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, (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; 23-35) Rain.—Water was abundant in Palestine from
natural sources. (8:7; 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,” (11:1; 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 ln the book of (Job 31:40; 15:33; 24:6; 29:19; 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.
(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 24:16,18) On these the oxen, etc.,
forbidden to be muzzled, (25:4) trampled out the grain. At a
later time the Jews used a threshing sledge called 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) comp.
Judg 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 passer by might eat any quantity of corn or
grapes, but not reap or carry off fruit. (23:24,25; Matthew 12:1) The rights of the corner to be left, and of gleaning [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; 24:19)