation, and the rest with the gathering of the fruits. Rain was commonly expected soon after the autumnal equinox, or mid Tisri; and if by the first of Kisleu none had fallen, a fast was proclaimed (Mishna, Taanith, ch. 1).
The common Scriptural expressions of the “early" and the "latter rain" (Deu_11:14; Jer_5:24; Hos_6:3; Zec_10:1; Jam_5:7) are scarcely confirmed by modern experience; the season of rains being unbroken (Robinson, 1, 41, 429; 3, 96); though perhaps the fall is more strongly marked at the beginning and the end of it. The consternation caused by the failure of the former rain is depicted in Joel 1, 2; and this prophet seems to promise that and the latter rain together "in the first month," i. c. Nisan (2, 23). SEE RAIN.
Its plenty of water from natural sources made Canaan a contrast to rainless Egypt (Deu_8:7; Deu_11:8-12). Nor was the peculiar Egyptian method of horticulture alluded to in Deu_11:10 unknown, though less prevalent in Palestine. That peculiarity seems to have consisted in making in the fields square shallow beds, like our salt-pans, surrounded by a raised border of earth to keep in the water, which was then turned from one square to another by pushing aside the mud, to open one and close the next, with the foot. Robinson, however, describes a different process, to which he thinks this passage refers (Res. 1, 542; 2, 351; 3, 21), as still in use likewise in Palestine. There irrigation (including under the term all appliances for making the water available) was as essential as drainage in our region; and for this the large extent of rocky surface, easily excavated for cisterns and ducts, was most useful. Even the plain of Jericho is watered not by canals from the Jordan, since the river lies below the land, but by rills converging from the mountains. In these features of the country lay its expansive resources to meet the wants of a multiplying population. The lightness of agricultural labor in the plains set free an abundance of hands for the task of terracing and watering, and the result gave the highest stimulus to industry. SEE IRRIGATION.
III. Soil, etc. — The Israelites probably found in Canaan a fair proportion of woodland, which their necessities, owing to the discouragement of commerce, must have led them to reduce (Jos_17:18). But even in early times timber seems to have been far less used for building material than among Western nations; the Israelites were not skillful hewers, and imported both the timber and the workmen (1Ki_5:6; 1Ki_5:8). No store of wood-fuel seems to have been kept; ovens were heated with such things as dung and hay (Eze_4:12; Eze_4:15; Malachi 4:13); and, in any case of sacrifice on an emergency, some, as we should think, unusual source of supply is constantly mentioned for the wood (1Sa_6:14; 2Sa_24:22; 1Ki_19:21; comp. Gen_22:3; Gen_22:6-7). All this indicates a nonabundance of timber, and implies that nearly all the arable soil was under culture, or, at least, used for pasturage. SEE FOREST.
The geological characters of the soil in Palestine have never been satisfactorily stated; but the different epithets of description which travelers employ, enable us to know that it differs considerably, both in its appearance and character, in different parts of the land; but wherever soil of any kind exists, even to a very slight depth, it is found to be highly fertile. As parts of Palestine are hilly, and as hills have seldom much depth of soil, the mode of cultivating them in terraces was anciently, and is now much employed. A series of low stone walls, one above another, across the face of the hill, arrest the soil brought down by the rains, and afford a series of levels for the operations of the husbandman. This mode of cultivation is usual in Lebanon, and is not unfrequent in Palestine, where the remains of terraces across the hills, in various parts of the country, attest the extent to which it was anciently carried. This terrace cultivation has necessarily increased or declined with the population. If the people were so few that the valleys afforded sufficient food for them, the more difficult culture of the hills was neglected; but when the population was too large for the valleys to satisfy with bread, then the hills were laid under cultivation. SEE VINEYARD.
In such a climate as that of Palestine, water is the great fertilizing agent. The rains of autumn and winter, and the dews of spring, suffice for the ordinary objects of agriculture; but the ancient inhabitants were able, in some parts, to avert even the aridity which the summer droughts occasioned, and to keep up a garden-like verdure, by means of aqueducts communicating with the brooks and rivers (Psa_1:3; Psa_65:10; Pro_21:1; Isa_30:25; Isa_32:2; Isa_32:20; Hos_12:11). Hence springs, fountains, and rivulets were as much esteemed by husbandmen as by shepherds (Jos_15:19; Jdg_1:15). The soil was also cleared of stones, and carefully cultivated; and its fertility was increased by the ashes to which the dry stubble and herbage were occasionally reduced by being burned over the surface of the ground (Pro_24:31; Isa_7:23; Isa_32:13). Dung and, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, the blood of animals were also used to enrich the soil (2Ki_9:37; Psa_83:10; Isa_25:10; Jer_9:22; Luk_14:34-35). A rabbi limits the quantity to three heaps of ten half-cors, or about 380 gallons, to each seah (q.v.) of grain, and wishes the quantity in each heap, rather than their number, to be increased if the field be large (Mishna, Shebiith, 3, 2). Nor was the great usefulness of sheep to the soil unrecognised (ib. 4), though, owing to the general distinctness of the pastoral life, there was less scope for it. SEE MANURE.
That the soil might not be exhausted, it was ordered that every seventh year should be a sabbath of rest to the land: there was then to be no sowing or reaping, no pruning of vines or olives, no vintage or gathering of fruits; and whatever grew of itself was to be left to the poor, the stranger, and the beasts of the field (Lev_25:1-7; Deu_15:1-10). But such an observance required more faith than the Israelites were prepared to exercise. It was for a long time utterly neglected (Lev_26:34-35; 2Ch_36:21), but after the captivity it was more observed. By this remarkable institution the Hebrew were also trained to habits of economy and foresight, and invited to exercise a large degree of trust in the bountiful providence of their Divine King. SEE SABBATICAL YEAR.
A change in the climate of Palestine, caused by increase of population and the clearance of trees, must have taken place before the period of the N.T. A further change, caused by the decrease of skilled agricultural labor, e.g. in irrigation and terrace-making, has since ensued. Not only this, but the great variety of elevation and local character in so small a compass of country necessitates a partial and guarded application of general remarks (Robinson, 1, 507, 553, 554; 3, 595; Stanley, Palestine, p. 118-126). Yet wherever industry is secure, the soil still asserts its old fertility. The Hauran (Peraea) is as fertile as Damascus, and its bread enjoys the highest reputation. The black and fat, but light soil about Gaza, is said to hold so much moisture as to be very fertile with little rain. Here, as in the neighborhood of Beyrut, is a vast olive-ground, and the very sand of the shore is said to be fertile if watered. SEE WATER.
IV. Crops and Fields. — Under the term דָּגָן, dagan', which we translate "grain" and "corn," the Hebrew comprehended almost every object of field culture. Syria, including Palestine, was regarded by the ancients as one of the first countries for corn (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 18, 7). Wheat was abundant and excellent; and there is still one bearded sort, the ear of which is three times as heavy, and contains twice as many grains as our common English wheat (Irby and Mangles, p. 472). Barley was also much cultivated; not only for bread, but because it was the only kind of corn which was given to beasts; for oats and rye do not grow in warm climates. Hay was not in use; and therefore the barley was mixed with chopped straw to form the food of cattle (Gen_24:25; Gen_24:32; Jdg_19:19, etc.). Other kinds of field culture were millet, spelt, various species of beans and peas, pepperwort, cummin, cucumbers, melons, flax, and perhaps cotton. Many other articles might be mentioned as being now cultivated in Palestine; but, as their names do not occur in Scripture, it is difficult to know whether they were grown there in ancient times or not. The cereal crops of constant mention are wheat and barley, and more rarely rye and millet (?). Of the two former, together with the vine, olive, and fig, the use of irrigation, the plough and the harrow, mention is found in the book of Job (Job_31:40; Job_15:33; Job_24:6; Job_29:9; Job_39:10). Two kinds of cummin (the black variety called "fitches," Isa_28:27), and such podded plants as beans and lentiles, may be named among the staple produce. To these, later writers add a great variety of garden plants, e.g. kidney-beans, peas, lettuce, endive, leek, garlic, onion, melon, cucumber, cabbage, etc. (Mishna, Kilaim, 1, 2). The produce which formed Jacob's present was of such kinds as would keep, and had kept during the famine (Gen_43:11). The ancient Hebrew had little notion of green or root crops grown for fodder, nor was the long summer drought suitable for them. Barley supplied food both to man and beast, and the plant called in Eze_4:9 "millet," דֹּחִן, dochan' (the holcus dochna of Linn. according to Gesenius, Heb. Lex. s.v.), was grazed while green, and its ripe grain made into bread. In the later period of more advanced irrigation the תַּלְתָּן, tiltan', "fenugreek" (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. col. 2601), occurs (Mishna, Maaseroth, 1), also the שִׁחִת, shach'ath, a clover, apparently, given cut (Mishna, Peah, 5, 5). Mowing (גֵּז, gez, Amos 6, 1; Psa_72:6) and haymaking were familiar processes, but the latter had no express word; חָצַיר, chatsir', standing both for grass and hay, a token of a hot climate, where the grass may become hay as it stands. The yield of the land, besides fruit from trees, was technically distinguished as תְּבוּאָה, tebuah', produce, including apparently all cereal plants, קַטְנַיּוֹת, kitniyoth', pod-fruits (nearly equivalent to the Latin legumen), and זִרְעוּנֵי גַּינָּא, zaruney' ginna', garden seeds (Buxtorf, ib. col. 693), while the simple word seeds (זִרְעוּנַין, zarunin') was used also generically for all seed, including all else which was liable to tithe, for which purpose the distinction seems to have existed. (See Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 17 sq.). SEE BOTANY.
The rotation of crops, familiar to the Egyptians (Wilkinson, 2, p. 4), can hardly have been unknown to the Hebrew. Sowing a field with divers seeds was forbidden (Deu_22:9), and minute directions are given by the rabbis for arranging a seeded surface with great variety, yet avoiding the juxtaposition of heterogenea. Some of these arrangements are shown in the annexed drawings (from Surenhusius's Mischna, 1, 120). Three furrows' interval was the prescribed margin (Kilaim, 2, 6). The blank spaces represent such margins, often tapering to save ground. In a vineyard wide spaces were often left between the vines, for whose roots a radius of four cubits was allowed, and the rest of the space cropped; so herb-gardens stood in the midst of vineyards (Peah, 5, 5). Similar arrangements were observed in the case of a field of grain with olives about and amidst it.
Anciently, as now, in Palestine and the East the arable lands were not divided into fields by fences, as in most countries. The ripening products therefore presented an expanse of culture unbroken, although perhaps variegated, in a large view, by the difference of the products grown. The boundaries of lands were therefore marked by stones as landmarks, which, even in patriarchal times, it was deemed a heinous wrong to remove (Job_24:2); and the law pronounced a curse upon those who, without authority, disturbed them (Deu_19:14; Deu_27:17). The walls and hedges which are occasionally mentioned in Scripture belonged to orchards, gardens, and vineyards. SEE GARDEN. Fields and floors were not commonly enclosed; vineyards mostly were, with a tower and other buildings (Num_22:24; Psa_80:13; Isa_5:5; Mat_21:33; comp. Jdg_6:11). Banks of mud from ditches were also used. SEE WALL.
With regard to occupancy, a tenant might pay a fixed moneyed rent (Son_8:11) — in which case he was called שׂוֹכֵר, soker^, a mercenary, and was compellable to keep the ground in good order — or a stipulated share of the fruits (2Sa_9:10; Mat_21:34), often a half or a third; but local custom was the only rule; in this case he was called מְקִבֵּל, mekabbel’, lessee, and was more protected, the owner sharing the loss of a short or spoiled crop; so, in case of locusts, blight, etc., the year's rent was to be abated; or he might receive such share as a salary — an inferior position —when the term which described him was חוֹכֵר, choker’, manager on shares (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. col. 1955). It was forbidden to sow flax during a short occupancy (hence leases for terms of years would seem to have been common), lest the soil should be unduly exhausted (comp. Virgil, Georg. 1, 77). A passer-by might eat any quantity of corn or grapes, but not reap or carry off fruit (Deu_23:24-25; Mat_12:1).
The rights of the corner (q.v.) to be left, and of gleaning (q.v.), formed the poor man's claim on the soil for support. For his benefit, too, a sheaf forgotten in carrying to the floor was to be left; so, also, with regard to the vineyard and the olive-grove (Lev_19:9-10; Deu_24:19). Besides, there seems a probability that every third year a second tithe, besides the priests', was paid for the poor (Deu_14:28; Deu_26:12; Amo_4:4; Tob_1:7; Joseph. Ant. 4, 8, 22). On this doubtful point of the poor man's tithe (מִעֲשִׂר עָנַי, maasar’ ani’ see a learned note by Surenhusius, ad Peah, 8, 2. SEE TITHE. These rights, in case two poor men were partners in occupancy, might be conveyed by each to the other for half the field, and thus retained between them (Maimon. ad Peah, 5, 5). Sometimes a charitable owner declared his ground common, when its fruits, as those of the sabbatical year, went to the poor. For three years the fruit of newly-planted trees was deemed uncircumcised and forbidden; in the fourth it was holy, as first-fruits; in the fifth it might be ordinarily eaten (Mishna, Orlah, passim). SEE POOR.
V. Agricultural Operations and Implements.—Of late years much light has been thrown upon the agricultural operations and implements of ancient times, by the discovery of various representations on the sculptured monuments and painted tombs of Egypt, and (to some degree) of Assyria. As these agree surprisingly with the notices in the Bible, and, indeed, differ little from what we still find employed in Syria and Egypt, it is very safe to receive them as guides on the present subject (see also Corse's Assyria, p. 560).
1. Ploughing has always been a light and superficial operation in the East. At first, the ground was opened with pointed sticks; then a kind of hoe was employed; and this, in many parts of the world, is still used as a substitute for the plough. But the plough was known in Egypt and Syria before the Hebrew became cultivators (Job_1:14). At first it was little more than a stout branch of a tree, from which projected another limb, shortened and pointed. This, being turned into the ground, made the furrow; while at the farther end of the larger branch was fastened a transverse yoke, to which the oxen were harnessed. Afterward a handle to guide the plough was added. The Syrian plough is, and doubtless was, light enough for a man to carry in his hand (Russell's Nat. Hist. of Aleppo, 1, 73). The plough, probably, was like the Egyptian, and the process of ploughing like that called scarificatio by the Romans ("Syria tenui suico arat," Pliny 18:47), one yoke of oxen mostly sufficing to draw it. Mountains and rough places were hoed (Isa_7:5; Maimon. ad Mishn. 6 2; Robinson, 3, 595, 602-
3). The breaking up of new land was performed, as with the Romans, in "early spring" (vere novo). Such new ground and fallows, the use of which latter was familiar to the Jews (Jer_4:3; Hos_10:12), were cleared of stones and of thorns (Isa_5:2; Gemara Hierosol ad loc.) early in the year, sowing or gathering from “among thorns" being a proverb for slovenly husbandry (Job_5:5; Pro_24:30-31; Robinson, 2, 127). Virgin land was ploughed a second time. The proper words are פָּתִח, patkach’, to open, and שָׂדִד, sadad’ to level (by cross ploughing, Varro, De Re Rustica, 1, 32); both are distinctively used in Isa_28:24. Land already tilled was ploughed before the rains, that the moisture might the better penetrate (Maimon. ap. Ugol. De lie Rust. 5, 11). Rain, however, or irrigation (Isa_32:20) prepared the soil for the sowing, as may be inferred from the prohibition to irrigate till the gleaning was over, lest the poor should suffer (Peah, 5:3); and such sowing often took place without previous ploughing, the seed, as in the parable of the sower, being scattered broadcast, and ploughed in afterward, the roots of the late crop being so far decayed as to serve for manure (Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 72). Where the soil was heavier, the ploughing was best done dry ("dum sicca tellure licet," Virg. Georg. 1, 214); and there, though not generally, the hoeing (sarritio, עַדּוּר, iddur', dressing), and even the liratio, or ridging, of Roman husbandry, performed with tabulae affixed to the sides of the share, might be useful (see Smith's Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v. Aratrum). But the more formal routine of heavy western soils must not be made the standard of such a naturally fine tilth as that of Palestine generally (comp. Columella, 2, 12). During the rains, if not too heavy, or between their two periods, would be the best time for these operations; thus 70 days before the passover was the time prescribed for sowing for the "wavesheaf," and, probably, therefore, for that of barley generally. The plough was drawn by oxen, which were sometimes urged by a scourge (Isa_10:26; Nah_3:2), but oftener by a long staff, furnished at one end with a flat piece of metal for clearing the plough, and at the other with a spike for goading the oxen. This ox-goad (q.v.) might easily be used as a spear (Jdg_3:31; 1Sa_13:21). Sometimes men followed the plough with hoes to break the clods (Isa_28:24); but in later times a kind of harrow was employed, which appears to have been then, as now, merely a thick block of wood, pressed down by a weight, or by a man sitting on it, and drawn over the ploughed field. SEE PLOUGH.
2. Sowing. — The ground, having been ploughed as soon as the autumnal rains had mollified the soil, was fit, by the end of October, to receive the seed; and the sowing of wheat continued, in different situations, through November into December. Barley was not generally sown till January and February. The seed appears to have been sown and harrowed at the same time, although sometimes it was ploughed in by a cross furrow. SEE SOWING.
Occasionally, however, the sowing was by patches only in well-manured spots, a process called מְנֵמֵּר, menammer', variegating like a leopard, from its spotted appearance, as represented in the accompanying drawing by Surenhusius (1, 45) to illustrate the Mishna. 3. Ploughing in the Seed. — The Egyptian paintings illustrate the Scriptures by showing that in those soils which needed no previous preparation by the hoe (for breaking the clods) the sower followed the plough, holding in the left hand a basket of seed, which he scattered with the right hand, while another person filled a fresh basket. We also see that the mode of sowing was what we call "broadcast," in which the seed is thrown loosely over the field (Mat_13:3-8). In Egypt, when the levels were low, and the water had continued long upon the land, they often dispensed with the plough altogether; and probably, like the present inhabitants, broke up the ground with hoes, or simply dragged the moist mud with bushes after the seed had been thrown upon the surface. To this cultivation without ploughing Moses probably alludes (Deu_11:10), when he tells the Hebrew that the land to which they were going was not like the land of Egypt, where they “sowed their seed, and watered it with their foot, as a garden of herbs." It seems, however, that even in Syria, in sandy soils, they sow without ploughing, and then plough down the seed (Russell's N. H. of Aleppo, 1, 73, etc.). It does not appear that any instrument resembling our harrow was known; the word שָׂדִד, sadad', rendered to harrow, in Job_39:10, means literally to break the clods, and is so rendered in Isa_28:24; Hos_10:11; and for this purpose the means used have been already indicated. The passage in Job, however, is important. It shows that this breaking of the clods was not always by the hand, but that some kind of instrument was drawn by an animal over the ploughed field, most probably the rough log which is still in use. SEE HARROW. The readiest way of brushing over the soil is by means of a bundle composed simply of thorn bushes. In highly-irrigated spots the seed was trampled in by cattle (Isa_32:20) as in Egypt by goats (Wilkinson, 1, p. 39, 2d ser.).
4. Harvest. — The custom of watching ripening crops and threshing-floors against theft or damage (Robinson, 1, 490; 2, 18, 83, 99) is probably ancient. Thus Boaz slept on the floor (Rth_3:4; Rth_3:7). Barley ripened a week or two before wheat; and, as fine harvest weather was certain (Pro_26:1; 1Sa_12:17; Amo_4:7), the crop chiefly varied with the quantity of timely rain. The period of harvest must always have differed according to elevation, aspect, etc. (Robinson, 1:430, 551). The proportion of harvest gathered to seed sown was often vast, a hundred-fold is mentioned, but in such a way as to signify, that it was a limit rarely attained (Gen_26:12; Mat_13:8). Among the Israelites, as with all other people, the harvest was a season of joy, and such is more than once alluded to in Scripture (Psa_126:5; Isa_9:13). SEE HARVEST.
5. Reaping. — In the most ancient times the corn was plucked up by the roots, which continued to be the practice with particular kinds of grain after the sickle was known. In Egypt, at this day, barley and “doorra" are pulled up by the roots. The choice between these modes of operation was probably determined, in Palestine, by the consideration pointed out by Russell (N. H. of Aleppo, 1, 74), who states that “wheat, as well as barley in general, does not grow half as high as in Britain; and is therefore, like other grain, not reaped with the sickle, but plucked up by the roots with the hand. In other parts of the country, where the corn grows ranker, the sickle is used." When the sickle was used, the wheat was either cropped off under the ear or cut close to the ground. In the former case, the straw was afterward plucked up for use; in the latter, the stubble was left and burned on the ground for manure. As the Egyptians needed not such manure, and were economical of straw, they generally followed the former method; while the Israelites, whose lands derived benefit from the burned stubble, used the latter, although the practice of cutting off the ears was also known to them (Job_24:24). Cropping the ears short, the Egyptians did not generally bind them into sheaves, but removed them in baskets. Sometimes, however, they bound them into double sheaves; and such as they plucked up were bound into single long sheaves. The Israelites appear generally to have made up their corn into sheaves (Gen_37:7; Lev_23:10-15; Rth_2:7; Rth_2:15; Job_24:10; Jer_9:22; Mich. 4:12), which were collected into a heap, or removed in a cart (Amo_2:13) to the threshing-floor. The carts were probably similar to those which are still employed for the same purpose. SEE WAGON.
The sheaves were never made up into shocks, as with us, although the word occurs in our translation of Jdg_15:5; Job_5:26; for the original term signifies neither a shock composed of a few sheaves standing temporarily in the field, nor a stack of many sheaves in the home yard, properly thatched, to stand for a length of time; but a heap of sheaves laid loosely together, in order to be trodden out as quickly as possible, in the same way as is done in the East at the present day (Brown, Antiq. of the Jews, 2, 591). Such heaps were sometimes fancifully arranged in the form of helmets (לְקוּבָעוֹת, lekubaoth') or of turbans (לְכוּמָסוֹת, lekumasoth') [but see other explanations of these terms in Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. col. 1960, 1051], or of a cake (לְחֲרָרָא, lecharara'), as in the following illustration from Surenhusius (Mischna, ut sup.). SEE SHEAF.
With regard to sickles, there appear to have been two kinds, indicated by the different names חֶרְמֵשׁ, chermesh', and מִגָּל, maggal'; and as the former occurs only in the Pentateuch (Deu_16:9; Deu_23:20), and the latter only in the Prophets (Jer_2:16; Joe_1:17), it would seem that the one was the earlier and the other the later instrument. But as we observe two very different kinds of sickles in use among the Egyptians, not only at the same time, but in the same field, it may have been so with the Jews also. The figures of these Egyptian sickles probably mark the difference between them. One was very much like our common reaping- hook, while the other had more resemblance in its shape to a scythe, and some of the Egyptian examples appear to have been toothed. This last is probably the same as the Hebrew maggal, which is indeed rendered by scythe in the margin of Jer_1:16. SEE SICKLE.
The reapers were the owners and their children, men-servants and women- servants, and day-laborers (Rth_2:4; Rth_2:6; Rth_2:21; Rth_2:23; Joh_4:36; Jam_5:4). Refreshments were provided for them, especially drink, of which the gleaners were allowed to partake (Rth_2:9). So in the Egyptian harvest-scenes (as above depicted), we perceive a provision of water in skins, hung against trees or in jars upon stands, with the reapers drinking, and gleaners applying to share the draught. Among the Israelites, gleaning was one of the stated provisions for the poor; and for their benefit the corners of the field were left unreaped, and the reapers might not return for a forgotten sheaf. The gleaners, however, were to obtain in the first place express permission of the proprietor or his steward (Lev_19:9-10; Deu_24:19; Rth_2:2; Rth_2:7). SEE REAPING; SEE GLEANING.
6. Threshing. — Formerly the sheaves were conveyed from the field to the threshing-floor in carts; but now they are borne, generally, on the backs of camels and asses. The threshing-floor is a level plot of ground, of a circular shape, generally about fifty feet in diameter, prepared for use by beating down the earth till a hard floor is formed (Jdg_6:37). Such floors were probably permanent, and became well-known spots (Gen_1:10-11; 2Sa_24:16; 2Sa_24:18). Sometimes several of these floors are contiguous to each other. The sheaves are spread out upon them; and the grain is trodden out by oxen, cows, and young cattle, arranged usually five abreast, and driven in a circle, or rather in all directions, over the floor. This was the common mode in the Bible times; and Moses forbade that the oxen thus employed should be muzzled to prevent them from tasting the corn (Deu_25:4; Isa_28:28). SEE MUZZLE.
Flails, or sticks, were only used in threshing small quantities, or for the lighter kinds of grain (Rth_2:17; Isa_28:27). There were, however, some kinds of threshing instruments, such as are still used in Egypt and Palestine. One of them is composed of two thick planks, fastened together side by side, and bent upward in front. Sharp fragments of stone are fixed into holes bored in the bottom. This machine is drawn over the corn by oxen — a man or boy sometimes sitting on it to increase the weight. It not only separates the grain, but cuts the straw and makes it fit for fodder (2Ki_13:7). This is, most probably, the חָרוּוֹ, charuts', or “corn-drag," which is mentioned in Scripture (Isa_28:27; Isa_41:15; Amo_1:3; rendered "threshing instrument"), and would seem to have been sometimes furnished with iron points instead of stones. The Bible also notices a machine called a מוֹרָג, morag' (2Sa_24:22; 1Ch_21:23; Isa_41:15), which is unquestionably the same which bears in Arabic the name of noreg (Wilkinson, 2, 190). It appears to have been similar to the Roman tribulum and the plostellum Punicum (Varr. de R. R. 1, 52). This machine is not now often seen in Palestine; but is more used in some parts of Syria, and is common in Egypt. It is a sort of frame of wood, in which are inserted three wooden rollers armed with iron teeth, etc. It bears a sort of seat or chair, in which the driver sits to give the benefit of his weight. It is generally drawn over the corn by two oxen, and separates the grain, and breaks up the straw even more effectually than the drag. In all these processes, the corn is occasionally turned by a fork, and, when sufficiently threshed, is thrown up by the same fork against the wind to separate the grain, which is then gathered up and winnowed. Barley was sometimes soaked and then parched before treading out, which got rid of the pellicle of the grain. (See further the Antiquitates Trituroe, Ugolini, 29.) SEE THRESHING.
7. Winnowing was generally accomplished by repeating the process of tossing up the grain against the wind with a fork (Jer_4:11-12), by which the broken straw and chaff were dispersed, while the grain fell to the ground. After this it underwent a still further purification, by being tossed up with wooden scoops or short-handed shovels, such as we see in Egyptian paintings (Isa_30:24). SEE WINNOWING.
The “shovel" and “fan" (respectively רִחִת, rach'ath, and מַזְרֶה, nizreh', Isa_30:24, but their precise difference is very doubtful) indicate a conspicuous part of ancient husbandry (Psa_35:5; Job_21:18; Isa_17:13), and important, owing to the slovenly threshing. Evening was the favorite time (Rth_3:2), when there was mostly a breeze. The mizreh (scatterer, prob. = πτύον, Mat_3:12; Homer Iliad, 18, 588) was perhaps a broad shovel which threw the grain up against the wind; while the rachath (blower) may have been a fork (still used in Palestine for the same purpose) or a broad basket, in which it was tossed. The heap of produce customarily rendered in rent was sometimes so large as to cover the rachath (Mishna, Baba Metsiath, 9, 2); this favors the latter view; again, the πτύον was a corn-measure in Cyprus (see Liddell and Scott, Lex. s.v. πτύον). The last process was the shaking in a sieve, כְּבָרָה, kebarah' (cribrum), to separate dirt and refuse (Amo_9:9). SEE FAN; SEE SHOVEL; SEE SIEVE.
VI. For the literature of the subject, SEE HUSBANDRY.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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