Agriculture

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

AGRICULTURE. —The influence of the physical and climatic characteristics of a land upon the character of its people has been a favourite theme with many writers. But we are more concerned here with another marked feature—the profound influence exerted by the occupations of a people on their manner of thought and their modes of expressing it. Nowhere was this subtle influence more manifest than in the case of the Hebrews. Their occupations were largely determined by the characteristics of the land they inhabited, but their thought and the language that was its vehicle were equally moulded by their occupations.

1. The place of Agriculture in the life and thought of the Hebrews .—From the first the Hebrews were a pastoral, and from very early times an agricultural people; and these twin employments have lent their colour and tone to their literature, and shaped their profoundest thoughts and utterances regarding God and man. God is the Shepherd of Israel ( Psalms 80:1); Israel is ‘the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand’ ( Psalms 95:7, cf.  Psalms 74:1,  Psalms 79:13,  Psalms 100:3). God is the Husbandman; Israel is His vineyard ( Isaiah 5:1 ff.). God is the Ploughman; Israel is the land of His tillage ( Isaiah 28:25 ff.; cf.  1 Corinthians 3:9).

When we turn to the Gospels we find the same stream of thought in full flow. The highest Christian virtue is enforced by appeal to Him who ‘maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust’ ( Matthew 5:45). The kingdom of God is set forth under such emblems as the sower going forth to sow ( Matthew 13:3 ff.), the wheat and the tares growing together until the harvest ( Matthew 13:24 ff.), the lord of the vineyard going out early in the morning to hire labourers ( Matthew 20:1 ff.), or sending to demand its fruits ( Matthew 21:33 ff.). Christ compares Himself to the shepherd who seeks his lost sheep until he finds it ( Luke 15:4), or lays down his life for the sheep ( John 10:11). The multitude are, to His compassionate eye, as ‘sheep I not having a shepherd’ ( Matthew 9:36,  Mark 6:34). The world appears to Him as a great field ‘white unto harvest’ ( John 4:35), and awaiting the labour of the reapers ( Matthew 9:37 f.). His relation to His disciples is expressed under the figure of the vine and its branches ( John 15:1 ff.) See also art. Husbandman.

Noteworthy also is the place assigned by Biblical writers to the cultivation of the soil. It is represented as the duty of the first man. Adam, placed in the Garden of Eden, is ‘to dress it and to keep it’ ( Genesis 2:15); driven from it, he is sent ‘to till the ground from whence he was taken’ ( Genesis 3:23). To Noah the promise is given that ‘while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest … shall not cease’ ( Genesis 8:22). The land of promise is ‘a land of wheat and barley’ ( Deuteronomy 8:8). The Golden Age will be a time when men ‘shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks,’ and ‘they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree’ ( Isaiah 2:4,  Micah 4:3-4). The gladness of the Messianic age is ‘joy according to the joy in harvest’ ( Isaiah 9:3).

Nor was it only in their conception of the past and their anticipation of the future that the influence of agriculture made itself felt: it was the very foundation of their national and religious life. A pastoral age, it is true, preceded the agricultural, and the patriarchs are represented, for the most part, as herdsmen rather than cultivators ( Genesis 37:12;  Genesis 47:3); and even as late as the beginning of the settlement in Canaan, the trans-Jordanic tribes are said to have had a great multitude of cattle ( Numbers 32:1). But, on the other hand, we learn that Isaac, who had gone to Gerar, ‘sowed in that land, and found in the same year an hundredfold’ ( Genesis 26:12); while the first dream of Joseph shows that if he did not actually follow, he was at least familiar with, agricultural pursuits ( Genesis 37:5-7). But it was not till after their conquest of the Land of Promise that the Hebrews became an agricultural people on any large scale. Prior to that time, however, agriculture was highly developed among the Canaanites ( Deuteronomy 8:8); and it may have been from the conquered race that they acquired it. Once learned, it became the staple industry of the country.

The Mosaic legislation presupposes a people given to agricultural pursuits. That is sufficiently attested by the laws anent the three annual festivals ( Exodus 23:14-16), the septennial fallow ( Exodus 23:11), the gleanings of the harvest field ( Leviticus 19:9),  Leviticus 19:10 the year of Jubilee ( Leviticus 25:10 ff.,  Leviticus 27:17 ff.), and many others. Further attestation of the same fact is found in the blessings that were to attend the faithful observance of the Law, and the curses that would follow disobedience ( Leviticus 26:3-5;  Leviticus 26:14-20,  Deuteronomy 28:1-5;  Deuteronomy 28:15-18).

2. The soil of Palestine .—The fertility of the soil of Palestine was remarkable, as is testified by Josephus ( c. Apion. i. 22; BJ ii. 3) and others (Diod. xl. 3, 7; Tac. Hist. v. 6). The soil varies in character. In the Jordan Valley and the maritime plains it consists of a very rich alluvial deposit; in the regions lying at a higher elevation it has been formed from decomposing basaltic rock and cretaceous limestone. This, however, was greatly enriched by the system of ‘terracing,’ low walls of ‘shoulder-stones’ being built along the mountain slopes, and the ledges behind them filled with the alluvial soil of the valleys. These walls gave protection against the heavy rains, and prevented the soil from being washed away. It was to this system that districts such as Lebanon, Carmel, and Gilboa owed the wonderful fertility that formerly characterized them.

All parts were not, of course, equally productive. Thus we find the Mishna ( Gittin , v. 1) enumerating several classes of soil according to their quality or the degree of moisture. Such a classification is quite distinct from that of the parable of the Sower, where the wayside, the rocky places, etc., are all within the limits of a single field ( Matthew 13:5,  Mark 4:3,  Luke 8:5). It may be noted here that ground which yielded thorns was considered specially good for wheat-growing, while that which was overrun with weeds was assigned to barley. The most productive fields were often marked by the presence of large stones, some of which were beyond a man’s own strength to remove. Their presence was regarded as a token that the soil was fertile. Smaller stones, which were also plentiful, were often used for making rude walls along the side of the fields. In some districts they were so numerous that they had to be removed every year after ploughing had taken place.

3. Agricultural operations , etc.—The work of preparing the land for cultivation was the first concern of the farmer. Where virgin soil had to be reclaimed, a beginning was made by clearing it of timber, brushwood, or stones ( Joshua 17:18,  Isaiah 5:2). It was then ready to receive the plough (which see).

( a ) Ploughing began immediately after the ‘early rain’ had softened the ground, i.e. towards the end of September or beginning of October, and went on right through the winter, provided the soil had not become too wet and, therefore, too heavy. Usually a single ploughing sufficed, but if the soil was very rough it was ploughed twice.

In some cases the hoe or mattock took the place of the plough. That is the common practice in modern times where there is a rocky bottom and only a sparse covering of earth. In ancient times the same course was followed where hillsides were brought under cultivation ( Isaiah 7:25). The same implement was employed for breaking up large clods of earth ( Isaiah 28:24,  Hosea 10:11), but whether the reference includes the clods upturned by the plough, or merely those occurring in ‘stony ground,’ is not quite certain.

( b ) Dung was employed for increasing the productiveness of fruit trees ( Luke 13:8), but not, as a rule, for grain fields. The most common forms were house and farmyard refuse mixed with straw ( Isaiah 25:10), withered leaves, oil-scum, and wood-ashes. The blood of slaughtered animals was also used for this purpose.

( c ) The principal crops were wheat, barley, spelt, millet, beans, and lentils (see articles on the first two of these). Oats were little cultivated. From  Joshua 2:6 we learn that flax was grown. It was sometimes sown as an experiment for testing the quality of the soil, for a field which had yielded good flax was regarded as specially suitable for wheat-growing.

( d ) The sowing season began in the early days of October. A beginning was made with pulse varieties, barley came next, and wheat followed. Millet was sown in summer, the land being prepared for it by irrigation. When the winter set in cold and wet, barley was not sown till the beginning of February.

The sower carries the seed in a basket or bag, from which he scatters it broadcast. Where a single ploughing suffices, the seed is sown first and then ploughed in. When it is sown on ploughed ground, the usual course is also to plough it in, but sometimes a light harrow (not infrequently a thorn-bush) is used to cover it. Seed that falls on the footpath or ‘wayside’ cannot be covered owing to the hardness of the ground, and is picked up by the birds ( Matthew 13:4 and parallels).

( e ) The crops thus sown were exposed, as they grew, to various dangers , such as the inroads of roaming cattle, the depredations of birds, or the visitation of locusts; and also to such adverse natural and climatic influences as drought, east wind, and mildew. Some of these will be separately treated, and need not be dwelt upon now. But it may be convenient to say a few words at this stage regarding—

( f ) The water supply of the country .—Unlike Egypt, which owed its fertility exclusively to the Nile, Palestine had its time of rain ( Deuteronomy 11:10-11;  Deuteronomy 11:14,  Jeremiah 5:24 etc.). The ‘early rain’ (מורָה) of the Bible is that of October, which precedes ploughing and sowing: the ‘latter rain’ (מַלִקוֹשׁ) denotes the refreshing showers that fall in March and April, and give much-needed moisture to the growing crops. The intervening period is marked by the heavy rains of winter (נַּשָׁם), the wettest month being January. The rainfall is not uniform over the country. In the Jordan Valley it is very slight; at Jerusalem it averages about 20 inches annually; in some other upland regions it is almost twice as much. In the highest lying parts, as Lebanon, there is a considerable fall of . There are also many brooks and springs ( Deuteronomy 8:7), and irrigation is employed, especially in gardening, though naturally on a much smaller scale than in Egypt. The summer months are hot and rainless.

( g ) Harvest .—Barley harvest ( 2 Samuel 21:9) began in April or May, according as the district was early or late; wheat and spelt were ripe a few weeks after ( Exodus 9:31-32). The grain was cut with a sickle ( Joel 3:13,  Deuteronomy 16:9,  Mark 4:29; see art. Sickle), or pulled up by the roots (Mishna, Peah iv. 10). The latter method was followed both in Palestine and in Egypt, and is so still; but the use of the sickle goes back to very early times, as the excavations at Tell el-Hesy have shown. Ordinarily the stalks were cut about a foot beneath the ear, but in some instances even higher ( Job 24:24). The reaper grasped them in handfuls ( Ruth 2:16), reaped them with his arm ( Isaiah 17:5), and laid them behind him; while the binder, following him, gathered them in his bosom ( Psalms 129:7), tied them with straw into sheaves ( Genesis 37:7), and set them in heaps (עֳכָרִים* [Note: See Vogelstein, Landwirthschaft in Pal. 61.]  Ruth 2:7).

( h ) Threshing .—The sheaves thus prepared were carried to the threshing-floor on the backs of men or of beasts of burden, such as donkeys, horses, or camels.  Amos 2:13 has been taken by some as implying that they were sometimes removed in carts, but this is very doubtful. The reference is more probably to the threshing-sledge ( Isaiah 28:28).

The threshing-floor is simply a circle of level ground which has been carefully cleaned and beaten hard, and is enclosed with a row of big stones to prevent the straw from being too widely scattered. The spot selected always stood higher than the surrounding ground, so that it should be open to the air currents, and that rain, if it occurred, though it was rare in harvest time ( 1 Samuel 12:17), might run off without doing injury. The sheaves were unbound and scattered over the floor, till a heap was formed about a foot high. Cattle ( Hosea 10:11) were then driven over it repeatedly, or a threshing wain drawn by cattle. The Pentateuchal law provided that the cattle engaged in this operation should not be muzzled ( Deuteronomy 25:4). It was also the custom to blindfold them, as otherwise, moving continually in a circle, they became dizzy (Talmud, Kelim xvi. 7). Certain crops, however, were threshed by being beaten with a stick ( Isaiah 28:27).

Two kinds of threshing machines were employed, the drag and the waggon. The drag (מורָנ, הָררן) was a heavy wooden board,† [Note: See illustration in Driver’s Joel and Amos (Camb. Bible), p. 227.] the under-surface of which was studded with nails or sharp fragments of stone ( Isaiah 41:15). It was further weighted with large stones, and by the driver himself, who stood, sat, or even lay upon it. The waggon (עֲנָלָה  Isaiah 28:28) was provided with sharp metal discs. These were affixed to revolving rollers set in a rude waggon-frame.

( i ) Winnowing .—The operation of threshing yielded a confused mass of grain, chaff, and broken straw, which required to be winnowed. Two implements were used for this process—the shovel and the fan ( Isaiah 30:24). With these the mixed mass was tossed into the air, against the wind. The chaff was blown away ( Psalms 1:4), the straw fell a little distance off, and the grain at the feet of the winnower. Where, as at large public threshing-floors, there was an accumulation of chaff, it was burned ( Matthew 3:12). The chopped straw (הָּבָן  Isaiah 11:7) was used as fodder for cattle.

( j ) Sifting .—The winnowed grain still contained an admixture of small stones and particles of clay, stubble, and unbruised ears, and also of smaller poisonous seeds such as tares, and so stood in need of yet further cleansing. This was effected by means of sifting. In modern Palestine the sieve in common use is a wooden hoop with a mesh made of camel-hide. This implement probably corresponds to the כָּבָרָה (ĕbhârâh) of ancient times ( Amos 9:9). The mesh was wide enough to allow the separated grains to pass through, but retained the unthreshed ears, which were cast again on the threshing-floor.* [Note: In this case the meaning of ‘the least grain’ in  Amos 9:9 must be ‘the least pebble’ (so Preuschen, ZATW, 1895, p. 24). Others (e.g. Driver, Joel and Amos, p. 221; Nowack and Marti in their Comm. ad loc.) צְדו̇ד (ěrór, lit. ‘pebble’) to stand here for a grain of wheat, while admitting that the word is not elsewhere so used. On this supposition the action of the ěbhârâh would be similar to that of the modern described above.] In  Isaiah 30:28 another implement is mentioned, נָפָה ( nâphâh ), which both Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 render ‘sieve.’ It is not quite certain, however, that the nâphâh was really a sieve. If it was, it may have resembled the modern ghirbal , which is of smaller mesh than the kĕbhârâh (Arab. [Note: Arabic.] kirbal ), and permits only broken grains and dust to pass through, while retaining the unbruised kernels.

The sifted grain was collected in large heaps, and, pending its removal to the granary, the owner, to guard against thieving, slept by the threshing-floor ( Ruth 3:7). In the Gospels there is one reference to sifting ( Luke 22:31).

( k ) Storage .—In the NT a granary is called ἀποθήκη ( Matthew 6:26;  Matthew 13:30,  Luke 12:18;  Luke 12:24). In the OT quite a variety of names occurs (מִסבּנוֹה  Exodus 1:11; אֲסָמֽים  Deuteronomy 28:8; מִאַב֖מים  Jeremiah 50:26; מִוָוִים  Psalms 144:13; אֹצרוֹת and מַמֻּנ֖רוֹת  Joel 1:17). But though the nomenclature is so ‘rich, of the construction and character of those granaries we know nothing. Some of them were probably sheds, and may have resembled the flat-roofed buildings used in Egypt for storing grain. Others may have been dry wells, or cisterns, or caves hewn out of the rock, such as are common in modern times. The grain stored in these magazines will remain good for years.

Literature.—Ugolinus. Thesaurus , vol. xxix.; Benzinger, Heb. Arch. 207 ff.; Nowack, Lehrbuch der Heb. Archaologie , i. 228 ff.; Vogelstein, Die Landwirthschaft in Palastina zur Zeit der Mischna  ; Stade, Geschichte d. Volkes Israel , i. vii.; Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, passim  ; Thomson, The Land and the Book  ; van Lennep, Bible Lands and Customs; ZDP V [Note: DPV Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins.] ix.; PEFS t [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] , passim  ; Ungewitter, Die landwirthschaftlichen Bilder und Metaphern i. d. poet. Buch. d. Alt. Test .; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, and Encyc. Bibl. s.v. ‘Agriculture.’

Hugh Duncan.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

While the patriarchs were in Canaan, they led a pastoral life, and little attended to tillage; Isaac and Jacob indeed tilled at times ( Genesis 26:12;  Genesis 37:7), but the herdsmen strove with Isaac for his wells not for his crops. The wealth of Gerar and Shechem was chiefly pastoral ( Genesis 20:14;  Genesis 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 ( Deuteronomy 8:8;  Numbers 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 ( Genesis 47:4-6;  Genesis 46:34). But there they unlearned the exclusively pastoral life and learned husbandry ( Deuteronomy 11:10), while the deserts beyond supplied pasture for their cattle ( 1 Chronicles 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 ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 25:8-16;  Leviticus 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 ( Deuteronomy 17:16). Purificatory rites for a day after warfare were required ( Numbers 19:16;  Numbers 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 ( Joshua 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  1 Samuel 6:14;  2 Samuel 24:22;  1 Kings 19:21; dung and hay fuel heated their ovens ( Ezekiel 4:12;  Ezekiel 4:15;  Matthew 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 ( Amos 4:7-8). The crop depended for its amount on timely rain. The "early" rain ( Proverbs 16:15;  James 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 ( Zechariah 12:10;  Joel 2:23;  Joel 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,  Exodus 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,"  Isaiah 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 ( Proverbs 26:1).

The plow was light, and drawn by one yoke. Fallows were cleared of stones and thorns early in the year ( Jeremiah 4:3;  Hosea 10:12;  Isaiah 5:2). To sow among thorns was deemed bad husbandry ( Job 5:5;  Proverbs 24:30-31). Seed was scattered broadcast, as in the parable of the sower ( Matthew 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 ( Deuteronomy 11:10;  Isaiah 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 ( Judges 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, ( 2 Samuel 24:16-18) to watch against depredations ( Ruth 3:4-7). Sowing divers seed in a field was forbidden ( Deuteronomy 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 ( Deuteronomy 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 ( Isaiah 28:27).

A threshing sledge ( Moreg ),  Isaiah 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 ( Ruth 3:2;  Isaiah 30:24); lastly, it was shaken in a sieve.  Amos 9:9;  Psalms 83:10, and  2 Kings 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 ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 19:9-10;  Deuteronomy 14:28;  Deuteronomy 26:12;  Amos 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.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

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 (  Leviticus 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 (  2 Chronicles 26:10 ) was highly esteemed, and was regarded as dating from the very earliest times (  Genesis 4:2 ). It was J″ [Note: Jahweh.]; Himself who taught the husbandman his art (  Isaiah 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 (  1 Samuel 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 (  Amos 6:12 ), or by asses (  Isaiah 30:24 ), but the employment of one of each kind was forbidden (  Deuteronomy 22:10 ). The yoke is a short piece of wood the bar of   Leviticus 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.   Acts 9:5 ), and having at the other a small spade with which to clean the plough-share. Gardens, vineyards (  Isaiah 5:6 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), and parts too difficult to plough were worked with the hoe or mattock (  Isaiah 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   Isaiah 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,   Amos 4:9 ), blasting by the hot sirocco wind, mildew, hail these three are named together in   Haggai 2:17; cf.   Deuteronomy 28:22 ,   Amos 4:9 and worst of all a visitation of locusts. The productiveness of the soil naturally varied greatly (cf.   Matthew 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 (  Leviticus 23:15 ,   Deuteronomy 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 (  Deuteronomy 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 (  Leviticus 19:9 f.,   Deuteronomy 24:19 ,   Ruth 2:2 ff.).

For small quantities the ears were stripped by beating with a stick ( Ruth 2:17 ,   Judges 6:11 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), otherwise the threshing was done at the village threshing-floor . This was a large, specially prepared (  Jeremiah 51:33 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) space on an elevated situation. Hither the corn was brought on asses or on a cart (  Amos 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 (  Deuteronomy 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.   Isaiah 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 (  2 Samuel 24:22 ), while the latter is probably referred to in ‘the threshing wheel’ of   Proverbs 20:26 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). Both are mentioned together in the original of   Isaiah 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 (  Psalms 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 (  Amos 9:9 ,   Isaiah 30:28 ), the grain was stored in jars for immediate use, and in cisterns (  Jeremiah 41:8 ), or in specially constructed granaries, the ‘ barns ’ of   Matthew 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 (  Deuteronomy 19:14;   Deuteronomy 27:17 ), the humanitarian provision regarding strayed cattle (  Exodus 23:4 ,   Deuteronomy 22:1 ff.), the law that every field must lie fallow for one year in seven (  Exodus 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 (  Leviticus 19:19 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), and the far-reaching provision as to the inalienability of the land (  Leviticus 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.

Holman Bible Dictionary

The people of biblical times, both of the Old and New Testament periods, were essentially rural. Even those who lived in towns were close to the country and usually owned gardens or farms. With the seasons as a background to their daily life, the religious calendar was partly based on the agricultural year with several festivals coinciding with significant events: e.g. Feast of Weeks or first fruits (of cereals,  Exodus 32:11 ), Feast of Tabernacles or ingathering (of grapes,  Leviticus 23:34 ). The primary crops of the Bible include grain, grapes, and olives ( Genesis 27:28;  Deuteronomy 7:13;  Joel 1:10 ).

How were cereals cultivated? Grain crops were the staple food of rich and poor alike, although the poor may have had to consume barley bread rather than the more palatable wheat. Both were sown by scattering the grains into prepared land usually ploughed by draft animals. The parable of the sower ( Matthew 13:3-23;  Luke 8:5-15 ) provides an interesting account of grain sowing and the subsequent fate of the seed. Peasant agriculture, unlike modern farming practices, was unsophisticated with primitive implements often used in harsh conditions where rocky ground and vigorous weeds militated against a good yield. Hence it would be normal for some of the scattered seed to fall on a path of compacted soil where it would not be covered and lie vulnerable to birds. Similarly, some seeds would fall at the margins of the fields where thorny thickets and rapidly growing thistles easily suffocated the germinating wheat. Shallow soil and lack of moisture during the hot dry summer encouraged the withering of the seeds that did sprout into young plants on the field's outer borders. Those seeds that fell on moist, deep soil grew and matured their ears ready for harvest.

The Book of Ruth provides a vivid picture of the harvesting scene that was carried out by whole families and extra hired men, followed by poor women gleaners picking leftovers. Barley was harvested first during April and May, followed by wheat a month later. A sickle was used to cut off the ears which were held with one hand, and then bundled together in small sheaves to be carted off to the threshing floor ( 1 Chronicles 21:22 )—a cleared area of stamped earth or stone. Animals, usually cattle, were driven over the spread-out stalks to trample out the grains. Often a cartwheel or a heavy sledge with small stones inserted in the bottom was drawn round and round the floor to hasten the threshing. The grains were swept together and separated from the useless chaff by winnowing—a process involving the throwing up of the grain in breezy weather so that the light scaly chaff is blown away, leaving a pile of clean grain ready for grinding into flour ( Matthew 3:12 ). A proportion of the crop was always kept aside and carefully stored in dry conditions for sowing the following year ( Genesis 47:24 ).

How did the agriculture of Egypt differ from that of Canaan? The essential difference between Egyptian and Canaanite agriculture was that Canaan depended on rainfall ( Deuteronomy 11:11 ), while Egypt depended on the River Nile and its annual flood ( Amos 8:8 ). In other words, Canaan was a rain-fed agriculture, while Egypt used irrigation agriculture. In July the Nile rose following rainfall in Ethiopia and flooded the land on both sides. (Now the modern Aswan Dam impounds the water and releases it evenly throughout the year). The flood carried silt that enriched the farmland; and the water level fell later in the year, leaving behind pools of water that could be used for irrigation in channels small enough to be opened and closed by a farmer's foot ( Deuteronomy 11:10 ). Egypt was renowned for its rich harvests of wheat and vegetables which were missed by the Israelites fleeing the country via the desert of Sinai. There the Israelites longed for the succulent melons, cucumbers, garlic, leeks, and onions they left behind ( Numbers 11:5 ).

Were vineyards for growing grapevines? The Bible presents two accounts of vineyards that describe them in some detail. In  Isaiah 5:1-7 and   Mark 12:1-9 we read how the hillside was fenced and terraced to provide deep stone-free soil where the rainfall could water the vines' roots in winter. Dung and compost nourished the plants which needed to be trained over rocks or fences. Constant attention had to be given to the trailing branches of carefully chosen varieties in order to yield sweet green or black grapes. As harvest time approached, the owners of the vineyards and their families camped near the vineyards in shelters (booths) or in stone-built towers (  Isaiah 1:8 ) to protect the grapes from animals, such as jackals (foxes) and wild pigs (boar) ( Psalm 80:13 ) and human thieves. When ripe, the grapes were picked for eating fresh ( Isaiah 65:21 ), drying in the sun as raisins ( 1 Samuel 30:12 ), or crushed for wine. Most vineyards had a winepress where the grapes were trodden under human foot ( Nehemiah 13:15;  Revelation 19:15 ), the juice collected in flagons or skins and fermented ( Matthew 9:17 ). Fermentation was caused by naturally occurring yeast (Saccharomyses) breaking down the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. During the winter, the long shoots of the previous year's growth had to be pruned away from the vines to leave a few buds for the next season ( John 15:2 ).

How long do olive trees live? The huge trees in the Garden of Gethsemane ( Matthew 26:36 ) on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem are hundreds of years old and could potentially stretch back to New Testament times. During the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 the Roman forces under Titus felled all the trees, presumably including the olives which could have sprouted again ( Psalm 123:3 ) to yield the aged hollow trees still growing around Jerusalem.

Olive trees are not raised from seeds because the seedlings invariably produce very inferior ones similar to the wild stock. Selected cuttings are rooted or more often grafted on to the wild plant which has a better root system. Olive roots spread widely to gain nourishment on rocky hillsides, hence the trees are often well spaced. Although flowering begins when the trees are less than ten years old, full yield of fruit is not reached until they are 40 or 50 years old, after which branches are pruned to encourage new fruitful growth. Olives require a Mediterranean type of climate of moist cool winters and hot dry summers to be economically productive.

Olive groves usually had an oil press nearby where the heavy stone wheel crushed the fruit and its hard kernel. The pulp was placed in a press which extracted the precious yellow oil. This was used for cooking purposes as an essential part of diet ( Deuteronomy 7:13 ,  2 Kings 4:5 ,  2 Chronicles 2:10 ). Olive oil was rubbed over skin and hair ( Psalm 2:6;  Psalm 23:5 ) and used for anointing guests ( Luke 7:46 and   1 Kings 1:34 ). Christ was God's “anointed” one ( Psalm 2:2;  John 1:41;  Acts 4:27 ), anointing being symbolic of the Holy Spirit ( Isaiah 61:1;  Acts 10:38 ). Medicinally, olive oil mixed with antiseptic wine healed wounds ( Luke 7:34 ,  James 5:14 ). Taken internally, olive oil soothed gastric disorders and acted as a laxative. Olive oil was used as fuel for lamps with a wick made of flax, producing a bright flame when lit ( Exodus 25:6;  Matthew 25:34 ).

What animals were used in agriculture? Mainly cows (oxen) were used to pull carts ( 1 Samuel 6:7 ) and simple wooden plows ( Job 1:14;  1 Samuel 14:14 ) tipped with iron, if the farmer could afford it ( Isaiah 2:4 ). Oxen and donkeys (asses) were driven over the harvested grain to thresh it. The use of horses and camels in agriculture appears to have been limited, presumably because they were more valuable animals, well adapted for carrying heavy loads and for use in time of war. When pairs of animals were used, they were coupled with a wooden yoke across their shoulders ( Jeremiah 28:13;  Luke 14:19 ).

F. Nigel Hepper

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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,"  Leviticus 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,  Deuteronomy 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.  Leviticus 25:8-16;  Leviticus 25:23-35.

Rain. - Water was abundant in Palestine from natural sources.  Deuteronomy 8:7;  Deuteronomy 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,"  Deuteronomy 11:14;  Jeremiah 5:24;  Hosea 6:3;  Zechariah 10:1;  James 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),  Isaiah 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.  Isaiah 7:25. New ground and fallows,  Jeremiah 4:3;  Hosea 10:12, were cleared of stones and of thorns,  Isaiah 5:2, early in the year, sowing or gathering from "among thorns" being a proverb for slovenly husbandry.  Job 5:5;  Proverbs 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.  Isaiah 32:20.

Seventy days before the Passover was the time prescribed for sowing. The oxen were urged on by a goad like a spear.  Judges 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.  Genesis 26:12;  Matthew 13:8. Sowing a field with divers seed was forbidden.  Deuteronomy 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,  Amos 2:13, to the floor - a circular spot of hard ground, probably, as now, from 50 to 80 or 100 feet in diameter.  Genesis 1:10-11;  2 Samuel 24:16;  2 Samuel 24:18.

On these, the oxen, etc., forbidden to be muzzled,  Deuteronomy 25:4, trampled out the grain. At a later time, the Jews used a threshing sledge called a Morag ,  Isaiah 41:15;  2 Samuel 24:22;  1 Chronicles 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.  Isaiah 28:27. The use of animal manure was frequent.  Psalms 83:10;  2 Kings 9:37;  Jeremiah 8:2, etc.

Winnowing. - The shovel and fan,  Isaiah 30:24, indicate the process of winnowing - a conspicuous part of ancient husbandry.  Psalms 35:5;  Job 21:18;  Isaiah 17:13. Evening was the favorite time,  Ruth 3:2, when there was mostly a breeze. The fan,  Matthew 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.  Amos 9:9.

Fields and floors were not commonly enclosed; vineyard mostly were, with a tower and other buildings.  Numbers 22:24;  Psalms 80:13;  Isaiah 5:5;  Matthew 21:33, compare  Judges 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,  Song of Solomon 8:11, or a stipulated share of the fruits.  2 Samuel 9:10;  Matthew 21:34. A passerby might eat any quantity of corn or grapes, but not reap or carry off fruit.  Deuteronomy 23:24-25;  Matthew 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.  Leviticus 19:9-10;  Leviticus 24:19.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 2:15 4:2,3,12

The year in Palestine was divided into six agricultural periods:

1. Sowing Time - Tisri, latter half (beginning about the autumnal equinox.) Marchesvan. Kisleu, former half. Early rain due = first showers of autumn.
2. Unripe Time - Kisleu, latter half. Tebet. Sebat, former half.
3. Cold Season - Sebat, latter half. Adar. [Veadar.] Nisan, former half. Latter rain due ( Deuteronomy 11:14;  Jeremiah 5:24;  Hosea 6:3;  Zechariah 10:1;  James 5:7;  Job 29:23 ).
4. Harvest Time - Nisan, latter half. (Beginning about vernal equinox. Barley green. Passover.) Ijar. Sivan, former half., Wheat ripe. Pentecost.
5. Summer (total absence of rain) Sivan, latter half. Tammuz. Ab, former half.
6. Sultry Season - Ab, latter half. Elul. Tisri, former half., Ingathering of fruits.

  Psalm 1:3 65:10 Proverbs 21:1 Isaiah 30:25 32:2,20 Hosea 12:11 Ezekiel 27:17 Genesis 26:12 Matthew 13:23 Numbers 13:23 Deuteronomy 33:24

Lest the productiveness of the soil should be exhausted, it was enjoined that the whole land should rest every seventh year, when all agricultural labour would entirely cease ( Leviticus 25:1-7;  Deuteronomy 15:1-10 ).

It was forbidden to sow a field with divers seeds ( Deuteronomy 22:9 ). A passer-by was at liberty to eat any quantity of corn or grapes, but he was not permitted to carry away any ( Deuteronomy 23:24,25;  Matthew 12:1 ). The poor were permitted to claim the corners of the fields and the gleanings. A forgotten sheaf in the field was to be left also for the poor. (See  Leviticus 19:9,10;  Deuteronomy 24:19 .)

Agricultural implements and operations.

The sculptured monuments and painted tombs of Egypt and Assyria throw much light on this subject, and on the general operations of agriculture. Ploughs of a simple construction were known in the time of Moses (  Deuteronomy 22:10; Compare  Job 1:14 ). They were very light, and required great attention to keep them in the ground ( Luke 9:62 ). They were drawn by oxen ( Job 1:14 ), cows (1Samuel 6:7), and asses ( Isaiah 30:24 ); but an ox and an ass must not be yoked together in the same plough ( Deuteronomy 22:10 ). Men sometimes followed the plough with a hoe to break the clods ( Isaiah 28:24 ). The oxen were urged on by a "goad," or long staff pointed at the end, so that if occasion arose it could be used as a spear also ( Judges 3:31; 1Samuel 13:21).

When the soil was prepared, the seed was sown broadcast over the field ( Matthew 13:3-8 ). The "harrow" mentioned in  Job 39:10 was not used to cover the seeds, but to break the clods, being little more than a thick block of wood. In highly irrigated spots the seed was trampled in by cattle (  Isaiah 32:20 ); but doubtless there was some kind of harrow also for covering in the seed scattered in the furrows of the field.

The reaping of the corn was performed either by pulling it up by the roots, or cutting it with a species of sickle, according to circumstances. The corn when cut was generally put up in sheaves ( Genesis 37:7;  Leviticus 23:10-15;  Ruth 2:7,15;  Job 24:10;  Jeremiah 9:22;  Micah 4:12 ), which were afterwards gathered to the threshing-floor or stored in barns ( Matthew 6:26 ).

The process of threshing was performed generally by spreading the sheaves on the threshing-floor and causing oxen and cattle to tread repeatedly over them ( Deuteronomy 25:4;  Isaiah 28:28 ). On occasions flails or sticks were used for this purpose ( Ruth 2:17;  Isaiah 28:27 ). There was also a "threshing instrument" ( Isaiah 41:15;  Amos 1:3 ) which was drawn over the corn. It was called by the Hebrews a moreg, a threshing roller or sledge (2Samuel 24:22; 1Chronicles 21:23;  Isaiah 3:15 ). It was somewhat like the Roman tribulum, or threshing instrument.

When the grain was threshed, it was winnowed by being thrown up against the wind ( Jeremiah 4:11 ), and afterwards tossed with wooden scoops ( Isaiah 30:24 ). The shovel and the fan for winnowing are mentioned in  Psalm 35:5 ,  Job 21:18 ,  Isaiah 17:13 . The refuse of straw and chaff was burned ( Isaiah 5:24 ). Freed from impurities, the grain was then laid up in granaries till used ( Deuteronomy 28:8;  Proverbs 3:10;  Matthew 6:26;  13:30;  Luke 12:18 ).

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) The art or science of cultivating the ground, including the harvesting of crops, and the rearing and management of live stock; tillage; husbandry; farming.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

See Farming .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

The antiquity of agriculture is intimated in the brief history of Cain and Abel ( Genesis 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 ( Genesis 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 ( Psalms 1:3;  Psalms 65:10;  Proverbs 21:1;  Isaiah 30:25;  Isaiah 32:2;  Isaiah 32:20;  Hosea 12:11). Hence springs, fountains, and rivulets were as much esteemed by husbandmen as by shepherds ( Joshua 15:19;  Judges 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 ( Proverbs 24:31;  Isaiah 7:23;  Isaiah 10:17;  Isaiah 32:13;  Isaiah 47:14;  Matthew 3:12;  Luke 3:17). The dung, and, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, the blood of animals, were also used to enrich the soil ( 2 Kings 9:37;  Psalms 83:10;  Isaiah 25:10;  Jeremiah 9:22;  Luke 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 ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 26:34-35;  2 Chronicles 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 ( Genesis 24:25;  Genesis 24:32;  Judges 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 ( Deuteronomy 19:14;  Deuteronomy 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.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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 ( Genesis 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" ( Genesis 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 ( Genesis 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 ( Genesis 26:12;  Genesis 37:7), in whose time probably, if we except the lower Jordan valley ( Genesis 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 ( Genesis 10:14;  Genesis 34:28). In Joshua's time, as shown by the story of the "Eshcol" ( Numbers 13:23-24), Canaan was found in a much more advanced agricultural state than when Jacob had left it ( Deuteronomy 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" ( Leviticus 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 ( Deuteronomy 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 ( Leviticus 25:8-16;  Leviticus 25:23-35). The prophet Isaiah ( Isaiah 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.  Isaiah 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" ( Deuteronomy 11:14;  Jeremiah 5:24;  Hosea 6:3;  Zechariah 10:1;  James 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 ( Deuteronomy 8:7;  Deuteronomy 11:8-12). Nor was the peculiar Egyptian method of horticulture alluded to in  Deuteronomy 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 ( Joshua 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 ( 1 Kings 5:6;  1 Kings 5:8). No store of wood-fuel seems to have been kept; ovens were heated with such things as dung and hay ( Ezekiel 4:12;  Ezekiel 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 ( 1 Samuel 6:14;  2 Samuel 24:22;  1 Kings 19:21; comp.  Genesis 22:3;  Genesis 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 ( Psalms 1:3;  Psalms 65:10;  Proverbs 21:1;  Isaiah 30:25;  Isaiah 32:2;  Isaiah 32:20;  Hosea 12:11). Hence springs, fountains, and rivulets were as much esteemed by husbandmen as by shepherds ( Joshua 15:19;  Judges 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 ( Proverbs 24:31;  Isaiah 7:23;  Isaiah 32:13). Dung and, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, the blood of animals were also used to enrich the soil ( 2 Kings 9:37;  Psalms 83:10;  Isaiah 25:10;  Jeremiah 9:22;  Luke 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 ( Leviticus 25:1-7;  Deuteronomy 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 ( Leviticus 26:34-35;  2 Chronicles 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 ( Genesis 24:25;  Genesis 24:32;  Judges 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,"  Isaiah 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 ( Genesis 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  Ezekiel 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;  Psalms 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).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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 ( Exodus 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. ( 1 Kings 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 ( Numbers 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  2 Chronicles 32:27 ,  2 Chronicles 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 ( Matthew 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 ( Exodus 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  Isaiah 5:1 ,  Isaiah 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 ( Psalm 23:1-6;  Matthew 18:12 ), but a man with other interests delegated this task to his sons ( 1 Samuel 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 ( John 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).