Wheat
VIEW:13 DATA:01-04-2020
WHEAT (chittâh, Gen_30:14, Exo_34:22 etc.; sitos, Mat_3:12; Mat_13:25; Mat_13:29-30, Luk_3:17; Luk_16:7; Luk_22:31 etc.).The wheat of Palestine is mostly of the bearded varieties; it is not only eaten as bread, but also boiled, unground, to make the peasants dish burghul, which is in turn pounded with meat in a mortar (cf. Pro_27:22) to make the festive delicacy kibbeh. Wheat is grown all over the valleys and plains of W. Palestine, though to a less extent than barley, but it is cultivated in the largest quantities in the Nuqra or plain of the Hauran, one of the finest grain-growing countries in the world. The wheat harvest occurs from April to June; its time was looked upon as one of the divisions of the year (Exo_34:22, Jdg_15:1, 1Sa_12:17). The expressions fat of wheat (Psa_81:16 mg., 147:14 mg.) and the fat of kidneys of wheat (Deu_32:14) refer to the finest flour of wheat.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
The wheat harvest (usually in the end of May) in Palestine is mentioned as early as Reuben (Gen_30:14), compare Isaac's hundred fold increase (Gen_26:12). The crops are now thin and light, no manure being used and the same grain grown on the same soil year by year. Three varieties are grown, all bearded. The sickle was in use for cutting grain as well as sometimes for the vintage (Rev_14:18-19). Generally, the ears only were cut off, the long straw being left in the ground.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Wheat. The well-known valuable cereal, cultivated from the earliest times, is first mentioned in (Gen_30:14, in the account of Jacob's sojourn with Laban in Mesopotamia. Egypt, in ancient times, was celebrated for the growth of its wheat; the best quality was all bearded; and the same varieties existed in ancient as in modern times, among which may be mentioned the seven-eared quality described in Pharaoh's dream. Gen_41:22. Babylonia was also noted for the excellence of its wheat and other cereals. Syria and Palestine produced wheat of fine quality and in large quantities. Psa_81:16; Psa_147:14; etc.
There appear to be two or three kinds of wheat at present grown in Palestine, the Triticum vulgare, the Triticum spelta, and another variety of bearded wheat which appears to be the same as the Egyptian kind, the Triticum compositum. In the parable of the sower our Lord alludes to grains of wheat which in good ground produce a hundred-fold. Mat_13:8. The common Triticum vulgare will sometimes produce one hundred grains in the ear.
Wheat is reaped toward the end of April, in May, and in June, according to the differences of soil and position; it was sown either broadcast and then ploughed in or trampled in by cattle, Isa_32:20 or in rows, if we rightly understand Isa_28:25 which seems to imply that the seeds were planted apart in order to insure larger and fuller ears. The wheat was put into the ground in the winter, and some time after the barley; in the Egyptian plague of hail, consequently, the barley suffered, but the wheat had not appeared, and so escaped injury.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
הטה , Gen_30:14; Deu_8:8; σιτος, Mat_13:25; Luk_16:7; 1Co_15:37; the principal and the most valuable kind of grain for the service of man. (See Barley, and See Fitches.) In Leviticus 2, directions are given for oblations, which in our translation are called meat-offerings; but as meat means flesh, and all kinds of offerings there specified, were made of wheat, it had been better to render it wheaten offerings. Calmet has observed, that there were five kinds of these, simple flour, oven cakes, cakes of the fire plate, cakes of the frying pan, and green ears of corn. The word בר , translated corn, Gen_41:35, and wheat in Jer_23:28; Joe_2:24; Amo_5:11, &c, is undoubtedly the burr, or wild corn of the Arabs, mentioned by Forskal.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
hwēt ((1) חטּה, ḥiṭṭāh, the specific word for wheat (Gen_30:14; Exo_34:22, etc.), with πυρός, purós (Judith 3:3; Sirach 39:26); (2) בּר, bar, or בּר, bār (Jer_23:28; Joe_2:24; Amo_5:11; Amo_8:6); in other passages translated ?grain? or ?corn?; (3) σῖτος, sı́tos (Mat_3:12; Mat_13:25, Mat_13:29, Mat_13:30; Luk_3:17; Luk_16:7; Luk_22:31, etc.) (for other words translated occasionally ?wheat? in the King James Version see CORN; FOOD)): Wheat, usually the bearded variety, is cultivated all over Palestine, though less so than barley. The great plain of the Hauran is a vast expanse of wheat fields in the spring; considerable quantities are exported via Beirut, Haifa, and Gaza. The ?wheat harvest? was in olden times one of the regular divisions of the year (Exo_34:22; Jdg_15:1; 1Sa_12:17); it follows the barley harvest (Exo_9:31, Exo_9:32), occurring in April, May or June, according to the altitude.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Fig. 342?Egyptian Wheat?Triticum compositum
Wheat occurs in various passages of Scripture, and there can be no doubt that the word so rendered has this signification.
Wheat having been one of the earliest cultivated grains, is most probably of Asiatic origin, as no doubt Asia was the earliest civilized, as well as the first peopled country. As both wheat and barley are cultivated in the plains of India in the winter months, where none of the species of these genera are indigenous, it is probable that both have been introduced into India from the north, that is, from the Persian, and perhaps from the Tartarian region, where these and other species of barley are most successfully and abundantly cultivated. Different species of wheat were no doubt cultivated by the ancients; but both barley and wheat are too well known to require further illustration in this place.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Psa_81:16 (c) We may learn from this that those who hearken to the Lord and seek to obey His Word may expect to receive GOD's richest blessings that will make them strong, able and happy Christian servants. (See also Psa_147:14).
Jer_23:28 (a) The wheat in this case represents the Word of GOD, while the chaff represents the ideas, notions and dreams of men.
Mat_3:12 (a) Our Lord JESUS, as well as others, used "wheat" as a type of Christians, believers in the Lord JESUS. The chaff represents hypocrites, who are raised among the wheat, and close to the wheat, but never become "wheat." In the final day, GOD takes the Christians (the wheat) into His home in glory, while the unsaved are shut out. (See also Luk_3:17).
Mat_13:25 (a) The grain in this verse represents the Word of GOD as the wheat, and false doctrines and false writings as the tares. There are always those in every community who would bring evil doctrines in among GOD's people in order to hinder the salvation of souls. The field in which these mixed seeds are sown is the world. In GOD's true church, only the precious Word of GOD is preached and taught.
Joh_12:24 (a) This grain is the Lord JESUS Himself. He was cut down and was buried, but came forth from the tomb to produce a tremendous crop of believers for eternity.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.
(חַטָּה, chittidh [for, חַנְטָה, chinth]; Chald. plur. חַנְטַין, chintin; σῖτος), the well-known valuable cereal cultivated from the earliest times, occurs in various passages of Scripture (Heb. Gen_30:14; Exo_9:32; Exo_29:2; Exo_34:22; Deu_8:8; Deu_32:14; Jdg_6:11; Jdg_15:1; Rth_2:23; 1Sa_6:13; 1Sa_12:17 2Sa_4:6; 2Sa_17:28; 1Ki_4:11; 1Ch_21:20; 1Ch_21:23; 2Ch_2:10; 2Ch_2:15; 2Ch_27:5; Job_31:40; Psa_81:16; Psa_147:14; Son_7:2; Isa_28:25; Jer_12:13; Jer_41:8; Eze_4:9; Eze_27:17; Eze_45:13; Joe_1:11; Chald. Ezr_6:9; Ezr_7:22; Greek Mat_3:12; Mar_4:28 [corn]; Luk_3:17; Luk_16:7; Luk_22:31; Joh_12:24; Act_7:12 [corn]; Act_27:38; 1Co_15:37; Rev_6:6; Rev_18:13; also Jdt_3:3; Sir_39:26). In the A.V. the Heb. words bar ( בִּרor בָּר, Jer_23:28; Joe_2:24; Amo_5:11; Amo_8:5-6), dagan (דָּגָן, Num_18:12; Jer_31:12), riphoth (רַיפוֹת, Pro_27:22), are occasionally translated wheat; but there is no doubt that the proper name of this cereal, as distinguished from barley, spelt, etc., is chittah (חַטָּה; Chald. חַנְטַין, chintin). As to the former Hebrew terms, see under CORN. . There can be no doubt that chittalh, by some written chittha, chefteth, cheteh, etc., is correctly translated wheat, from its close resemblance to the Arabic, as well to the names of wheat in other languages. Celsius says, חטה, chittha, occultato נin puncto dagesch, pro חנטה, chintha, dicitur ex usu Ebreeorum. This brings it still nearer to the Arabic name of wheat, which in Roman characters is variously written, hinteh, hinthe, henta, and by Pemplius, in his translation of Avicenna, hhintta; and under this name it is described by the Arabic authors on Materia Medica. As the Arabic ha is in many words converted into kha, it is evident that the Hebrew and Arabic names of wheat are the same, especially as the Hebrew ה has the guttural sound. Different derivations have been given of the word chittah by Celsius it is derived from חָנִט, chanaf, protulit, produxit, fructuan, ex Son_2:13; or the Arabic chanat, rubuit, quod triticum rubello sit colore(Hierobot. 2, 113).
The translator of the Biblical Botany of Rosenmüller justly observes that the similarity in sound between the Hebrew word chittah and the English wheat is obvious. Be it remembered that the ch here is identical in sound with theGaelic guttural, or the Spanish X. It is further remarkable that the Hebrew term is etynmologically cognate with the words for wheat used by every one of the Teutonic and Scandinavian nations (thus we have in Icelandic, hveiti; Danish, hvede; Swedish, hvete;Maeso-Goth. hvaite; German, Weizen); and that, in this instance, there is no resemblance between the Scandinavian and Teutonic terms, and the Greek, Latin, and Slavonic (for the Greek word is πυρός; the Latin, frumentum or triticum; the Russian, psienitsa; Polish, psenica); and yet the general resemblance between the Slavonic, the Thracian, and the Gothic languages is so strong that no philologist now doubts their identity of origin (loc. cit. p. 75). Rosenmüller further remarks that in Egypt and in Barbary kamich is the usual name for wheat (quoting Descrip. de l'Egypte, 19:45; Host, Account of Maroko and Fez, p. 309); and also that in Hebrew, קֶמִח, kemach, denotes the flour of wheat (Gen_18:6; Num_5:15). This, it is curious to observe, is not very unlike the Indian name of wheat, kunuk.
All these names indicate communication between the nations of antiquity, as well as point to a common origin of wheat. Thus in his Himalayan Botany, Dr. J. F. Boyle has stated: Wheat, having been one of the earliest- cultivated grains, is most probably of Asiatic origin, as no doubt Asia was the earliest-civilized as well as the first peopled country. It is known to the Arabs under the name of hinteh; to the Persians as qguindum; Hindfi, gahnih and kunuk. The species of barley cultivated in the plains of India, and known by the Hindau and Persian name juo, Arabic shalir, is Iloumd hexaerstichum. As both wheat and barley are cultivated in the plains of India in the winter months, where none of the species of these genera are indigenous, it is probable that both have been introduced into India from the north, that is, from the Persian, and perhaps from the Tartarian region, where these and other species of barley are most successfully and abundantly cultivated (p. 419). Different species of wheat were no doubt cultivated by the ancients. as Triticum compositum in Egypt, T. cestiuv. nu, T. hibernum in Syria, etc.; but both barley and wheat are too well known to require further illustration in this place.
Much has been written on the subject of the origin of wheat, and the question appears to be still undecided. It is said that the Triticum vulgare has been found wild in some parts of Persia and Siberia, apparently removed from the influence of cultivation (English Cyclop. s.v. Triticum). Again, from the experiments of M. Esprit Fabre of Agde, it would seem that the numerous varieties of cultivated wheat are merely improved transformations of Egilops. ovata (Journal of the Royal Agricult. Soc. No. 33, p. 167-180). M. Fabre's experiments, however, have not been deemed conclusive by some botanists (see an interesting paper by the late Prof. Henfrey in No. 41 of the Journal quoted above). Egypt in ancient times was celebrated for the growth of its wheat. The best quality, according to Pliny (Nat. Hist. 18:7), was grown in the Thebaid; it was all bearded; and the same varieties, Wilkinson writes (Anc. Egypt. [ed. 1854], 2, 39), existed in ancient as in modern times, among which maybe mentioned the seven-eared quality described in Pharaoh's dream (Gen_41:22). This is the so-called mummy-wheat, which, it has been said, has germinated after the lapse of thousands of years; but it is now known that the whole thing was a fraud. Babylonia was also noted for the excellence of its wheat and other cereals. In grain, says Herodotus (1, 193), it will yield commonly two hundredfold, and at its greatest production as much as three-hundredfold. The blades of the wheat and barley plants are often four fingers broad. But this is a great exaggeration (see also Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. 8:7). Modern writers, as Chesney and Rich, bear testimony to the great fertility of Mesopotamia. Syria and Palestine produced wheat of fine quality and in large quantities (Psa_147:14; Psa_81:16, etc.).
There appear to be two or three kinds of wheat at present grown in Palestine the Triticum vulgare (var.hibernum), the T. spelta, SEE RYE, and another variety of bearded wheat which appears to be the same as the Egyptian kind, the Teomipoz' situm. In the parable of the sower, our Lord alludes to grains of wheat which in good ground produce a hundredfold (Mat_13:8). The return of a hundred for one, says Trench, is not unheard of in the East, though always mentioned as something extraordinary. Laborde says, There is to be found at Kerek a species of hundred wheat which justifies the text of the Bible against the charges of exaggeration of which it has been the object. The common Triticum vulgare will sometimes produce one hundred grains in the ear. Wheat is reaped towards the end of April, in. May, and in June, according to the differences of soil and position. It was sown either broadcast, and then ploughed in or trampled in by cattle (Isa_32:20), or in rows, if we rightly understand Isa_28:25, which seems to imply that the seeds were planted apart in order to insure larger and fuller ears. The wheat was put into the ground in the winter, and some time after the barley. In the Egyptian plague of hail, consequently, the barley suffered, but the wheat had not .appeared, and so escaped injury. Wheat was ground into flour. The finest qualities were expressed, by the term fat of kidneys of wheat ( כַּלְיוֹת חַטָּה חֵלֶב, Deu_32:14). Unripe ears are sometimes cut off from the stalks, roasted in an oven, mashed and boiled, and eaten by the modern Egyptians (Sonnini, Travels). Rosenmüller (Botany of the Bible, p. 80), with good reason, conjectures that this dish, which the Arabs callferik, is the same as the geres carnel (כִּרְמֶל גֶּרֶשׂ) of Lev_2:14 and 2Ki_4:42. The Heb. word kali ( קָלַיLev_2:14) denotes, it is probable, roasted ears of corn, still used as food in the East. An ear of corn was called shibboleth (שַׁבֹּלֶת), the word which betrayed the Ephraimites (Jdg_12:1; Jdg_12:6), who were unable to give the sound of sh. The curious expression in Pro_27:22, Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him, appears to point to the custom of mixing the grains of inferior cereals with wheat; the meaning will then be, Let a fool be ever so much in the company of wise men, yet he will continue a fool. Maurer (Comment. loc. cit.) simply explains the passage thus: Quomodocunque tractaveris stultum non patietur se emendari. SEE CEREALS.
Wheat was known to the Israelites in Egypt (Exo_9:32), and on returning to Canaan they no doubt found it still cultivated as in the days of Reuben (Gen_30:14). Most probably they were the same sorts which were used in both countries; but there were only a few districts of Palestine, such as the plain of Jezreel, which could compete with that magnificent carse, the delta of Egypt, the finest corn country of the ancient world. At present the wheat crops of Palestine are very poor and light, and would disgust an English farmer. One may ride and walk through the standing corn without the slightest objection made or harm done. No wonder it is thin, when white crops are raised from the same soil year after year, and no sort of manure put into the ground(Tristram, Travels, p. 591). SEE AGRICULTURE.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
The wheat harvest (usually in the end of May) in Palestine is mentioned as early as Reuben (Gen_30:14), compare Isaac's hundred fold increase (Gen_26:12). The crops are now thin and light, no manure being used and the same grain grown on the same soil year by year. Three varieties are grown, all bearded. The sickle was in use for cutting grain as well as sometimes for the vintage (Rev_14:18-19). Generally, the ears only were cut off, the long straw being left in the ground.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Wheat. The well-known valuable cereal, cultivated from the earliest times, is first mentioned in (Gen_30:14, in the account of Jacob's sojourn with Laban in Mesopotamia. Egypt, in ancient times, was celebrated for the growth of its wheat; the best quality was all bearded; and the same varieties existed in ancient as in modern times, among which may be mentioned the seven-eared quality described in Pharaoh's dream. Gen_41:22. Babylonia was also noted for the excellence of its wheat and other cereals. Syria and Palestine produced wheat of fine quality and in large quantities. Psa_81:16; Psa_147:14; etc.
There appear to be two or three kinds of wheat at present grown in Palestine, the Triticum vulgare, the Triticum spelta, and another variety of bearded wheat which appears to be the same as the Egyptian kind, the Triticum compositum. In the parable of the sower our Lord alludes to grains of wheat which in good ground produce a hundred-fold. Mat_13:8. The common Triticum vulgare will sometimes produce one hundred grains in the ear.
Wheat is reaped toward the end of April, in May, and in June, according to the differences of soil and position; it was sown either broadcast and then ploughed in or trampled in by cattle, Isa_32:20 or in rows, if we rightly understand Isa_28:25 which seems to imply that the seeds were planted apart in order to insure larger and fuller ears. The wheat was put into the ground in the winter, and some time after the barley; in the Egyptian plague of hail, consequently, the barley suffered, but the wheat had not appeared, and so escaped injury.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
הטה , Gen_30:14; Deu_8:8; σιτος, Mat_13:25; Luk_16:7; 1Co_15:37; the principal and the most valuable kind of grain for the service of man. (See Barley, and See Fitches.) In Leviticus 2, directions are given for oblations, which in our translation are called meat-offerings; but as meat means flesh, and all kinds of offerings there specified, were made of wheat, it had been better to render it wheaten offerings. Calmet has observed, that there were five kinds of these, simple flour, oven cakes, cakes of the fire plate, cakes of the frying pan, and green ears of corn. The word בר , translated corn, Gen_41:35, and wheat in Jer_23:28; Joe_2:24; Amo_5:11, &c, is undoubtedly the burr, or wild corn of the Arabs, mentioned by Forskal.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
hwēt ((1) חטּה, ḥiṭṭāh, the specific word for wheat (Gen_30:14; Exo_34:22, etc.), with πυρός, purós (Judith 3:3; Sirach 39:26); (2) בּר, bar, or בּר, bār (Jer_23:28; Joe_2:24; Amo_5:11; Amo_8:6); in other passages translated ?grain? or ?corn?; (3) σῖτος, sı́tos (Mat_3:12; Mat_13:25, Mat_13:29, Mat_13:30; Luk_3:17; Luk_16:7; Luk_22:31, etc.) (for other words translated occasionally ?wheat? in the King James Version see CORN; FOOD)): Wheat, usually the bearded variety, is cultivated all over Palestine, though less so than barley. The great plain of the Hauran is a vast expanse of wheat fields in the spring; considerable quantities are exported via Beirut, Haifa, and Gaza. The ?wheat harvest? was in olden times one of the regular divisions of the year (Exo_34:22; Jdg_15:1; 1Sa_12:17); it follows the barley harvest (Exo_9:31, Exo_9:32), occurring in April, May or June, according to the altitude.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Fig. 342?Egyptian Wheat?Triticum compositum
Wheat occurs in various passages of Scripture, and there can be no doubt that the word so rendered has this signification.
Wheat having been one of the earliest cultivated grains, is most probably of Asiatic origin, as no doubt Asia was the earliest civilized, as well as the first peopled country. As both wheat and barley are cultivated in the plains of India in the winter months, where none of the species of these genera are indigenous, it is probable that both have been introduced into India from the north, that is, from the Persian, and perhaps from the Tartarian region, where these and other species of barley are most successfully and abundantly cultivated. Different species of wheat were no doubt cultivated by the ancients; but both barley and wheat are too well known to require further illustration in this place.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Psa_81:16 (c) We may learn from this that those who hearken to the Lord and seek to obey His Word may expect to receive GOD's richest blessings that will make them strong, able and happy Christian servants. (See also Psa_147:14).
Jer_23:28 (a) The wheat in this case represents the Word of GOD, while the chaff represents the ideas, notions and dreams of men.
Mat_3:12 (a) Our Lord JESUS, as well as others, used "wheat" as a type of Christians, believers in the Lord JESUS. The chaff represents hypocrites, who are raised among the wheat, and close to the wheat, but never become "wheat." In the final day, GOD takes the Christians (the wheat) into His home in glory, while the unsaved are shut out. (See also Luk_3:17).
Mat_13:25 (a) The grain in this verse represents the Word of GOD as the wheat, and false doctrines and false writings as the tares. There are always those in every community who would bring evil doctrines in among GOD's people in order to hinder the salvation of souls. The field in which these mixed seeds are sown is the world. In GOD's true church, only the precious Word of GOD is preached and taught.
Joh_12:24 (a) This grain is the Lord JESUS Himself. He was cut down and was buried, but came forth from the tomb to produce a tremendous crop of believers for eternity.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.
(חַטָּה, chittidh [for, חַנְטָה, chinth]; Chald. plur. חַנְטַין, chintin; σῖτος), the well-known valuable cereal cultivated from the earliest times, occurs in various passages of Scripture (Heb. Gen_30:14; Exo_9:32; Exo_29:2; Exo_34:22; Deu_8:8; Deu_32:14; Jdg_6:11; Jdg_15:1; Rth_2:23; 1Sa_6:13; 1Sa_12:17 2Sa_4:6; 2Sa_17:28; 1Ki_4:11; 1Ch_21:20; 1Ch_21:23; 2Ch_2:10; 2Ch_2:15; 2Ch_27:5; Job_31:40; Psa_81:16; Psa_147:14; Son_7:2; Isa_28:25; Jer_12:13; Jer_41:8; Eze_4:9; Eze_27:17; Eze_45:13; Joe_1:11; Chald. Ezr_6:9; Ezr_7:22; Greek Mat_3:12; Mar_4:28 [corn]; Luk_3:17; Luk_16:7; Luk_22:31; Joh_12:24; Act_7:12 [corn]; Act_27:38; 1Co_15:37; Rev_6:6; Rev_18:13; also Jdt_3:3; Sir_39:26). In the A.V. the Heb. words bar ( בִּרor בָּר, Jer_23:28; Joe_2:24; Amo_5:11; Amo_8:5-6), dagan (דָּגָן, Num_18:12; Jer_31:12), riphoth (רַיפוֹת, Pro_27:22), are occasionally translated wheat; but there is no doubt that the proper name of this cereal, as distinguished from barley, spelt, etc., is chittah (חַטָּה; Chald. חַנְטַין, chintin). As to the former Hebrew terms, see under CORN. . There can be no doubt that chittalh, by some written chittha, chefteth, cheteh, etc., is correctly translated wheat, from its close resemblance to the Arabic, as well to the names of wheat in other languages. Celsius says, חטה, chittha, occultato נin puncto dagesch, pro חנטה, chintha, dicitur ex usu Ebreeorum. This brings it still nearer to the Arabic name of wheat, which in Roman characters is variously written, hinteh, hinthe, henta, and by Pemplius, in his translation of Avicenna, hhintta; and under this name it is described by the Arabic authors on Materia Medica. As the Arabic ha is in many words converted into kha, it is evident that the Hebrew and Arabic names of wheat are the same, especially as the Hebrew ה has the guttural sound. Different derivations have been given of the word chittah by Celsius it is derived from חָנִט, chanaf, protulit, produxit, fructuan, ex Son_2:13; or the Arabic chanat, rubuit, quod triticum rubello sit colore(Hierobot. 2, 113).
The translator of the Biblical Botany of Rosenmüller justly observes that the similarity in sound between the Hebrew word chittah and the English wheat is obvious. Be it remembered that the ch here is identical in sound with theGaelic guttural, or the Spanish X. It is further remarkable that the Hebrew term is etynmologically cognate with the words for wheat used by every one of the Teutonic and Scandinavian nations (thus we have in Icelandic, hveiti; Danish, hvede; Swedish, hvete;Maeso-Goth. hvaite; German, Weizen); and that, in this instance, there is no resemblance between the Scandinavian and Teutonic terms, and the Greek, Latin, and Slavonic (for the Greek word is πυρός; the Latin, frumentum or triticum; the Russian, psienitsa; Polish, psenica); and yet the general resemblance between the Slavonic, the Thracian, and the Gothic languages is so strong that no philologist now doubts their identity of origin (loc. cit. p. 75). Rosenmüller further remarks that in Egypt and in Barbary kamich is the usual name for wheat (quoting Descrip. de l'Egypte, 19:45; Host, Account of Maroko and Fez, p. 309); and also that in Hebrew, קֶמִח, kemach, denotes the flour of wheat (Gen_18:6; Num_5:15). This, it is curious to observe, is not very unlike the Indian name of wheat, kunuk.
All these names indicate communication between the nations of antiquity, as well as point to a common origin of wheat. Thus in his Himalayan Botany, Dr. J. F. Boyle has stated: Wheat, having been one of the earliest- cultivated grains, is most probably of Asiatic origin, as no doubt Asia was the earliest-civilized as well as the first peopled country. It is known to the Arabs under the name of hinteh; to the Persians as qguindum; Hindfi, gahnih and kunuk. The species of barley cultivated in the plains of India, and known by the Hindau and Persian name juo, Arabic shalir, is Iloumd hexaerstichum. As both wheat and barley are cultivated in the plains of India in the winter months, where none of the species of these genera are indigenous, it is probable that both have been introduced into India from the north, that is, from the Persian, and perhaps from the Tartarian region, where these and other species of barley are most successfully and abundantly cultivated (p. 419). Different species of wheat were no doubt cultivated by the ancients. as Triticum compositum in Egypt, T. cestiuv. nu, T. hibernum in Syria, etc.; but both barley and wheat are too well known to require further illustration in this place.
Much has been written on the subject of the origin of wheat, and the question appears to be still undecided. It is said that the Triticum vulgare has been found wild in some parts of Persia and Siberia, apparently removed from the influence of cultivation (English Cyclop. s.v. Triticum). Again, from the experiments of M. Esprit Fabre of Agde, it would seem that the numerous varieties of cultivated wheat are merely improved transformations of Egilops. ovata (Journal of the Royal Agricult. Soc. No. 33, p. 167-180). M. Fabre's experiments, however, have not been deemed conclusive by some botanists (see an interesting paper by the late Prof. Henfrey in No. 41 of the Journal quoted above). Egypt in ancient times was celebrated for the growth of its wheat. The best quality, according to Pliny (Nat. Hist. 18:7), was grown in the Thebaid; it was all bearded; and the same varieties, Wilkinson writes (Anc. Egypt. [ed. 1854], 2, 39), existed in ancient as in modern times, among which maybe mentioned the seven-eared quality described in Pharaoh's dream (Gen_41:22). This is the so-called mummy-wheat, which, it has been said, has germinated after the lapse of thousands of years; but it is now known that the whole thing was a fraud. Babylonia was also noted for the excellence of its wheat and other cereals. In grain, says Herodotus (1, 193), it will yield commonly two hundredfold, and at its greatest production as much as three-hundredfold. The blades of the wheat and barley plants are often four fingers broad. But this is a great exaggeration (see also Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. 8:7). Modern writers, as Chesney and Rich, bear testimony to the great fertility of Mesopotamia. Syria and Palestine produced wheat of fine quality and in large quantities (Psa_147:14; Psa_81:16, etc.).
There appear to be two or three kinds of wheat at present grown in Palestine the Triticum vulgare (var.hibernum), the T. spelta, SEE RYE, and another variety of bearded wheat which appears to be the same as the Egyptian kind, the Teomipoz' situm. In the parable of the sower, our Lord alludes to grains of wheat which in good ground produce a hundredfold (Mat_13:8). The return of a hundred for one, says Trench, is not unheard of in the East, though always mentioned as something extraordinary. Laborde says, There is to be found at Kerek a species of hundred wheat which justifies the text of the Bible against the charges of exaggeration of which it has been the object. The common Triticum vulgare will sometimes produce one hundred grains in the ear. Wheat is reaped towards the end of April, in. May, and in June, according to the differences of soil and position. It was sown either broadcast, and then ploughed in or trampled in by cattle (Isa_32:20), or in rows, if we rightly understand Isa_28:25, which seems to imply that the seeds were planted apart in order to insure larger and fuller ears. The wheat was put into the ground in the winter, and some time after the barley. In the Egyptian plague of hail, consequently, the barley suffered, but the wheat had not .appeared, and so escaped injury. Wheat was ground into flour. The finest qualities were expressed, by the term fat of kidneys of wheat ( כַּלְיוֹת חַטָּה חֵלֶב, Deu_32:14). Unripe ears are sometimes cut off from the stalks, roasted in an oven, mashed and boiled, and eaten by the modern Egyptians (Sonnini, Travels). Rosenmüller (Botany of the Bible, p. 80), with good reason, conjectures that this dish, which the Arabs callferik, is the same as the geres carnel (כִּרְמֶל גֶּרֶשׂ) of Lev_2:14 and 2Ki_4:42. The Heb. word kali ( קָלַיLev_2:14) denotes, it is probable, roasted ears of corn, still used as food in the East. An ear of corn was called shibboleth (שַׁבֹּלֶת), the word which betrayed the Ephraimites (Jdg_12:1; Jdg_12:6), who were unable to give the sound of sh. The curious expression in Pro_27:22, Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him, appears to point to the custom of mixing the grains of inferior cereals with wheat; the meaning will then be, Let a fool be ever so much in the company of wise men, yet he will continue a fool. Maurer (Comment. loc. cit.) simply explains the passage thus: Quomodocunque tractaveris stultum non patietur se emendari. SEE CEREALS.
Wheat was known to the Israelites in Egypt (Exo_9:32), and on returning to Canaan they no doubt found it still cultivated as in the days of Reuben (Gen_30:14). Most probably they were the same sorts which were used in both countries; but there were only a few districts of Palestine, such as the plain of Jezreel, which could compete with that magnificent carse, the delta of Egypt, the finest corn country of the ancient world. At present the wheat crops of Palestine are very poor and light, and would disgust an English farmer. One may ride and walk through the standing corn without the slightest objection made or harm done. No wonder it is thin, when white crops are raised from the same soil year after year, and no sort of manure put into the ground(Tristram, Travels, p. 591). SEE AGRICULTURE.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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