Reference: Agriculture
Easton
Tilling the ground (Ge 2:15; 4:2-3,12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession of the Promised Land, their circumstances favoured in the highest degree a remarkable development of this art. Agriculture became indeed the basis of the Mosaic commonwealth.
Illustration: Eastern Agriculture
The year in Palestine was divided into six agricultural periods:-
I. SOWING TIME.
Tisri, latter half
(beginning about the autumnal equinox.)
Marchesvan.
Kisleu, former half.
Early rain due = first showers of autumn.
II. UNRIPE TIME.
Kisleu, latter half.
Tebet.
Sebat, former half.
III. COLD SEASON.
Sebat, latter half.
Adar.
[Veadar.]
Nisan, former half.
Latter rain due (De 11:14; Jer 5:24; Ho 6:3; Zec 10:1; Jas 5:7; Job 29:23).
IV. HARVEST TIME.
Nisan, latter half.
(Beginning about vernal equinox. Barley green. Passover.)
Ijar.
Sivan, former half., Wheat ripe. Pentecost.
V. SUMMER (total absence of rain)
Sivan, latter half.
Tammuz.
Ab, former half.
VI. SULTRY SEASON
Ab, latter half.
Elul.
Tisri, former half., Ingathering of fruits.
The six months from the middle of Tisri to the middle of Nisan were occupied with the work of cultivation, and the rest of the year mainly with the gathering in of the fruits. The extensive and easily-arranged system of irrigation from the rills and streams from the mountains made the soil in every part of Palestine richly productive (Ps 1:3; 65:10; Pr 21:1; Isa 30:25; 32:2,20; Ho 12:11), and the appliances of careful cultivation and of manure increased its fertility to such an extent that in the days of Solomon, when there was an abundant population, "20,000 measures of wheat year by year" were sent to Hiram in exchange for timber (1Ki 5:11), and in large quantities also wheat was sent to the Tyrians for the merchandise in which they traded (Eze 27:17). The wheat sometimes produced an hundredfold (Ge 26:12; Mt 13:23). Figs and pomegranates were very plentiful (Nu 13:23), and the vine and the olive grew luxuriantly and produced abundant fruit (De 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 (Le 25:1-7; De 15:1-10).
It was forbidden to sow a field with divers seeds (De 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 (De 23:24-25; Mt 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 Le 19:9-10; De 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 (De 22:10; comp. Job 1:14). They were very light, and required great attention to keep them in the ground (Lu 9:62). They were drawn by oxen (Job 1:14), cows (1Sa 6:7), and asses (Isa 30:24); but an ox and an ass must not be yoked together in the same plough (De 22:10). Men sometimes followed the plough with a hoe to break the clods (Isa 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 (Jg 3:31; 1Sa 13:21).
Illustration: Ploughing
When the soil was prepared, the seed was sown broadcast over the field (Mt 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 (Isa 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 (Ge 37:7; Le 23:10-15; Ru 2:7,15; Job 24:10; Jer 9:22; Mic 4:12), which were afterwards gathered to the threshing-floor or stored in barns (Mt 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 (De 25:4; Isa 28:28). On occasions flails or sticks were used for this purpose (Ru 2:17; Isa 28:27). There was also a "threshing instrument" (Isa 41:15; Am 1:3) which was drawn over the corn. It was called by the Hebrews a moreg, a threshing roller or sledge (2Sa 24:22; 1Ch 21:23; Isa 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 (Jer 4:11), and afterwards tossed with wooden scoops (Isa 30:24). The shovel and the fan for winnowing are mentioned in Ps 35:5; Job 21:18; Isa 17:13. The refuse of straw and chaff was burned (Isa 5:24). Freed from impurities, the grain was then laid up in granaries till used (De 28:8; Pr 3:10; Mt 6:26; 13:30; Lu 12:18).
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The LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden in order to have him work it and guard it.
And she did it again, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel shepherded flocks and Cain became a farmer. Later, after a while, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit that he had harvested,
Whenever you work the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you, and you'll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive."
Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received, because the LORD blessed him.
"We were tying sheaves together out in the middle of the fields, when all of a sudden, my sheaf stood up erect! And then your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf!"
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to completely finish harvesting the corners of the field that is, you are not to pick what remains after you have reaped your harvest. You are not to gather your vineyard or pick up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Leave something for the poor and the resident alien who lives among you. I am the LORD your God."
"Tell the Israelis that when you enter the land that I'm about to give you and gather its produce, you are to bring a sheaf from the first portion of your harvest to the priest, who will offer the sheaf in the LORD's presence for your acceptance. The priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. read more. On the day you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a one year old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering in the LORD's presence. Also present a meal offering of two tenths of a measure of fine flour mixed with olive oil as an offering made by fire to the LORD, a pleasing aroma. Now as to a drink offering, you are to present a fourth of a hin of wine. You are not to eat bread, parched grain, or fresh grain until that day when you've brought the offering of your God. This is to be an eternal ordinance throughout your generations, wherever you live." "Starting the day after the Sabbath, count for yourselves seven weeks from the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. They are to be complete.
The LORD told Moses on Mount Sinai, "Tell the Israelis that when you enter the land that I'm about to give you, you are to let the land observe a Sabbath to the LORD. read more. For six years you may plant your fields, and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce. But the seventh year is to be a Sabbath of rest for the land a Sabbath for the LORD. You are not to plant your field or prune your vineyard. You are not to gather what grows from the spilled kernels of your crops. You are not to pick the grapes of your untrimmed vines. Let it be a year of Sabbath for the land. You may take the Sabbath produce of the land for your food you, your male and maid servants, your hired laborers, and the resident alien with you. The cattle and the wild animals in your land everything it produces are for your food.
Soon they arrived in the valley of Eshcol, where they cut a single branch of grapes and carried it on a pole between two men, along with some pomegranates and figs.
then he will send rain on the land in its season the early and latter rains then you'll gather grain, new wine, and oil.
"You must cancel your debts at the end of every seventh year. This is the way to conduct remission: every creditor must cancel the loan that his friend borrowed, and he must not pressure his friend or brother to repay it, because remission to the LORD will be proclaimed. read more. You may exact payment from a foreigner, but cancel whatever your brother owes you. Moreover, there will be no poor person among you, for the LORD will surely bless you in the land that he is about to give you to possess. Only be certain to obey the voice of the LORD your God. Carefully observe all of these commands that I'm commanding to you today. For the LORD your God will bless you just as he promised. You are to lend to many nations but not borrow. Also, you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you." "If there should be a poor man among your relatives in one of the cities of the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor relative. Instead, be sure to open your hand to him and lend him enough to lessen his need. Be careful not to think this wicked thought to yourselves: "The seventh year, the year of remission, is drawing near,' and you show ill will toward your poor relative and not give to him. He may then call to the LORD on account of you, and you will be guilty of sin. You must certainly give to him and not feel regret for doing so. Because of this, the LORD your God will bless all your works and everything you do.
"Don't plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, the entire crop will have to be forfeited, both the seed that you have sown and the produce from it. "Don't plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
"Don't plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
"When you enter your countrymen's vineyard, you may eat the grapes to your satisfaction, but don't take any in a basket. When you enter your countrymen's grain fields, you may pluck the grain with your hand, but don't put a sickle to his standing grain."
"When you are reaping in the field, and you overlook a sheaf, don't return to get it. Let it remain for the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless everything you undertake.
"Don't muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain."
"The LORD will send blessings for you with regard to your barns and everything you undertake. Indeed, he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you.
About Asher he said: "May Asher be blessed, along with his descendants, may his brothers be pleased with him, may he dip his feet in oil,
After Ehud, Anath's son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.
She asked us, "Please allow me to glean what's left of the grain behind the harvesters.' So she came out and has continued working from dawn until now, except for a short time in a shelter."
After she had left to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, "Allow her to glean also among the cut sheaves, and don't taunt her.
So Ruth gathered grain out in the field until dusk, and then threshed what she had gathered about a week's supply of barley.
"So make a new cart, and take two milk cows that have never had a yoke on them. Hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves away from them and back to the house.
Araunah responded to David, "May your majesty the king take it and offer whatever pleases him. Here are oxen for a burnt offering, along with the threshing sledges and yokes from the oxen for wood!
In return, Solomon paid Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and 20 kors of beaten oil. Solomon provided this amount every year during the construction.
a messenger approached Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys were grazing nearby
a messenger approached Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys were grazing nearby
May they become like a straw, blown away before the wind; like a chaff that's swept off by a storm.
They wander around naked, without clothes; hungry, though they carry sheaves of grain.
They waited for me as one waits for rain, as one opens his mouth to drink in a spring rain shower.
Can you bind the ox to plow a furrow with a rope? Will he harrow after you in the valley?
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither. He will prosper in everything he does.
Make them like the chaff before the wind, as the messenger of the LORD pushes them aside.
You fill the furrows of the field with water so that their ridges overflow. You soften them with rain showers; their sprouts you have blessed.
so your barns will be filled with abundance, and your vats will burst open with new wine.
A king's heart is a water stream that the LORD controls; he directs it wherever he pleases.
How dare you crush my people as you grind down the face of the poor?" declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.
Therefore, as flames of fire devour straw, as dry grass collapses in flames, so their root will be rotten, and their blossom will blow away like dust, because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
The nations roar like the rushing of many waters, but the LORD will rebuke them, and they will run far away, chased like chaff blown down from the mountains or like thick dust that rolls along, blown along by a wind storm.
Does he who plows for sowing plow all the time? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing his field?
For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod. It must be ground; one cannot keep threshing it forever. Even if he drives his cart and horses over it, he cannot crush it.
and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks.
and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks. And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks and canals running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a hiding place from storms, like streams of water in the desert, in the shadow of a great rock in an exhausted land.
How happy you will be, sowing your seed beside every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range freely!"
How happy you will be, sowing your seed beside every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range freely!"
"See, I'm making you into a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge. You'll thresh and crush the mountains, and make the hills like chaff.
At that time, it will be told this people and to Jerusalem, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert is coming toward my people, and it's not for winnowing or cleansing.
They don't say to themselves, "Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'
Speak! "This is what the LORD says: "The corpses of people will fall like dung on the surface of the field, and like a row of cut grain behind the harvester when there is no one to gather it."'"
The territories of Judah and Israel were your clients, too. They traded wheat from their distribution centers, baked goods, honey, oil, and ointments for your merchandise.
Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the LORD; his coming is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.
"There's iniquity in Gilead, isn't there? They have become truly vain. They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; their altars are like piles of stone in furrowed fields.
This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Damascus and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they have trampled down Gilead with ironclad threshing sleds.
But they don't know the thoughts of the LORD, and they don't understand his tactics, for he will gather them like harvested grain to his threshing floor.
"Ask the LORD for rain in the spring the LORD who fashions lightning thunderstorms, giving rain showers to mankind along with grain in the fields.
Look at the birds in the sky. They don't plant or harvest or gather food into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are more valuable than they are, aren't you?
Look at the birds in the sky. They don't plant or harvest or gather food into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are more valuable than they are, aren't you?
At that time, Jesus walked through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His disciples became hungry and began picking heads of grain to eat.
Then he began to tell them many things in parables. He said, "Listen! A farmer went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up. read more. Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once because the soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they did not have any roots, they dried up. Other seeds fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew higher and choked them out. But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.
But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop that yields 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown."
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, "Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles for burning, but bring the wheat into my barn."'"
Jesus told him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I'll store all my grain and goods in them.
So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop from his land, being patient with it until it receives the fall and the spring rains.
Fausets
While the patriarchs were in Canaan, they led a pastoral life, and little attended to tillage; Isaac and Jacob indeed tilled at times (Ge 26:12; 37:7), but the herdsmen strove with Isaac for his wells not for his crops. The wealth of Gerar and Shechem was chiefly pastoral (Ge 20:14; 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 (De 8:8; Nu 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 (Ge 47:4-6; 46:34). But there they unlearned the exclusively pastoral life and learned husbandry (De 11:10), while the deserts beyond supplied pasture for their cattle (1Ch 7:21).
On the other hand, when they became a nation, occupying Canaan, their agriculture learned in Egypt made them a self subsisting nation, independent of external supplies, and so less open to external corrupting influences. Agriculture was the basis of the Mosaic commonwealth; it checked the tendency to the roving habits of nomad tribes, gave each man a stake in the soil by the law of inalienable inheritances, and made a numerous offspring profitable as to the culture of the land. God claimed the lordship of the soil (Le 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 (Le 25:8-16,28-55). 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 (De 17:16). Purificatory rites for a day after warfare were required (Nu 19:16; 31:19). These regulations, and that of attendance thrice a year at Jerusalem for the great feasts, discouraged the appetite for war. The soil is fertile still, wherever industry is secure. The Hauran (Peraea) is highly reputed for productiveness.
The soil of Gaza is dark and rich, though light, and retains rain; olives abound in it. The Israelites cleared away most of the wood which they found in Canaan (Jos 17:18), and seem to have had a scanty supply, as they imported but little; compare such extreme expedients for getting wood for sacrifice as in 1Sa 6:14; 2Sa 24:22; 1Ki 19:21; dung and hay fuel heated their ovens (Eze 4:12,15; Mt 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 (Am 4:7-8). The crop depended for its amount on timely rain. The "early" rain (Pr 16:15; Jas 5:7) fell from about the September equinox to sowing time in November or December, to revive the parched soil that the seed might germinate. The "latter rain" in February and March ripened the crop for harvest.
A typical pledge that, as there has been the early outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, so there shall be a latter outpouring previous to the great harvest of Israel and the Gentile nations (Zec 12:10; Joe 2:23,28-32). 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, Ex 9:31-32 records that by the plague of hail "the flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled i.e. in blossom, but the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up." Accordingly, at the Passover (just after the time of the hail) the barley was just fit for the sickle, and the wave sheaf was offered; and not until Pentecost feast, 50 days after, the wheat was ripe for cutting, and the firstfruit loaves were offered. The vine, olive, and fig abounded; and traces everywhere remain of former wine and olive presses.
Cummin (including the black "fitches," Isa 28:27), peas, beans, lentils, lettuce, endive, leek, garlic, onion, melon, cucumber, and cabbage also were cultivated. The Passover in the month Nisan answered to the green stage of produce; the feast of weeks in Sivan to the ripe; and the feast of tabernacles in Tisri to the harvest home or ingathered. A month (Veader) was often intercalated before Nisan, to obviate the inaccuracy of their non-astronomical reckoning. Thus the six months from Tisri to Nisan was occupied with cultivation, the six months from Nisan to Tisri with gathering fruits. The season of rains from Tisri equinox to Nisan is pretty continuous, but is more decidedly marked at the beginning (the early rain) and the end (the latter rain). Rain in harvest was unknown (Pr 26:1).
The plow was light, and drawn by one yoke. Fallows were cleared of stones and thorns early in the year (Jer 4:3; Ho 10:12; Isa 5:2). To sow among thorns was deemed bad husbandry (Job 5:5; Pr 24:30-31). Seed was scattered broadcast, as in the parable of the sower (Mt 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 (De 11:10; Isa 32:20). Hoeing and weeding were seldom needed in their fine tilth. Seventy days sufficed between sowing barley and the wave sheaf offering from the ripe grain at Passover. Oxen were urged on with a spearlike goad (Jg 3:31). Boaz slept on the threshingfloor, a circular high spot, of hard ground, 80 or 90 feet in diameter, exposed to the wind for winnowing, (2Sa 24:16-18) to watch against depredations (Ru 3:4-7). Sowing divers seed in a field was forbidden (De 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 (De 25:4) five abreast trod out the grain on the floor, to separate the grain from chaff and straw; flails were used for small quantities and lighter grain (Isa 28:27).
A threshing sledge (moreg), Isa 41:15) was also employed, probably like the Egyptian still in use, a stage with three rollers ridged with iron, which cut the straw for fodder, while crushing out the grain. The shovel and fan winnowed the grain afterward by help of the evening breeze (Ru 3:2; Isa 30:24); lastly, it was shaken in a sieve. Am 9:9; Ps 83:10, and 2Ki 9:37 prove the use of animal manure. The poor man's claim was remembered, the self sown produce of the seventh year being his perquisite (Le 25:1-7): hereby the Israelites' faith was tested; national apostasy
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So Abimelech took some sheep and oxen, and some male and female servants, gave them to Abraham, returned his wife Sarah to him,
So Abimelech took some sheep and oxen, and some male and female servants, gave them to Abraham, returned his wife Sarah to him,
Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received, because the LORD blessed him.
Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received, because the LORD blessed him.
seizing all of their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or had been left out in the field.
seizing all of their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or had been left out in the field.
"We were tying sheaves together out in the middle of the fields, when all of a sudden, my sheaf stood up erect! And then your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf!"
"We were tying sheaves together out in the middle of the fields, when all of a sudden, my sheaf stood up erect! And then your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf!"
you are to tell him, "Your servants have been taking care of livestock since we were youths. We and our ancestors have taken care of livestock.' That way, you'll be able to live in the Goshen territory, since shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians."
you are to tell him, "Your servants have been taking care of livestock since we were youths. We and our ancestors have taken care of livestock.' That way, you'll be able to live in the Goshen territory, since shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians."
"Your servants are shepherds," they replied, "both we and our ancestors. We've come to live for a while in this region, since there is no pasture back in Canaan for your servants' flocks. May your servants please live in the Goshen territory?"
"Your servants are shepherds," they replied, "both we and our ancestors. We've come to live for a while in this region, since there is no pasture back in Canaan for your servants' flocks. May your servants please live in the Goshen territory?" Then Pharaoh replied to Joseph, "Now that your father and your brothers have come to you,
Then Pharaoh replied to Joseph, "Now that your father and your brothers have come to you, Egypt is at your disposal, so settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land! Let them live in the Goshen territory. If you learn that any of them are especially skilled, put them in charge of my livestock."
Egypt is at your disposal, so settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land! Let them live in the Goshen territory. If you learn that any of them are especially skilled, put them in charge of my livestock."
(Now the flax and the barley were ruined because the barley was in ear and the flax was in bud.
(Now the flax and the barley were ruined because the barley was in ear and the flax was in bud. The wheat and the wild grainwere not ruined because they were late crops.)
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to completely finish harvesting the corners of the field that is, you are not to pick what remains after you have reaped your harvest.
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to completely finish harvesting the corners of the field that is, you are not to pick what remains after you have reaped your harvest. You are not to gather your vineyard or pick up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Leave something for the poor and the resident alien who lives among you. I am the LORD your God."
You are not to gather your vineyard or pick up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Leave something for the poor and the resident alien who lives among you. I am the LORD your God."
The LORD told Moses on Mount Sinai, "Tell the Israelis that when you enter the land that I'm about to give you, you are to let the land observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
"Tell the Israelis that when you enter the land that I'm about to give you, you are to let the land observe a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years you may plant your fields, and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce.
For six years you may plant your fields, and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce. But the seventh year is to be a Sabbath of rest for the land a Sabbath for the LORD. You are not to plant your field or prune your vineyard.
But the seventh year is to be a Sabbath of rest for the land a Sabbath for the LORD. You are not to plant your field or prune your vineyard. You are not to gather what grows from the spilled kernels of your crops. You are not to pick the grapes of your untrimmed vines. Let it be a year of Sabbath for the land.
You are not to gather what grows from the spilled kernels of your crops. You are not to pick the grapes of your untrimmed vines. Let it be a year of Sabbath for the land. You may take the Sabbath produce of the land for your food you, your male and maid servants, your hired laborers, and the resident alien with you.
You may take the Sabbath produce of the land for your food you, your male and maid servants, your hired laborers, and the resident alien with you. The cattle and the wild animals in your land everything it produces are for your food.
The cattle and the wild animals in your land everything it produces are for your food. "Count for yourselves seven years of Sabbaths seven times seven years. This set of seven weeks of years total 49 years for you.
"Count for yourselves seven years of Sabbaths seven times seven years. This set of seven weeks of years total 49 years for you. Sound a horn on the tenth day of the seventh month of this fiftieth year. Likewise, on the Day of Atonement, sound the horn throughout your land.
Sound a horn on the tenth day of the seventh month of this fiftieth year. Likewise, on the Day of Atonement, sound the horn throughout your land. Set aside and consecrate the fiftieth year to declare liberty throughout the land for all of its inhabitants. It is to be a jubilee for you. Every person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. Likewise, every person is to return to his tribe.
Set aside and consecrate the fiftieth year to declare liberty throughout the land for all of its inhabitants. It is to be a jubilee for you. Every person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. Likewise, every person is to return to his tribe. The fiftieth year is to be a year of jubilee for you. You are not to sow or harvest the spilled kernels that grow of themselves or pick grapes from the untrimmed vines
The fiftieth year is to be a year of jubilee for you. You are not to sow or harvest the spilled kernels that grow of themselves or pick grapes from the untrimmed vines because it's the jubilee it's sacred for you. But you may eat its produce from the field.
because it's the jubilee it's sacred for you. But you may eat its produce from the field. "During this year of jubilee, each person is to return to his own land that he has inherited.
"During this year of jubilee, each person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. So if you had sold property to a neighbor or had acquired land from your neighbor, you are not to cheat one another.
So if you had sold property to a neighbor or had acquired land from your neighbor, you are not to cheat one another. According to the number of years after the jubilee, you may buy from your neighbor. And according to the number of years with crops, he may sell to you.
According to the number of years after the jubilee, you may buy from your neighbor. And according to the number of years with crops, he may sell to you. If the number of years after the jubilee is more, increase the selling price. If the number of years after the jubilee is few, decrease its selling price, because he's selling to you according to the potential production volume of the land.
If the number of years after the jubilee is more, increase the selling price. If the number of years after the jubilee is few, decrease its selling price, because he's selling to you according to the potential production volume of the land.
"The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You're sojourners and travelers with me.
"The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You're sojourners and travelers with me.
If he's not able to redeem it back for himself, then what he sold is to remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee, it is to be returned so he may return to his property.
If he's not able to redeem it back for himself, then what he sold is to remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee, it is to be returned so he may return to his property. "If a person sells a residential house in a walled city, he is to redeem it within the year in which it was sold. He may have right to its redemption for a full year.
"If a person sells a residential house in a walled city, he is to redeem it within the year in which it was sold. He may have right to its redemption for a full year. But if it's not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house next to which is a wall is to belong in perpetuity to the one who bought it throughout his generations. It is not to be returned in the jubilee.
But if it's not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house next to which is a wall is to belong in perpetuity to the one who bought it throughout his generations. It is not to be returned in the jubilee. However, the houses in the villages that don't have walls around them are to be categorized along with the fields of the land they may be redeemed and returned in the jubilee.
However, the houses in the villages that don't have walls around them are to be categorized along with the fields of the land they may be redeemed and returned in the jubilee. Nevertheless, the cities that belong to the descendants of Levi that is, the houses in the cities that belong to them are to belong to the descendants of Levi perpetually as part of their right of redemption.
Nevertheless, the cities that belong to the descendants of Levi that is, the houses in the cities that belong to them are to belong to the descendants of Levi perpetually as part of their right of redemption. If someone from the descendants of Levi redeems the houses in the cities that they own, they are to be returned in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the descendants of Levi are to remain their property among the Israelis.
If someone from the descendants of Levi redeems the houses in the cities that they own, they are to be returned in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the descendants of Levi are to remain their property among the Israelis. Also, the open land of their cities is not to be sold, because it is to remain their perpetual inheritance."
Also, the open land of their cities is not to be sold, because it is to remain their perpetual inheritance." "If your relative becomes so poor that he is indebted to you, then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler.
"If your relative becomes so poor that he is indebted to you, then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler. You are not to take interest or profit from him. Instead, you are to fear your God and let your relative live with you.
You are not to take interest or profit from him. Instead, you are to fear your God and let your relative live with you. You are not to loan him money with interest or sell him your food at a profit.
You are not to loan him money with interest or sell him your food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. "If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave.
"If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave. Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or a traveler who lives with you, until the year of jubilee.
Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or a traveler who lives with you, until the year of jubilee. Then he and his children with him may leave to return to his family and his ancestor's inheritance.
Then he and his children with him may leave to return to his family and his ancestor's inheritance. Since they're my servants whom I've brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
Since they're my servants whom I've brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. You are not to rule over them with harshness. You are to fear your God."
You are not to rule over them with harshness. You are to fear your God." "As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations.
"As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations. You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property.
You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property. You may give them as inherited property to your children after you, to own as properties in perpetuity. You may make bond slaves of them, but no one is to rule over his fellow Israeli with harshness.
You may give them as inherited property to your children after you, to own as properties in perpetuity. You may make bond slaves of them, but no one is to rule over his fellow Israeli with harshness. "If a resident alien or traveler becomes rich, but your relative who lives next to him is so poor that he sells himself to that resident alien or traveler among you or to a member of the resident alien's family,
"If a resident alien or traveler becomes rich, but your relative who lives next to him is so poor that he sells himself to that resident alien or traveler among you or to a member of the resident alien's family, he has the right to be redeemed after he sells himself. One of his brothers may redeem him.
he has the right to be redeemed after he sells himself. One of his brothers may redeem him. His uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him or any blood relative from his tribe may redeem him. If he becomes rich, then he may redeem himself.
His uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him or any blood relative from his tribe may redeem him. If he becomes rich, then he may redeem himself. "He is to bring an accounting to the one who bought him, starting from the year he had sold himself until the year of jubilee. The price of his sale is to correspond to the number of years comparable to the time a hired servant stays with him.
"He is to bring an accounting to the one who bought him, starting from the year he had sold himself until the year of jubilee. The price of his sale is to correspond to the number of years comparable to the time a hired servant stays with him. If there are still many years left, he is to refund the cost of his redemption.
If there are still many years left, he is to refund the cost of his redemption. But if only a few years are left until the year of jubilee, he is to bring an accounting of the years that he is to refund for his redemption.
But if only a few years are left until the year of jubilee, he is to bring an accounting of the years that he is to refund for his redemption. Like a hired servant, he is to remain with him year after year, but he is not to rule over him with what you see as severity.
Like a hired servant, he is to remain with him year after year, but he is not to rule over him with what you see as severity. If he isn't redeemed by these, then he is to be set free in the year of jubilee he and his children with him
If he isn't redeemed by these, then he is to be set free in the year of jubilee he and his children with him because the Israelis are my servants. They're my servants, since I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
because the Israelis are my servants. They're my servants, since I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
Then the land will finally be pleased with its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time, the land will rest and take its Sabbaths.
Then the land will finally be pleased with its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time, the land will rest and take its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest that it will not have had during your Sabbaths when you were living in it.
As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest that it will not have had during your Sabbaths when you were living in it.
Soon they arrived in the valley of Eshcol, where they cut a single branch of grapes and carried it on a pole between two men, along with some pomegranates and figs.
Soon they arrived in the valley of Eshcol, where they cut a single branch of grapes and carried it on a pole between two men, along with some pomegranates and figs.
Whoever is out in an open field and touches the body of someone who was killed by a sword, or a dead body, or someone's bones, or a grave, he is to be considered unclean for seven days.
Whoever is out in an open field and touches the body of someone who was killed by a sword, or a dead body, or someone's bones, or a grave, he is to be considered unclean for seven days.
"Now you are to stay outside the camp for seven days, after which any of you who has killed a person or touched someone who was killed may purify yourselves on the third day. You and your captives will be pure on the seventh day.
"Now you are to stay outside the camp for seven days, after which any of you who has killed a person or touched someone who was killed may purify yourselves on the third day. You and your captives will be pure on the seventh day.
It's a land filled with wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It's a land filled with olive oil and honey
It's a land filled with wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It's a land filled with olive oil and honey
For the land that you are about to enter to inherit isn't like the land of Egypt that you just left, where you plant a seed and irrigate it with your feet like a vegetable garden.
For the land that you are about to enter to inherit isn't like the land of Egypt that you just left, where you plant a seed and irrigate it with your feet like a vegetable garden.
For the land that you are about to enter to inherit isn't like the land of Egypt that you just left, where you plant a seed and irrigate it with your feet like a vegetable garden.
For the land that you are about to enter to inherit isn't like the land of Egypt that you just left, where you plant a seed and irrigate it with your feet like a vegetable garden.
Every third year, bring all the tithes of your produce of that year and store it in your cities
Every third year, bring all the tithes of your produce of that year and store it in your cities
Only he must not amass horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt to obtain more horses. For the LORD said you must never return that way again.
Only he must not amass horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt to obtain more horses. For the LORD said you must never return that way again.
"Don't plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, the entire crop will have to be forfeited, both the seed that you have sown and the produce from it.
"Don't plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, the entire crop will have to be forfeited, both the seed that you have sown and the produce from it.
"Don't muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain."
"Don't muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain."
"When you have finished your harvest, reserve the tithe in the third year (the year of the tithe), and give the entire tithe to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, to the orphans, and to the widows, so they may eat and be satisfied in your cities.
"When you have finished your harvest, reserve the tithe in the third year (the year of the tithe), and give the entire tithe to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, to the orphans, and to the widows, so they may eat and be satisfied in your cities.
but the hill country will also belong to you. Even though it's a forest, you will clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. You'll drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and even though they're strong."
but the hill country will also belong to you. Even though it's a forest, you will clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. You'll drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and even though they're strong."
After Ehud, Anath's son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.
After Ehud, Anath's son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.
Isn't Boaz one of our close relatives? You've been associating with his women servants lately. Look, he'll be winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight.
Isn't Boaz one of our close relatives? You've been associating with his women servants lately. Look, he'll be winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight.
When he lies down, be sure to notice where he is resting. Then go over, uncover his feet, and lie down. He'll tell you what to do."
When he lies down, be sure to notice where he is resting. Then go over, uncover his feet, and lie down. He'll tell you what to do." Ruth replied, "I'll do everything you've said."
Ruth replied, "I'll do everything you've said." So she went out to the threshing floor and did precisely what her mother-in-law had advised.
So she went out to the threshing floor and did precisely what her mother-in-law had advised. After Boaz had finished eating and drinking to his heart's content, he went over and lay down next to the pile of threshed grain. Ruth came in quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
After Boaz had finished eating and drinking to his heart's content, he went over and lay down next to the pile of threshed grain. Ruth came in quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh, and stopped there. In that place there was a large stone. They broke up the wood from the cart, and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.
The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh, and stopped there. In that place there was a large stone. They broke up the wood from the cart, and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.
As the angel was stretching out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity, so he told the angel who was afflicting the people, "Enough! Stay your hand!" So the angel of the LORD remained near the threshing floor that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite.
As the angel was stretching out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity, so he told the angel who was afflicting the people, "Enough! Stay your hand!" So the angel of the LORD remained near the threshing floor that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who had been attacking the people, he told the LORD, "Look, I'm the one who has sinned! I did the evil. These are only sheep! What did they do? Please, let your hand fall on me and on my household!"
When David saw the angel who had been attacking the people, he told the LORD, "Look, I'm the one who has sinned! I did the evil. These are only sheep! What did they do? Please, let your hand fall on me and on my household!" That very day, Gad approached David and told him, "Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor that belongs to Araunah the Jebusite."
That very day, Gad approached David and told him, "Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor that belongs to Araunah the Jebusite."
"Dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh on the property of Jezreel, and her corpse will lie like dung on the surface of the field on the property in Jezreel, but no one will say, "This is Jezebel."'"
"Dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh on the property of Jezreel, and her corpse will lie like dung on the surface of the field on the property in Jezreel, but no one will say, "This is Jezebel."'"
his son Zabad, his son Shuthelah, his son Ezer, and Elead. The people of Gath, who were native to the land, killed them when they came down to raid their cattle.
his son Zabad, his son Shuthelah, his son Ezer, and Elead. The people of Gath, who were native to the land, killed them when they came down to raid their cattle.
Then the hungry will devour his harvest, snatching it even from the midst of thorns, while the thirsty covet their wealth.
Then the hungry will devour his harvest, snatching it even from the midst of thorns, while the thirsty covet their wealth.
When a king is pleased, there is life, and his favor is like a cloud that brings spring rain.
When a king is pleased, there is life, and his favor is like a cloud that brings spring rain.
I went by the field belonging to a lazy man, by a vineyard belonging to a senseless person.
I went by the field belonging to a lazy man, by a vineyard belonging to a senseless person. There it was, overgrown with thistles, the ground covered with thorns, its stone wall collapsed.
There it was, overgrown with thistles, the ground covered with thorns, its stone wall collapsed.
Like snowfall in summer or rain at harvest time, so honor is inappropriate for a fool.
Like snowfall in summer or rain at harvest time, so honor is inappropriate for a fool.
He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones."
He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones."
For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks.
and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks.
How happy you will be, sowing your seed beside every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range freely!"
How happy you will be, sowing your seed beside every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range freely!"
"See, I'm making you into a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge. You'll thresh and crush the mountains, and make the hills like chaff.
"See, I'm making you into a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge. You'll thresh and crush the mountains, and make the hills like chaff.
For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, "Break up your unplowed ground, and don't sow among thorns.
For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, "Break up your unplowed ground, and don't sow among thorns.
You are to eat it as barley cakes and bake it right in front of them, using dried human dung for cooking fuel."
You are to eat it as barley cakes and bake it right in front of them, using dried human dung for cooking fuel."
"Okay," he responded. "I'll allow you to substitute cow's dung for human dung. Cook your food over that."
"Okay," he responded. "I'll allow you to substitute cow's dung for human dung. Cook your food over that."
Sow in righteousness in your own interest, reap in gracious love, break up your own unprepared ground; It is now time to inquire of the LORD, until he comes to pour out righteousness for you.
Sow in righteousness in your own interest, reap in gracious love, break up your own unprepared ground; It is now time to inquire of the LORD, until he comes to pour out righteousness for you.
And so be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, because he has given you the right amount of early rain, and he will cause the rain to fall for you, both the early rain and the later rain as before.
And so be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, because he has given you the right amount of early rain, and he will cause the rain to fall for you, both the early rain and the later rain as before.
"Then it will come about at a later time that I will pour out my Spirit on every person. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your elderly people will dream dreams, and your young people will see visions.
"Then it will come about at a later time that I will pour out my Spirit on every person. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your elderly people will dream dreams, and your young people will see visions. Also at that time I will pour out my Spirit upon men and women servants.
Also at that time I will pour out my Spirit upon men and women servants. I will display warnings in the heavens, and on the earth blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
I will display warnings in the heavens, and on the earth blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be given over to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and terrifying Day of the LORD.
The sun will be given over to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and terrifying Day of the LORD. And everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be delivered. For as the LORD has said, "In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, the survivors whom the LORD is calling.'"
And everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be delivered. For as the LORD has said, "In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, the survivors whom the LORD is calling.'"
"Come to Bethel and sin, to Gilgal and sin even more! Bring along your morning sacrifices, and pay your tithes every other day.
"Come to Bethel and sin, to Gilgal and sin even more! Bring along your morning sacrifices, and pay your tithes every other day.
"I therefore have withheld the rain from you three months before the harvest, causing rain to come upon one city, but not upon another, and upon one field but not upon another, so that it would wither.
"I therefore have withheld the rain from you three months before the harvest, causing rain to come upon one city, but not upon another, and upon one field but not upon another, so that it would wither. So the people of two or three cities staggered away to another city in order to obtain drinking water, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
So the people of two or three cities staggered away to another city in order to obtain drinking water, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
"Look! I'm giving the order: I will sift the house of Israel throughout all the nations, as one sifts with a sieve, yet not a single kernel will reach the ground!
"Look! I'm giving the order: I will sift the house of Israel throughout all the nations, as one sifts with a sieve, yet not a single kernel will reach the ground!
I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me the one whom they pierced.'"
I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me the one whom they pierced.'"
Now if that is the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, won't he clothe you much better you who have little faith?
Now if that is the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, won't he clothe you much better you who have little faith?
Then he began to tell them many things in parables. He said, "Listen! A farmer went out to sow.
Then he began to tell them many things in parables. He said, "Listen! A farmer went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up.
As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once because the soil wasn't deep.
Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once because the soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they did not have any roots, they dried up.
But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they did not have any roots, they dried up. Other seeds fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew higher and choked them out.
Other seeds fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew higher and choked them out. But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.
But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.
So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop from his land, being patient with it until it receives the fall and the spring rains.
So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop from his land, being patient with it until it receives the fall and the spring rains.
Hastings
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 Jahweh; His people enjoyed the usufruct (Le 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
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And she did it again, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel shepherded flocks and Cain became a farmer.
"If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, you are to certainly return it to him.
"You are to sow your land and gather its crops for six years,
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to completely finish harvesting the corners of the field that is, you are not to pick what remains after you have reaped your harvest.
"Observe my statutes. "You are not to let your cattle breed with a different species. "You are not to sow your fields with two different kinds of seeds. "You are not to wear clothing made from two different kinds of material.
"Starting the day after the Sabbath, count for yourselves seven weeks from the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. They are to be complete.
"Count for yourselves seven years of Sabbaths seven times seven years. This set of seven weeks of years total 49 years for you.
"The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You're sojourners and travelers with me.
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you will no longer be their slaves, since I've broken their oppressive yoke upon you to make you walk upright."
"When you inherit the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't move your neighbor's boundary marker from where it was placed long ago."
"When you see the ox or sheep of your fellow countryman straying, don't go away and leave it. Instead, be sure to return it to him.
"Don't plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
"When you are reaping in the field, and you overlook a sheaf, don't return to get it. Let it remain for the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless everything you undertake.
"Don't muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain."
""Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's boundary stone.' "Then all the people are to respond by saying, "Amen!'
The LORD will afflict you with tuberculosis, fever, inflammation, high fever, drought, blight, and mildew. These will attack you until you are completely destroyed.
After this, the angel of the LORD arrived and sat down in the shade of the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press in order to safeguard it from the Midianites.
Ruth the Moabite told Naomi, "Please allow me to go out to the fields and glean grain behind anyone who shows me kindness." So Naomi replied, "Go ahead, my daughter."
So Ruth gathered grain out in the field until dusk, and then threshed what she had gathered about a week's supply of barley.
Everyone in Israel would have to go to the Philistines so each person could sharpen his plow, his mattock, his axe, and his sickle.
Araunah responded to David, "May your majesty the king take it and offer whatever pleases him. Here are oxen for a burnt offering, along with the threshing sledges and yokes from the oxen for wood!
He also built watchtowers in the wilderness and had many cisterns hewed out, since he also possessed large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the midland plains. He had many farmers and vinedressers throughout the hills and fertile lands because he loved farming.
But this is not the case with the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
A wise king sifts the wicked, crushing them with the threshing wheel.
I'll make it a wasteland, and it won't be pruned or cultivated. Instead, briers and thorns will grow up. I'll also issue commands to the clouds, that they drop no rain upon it."
As for all the hills that used to be cultivated with a hoe, you won't go there, because you'll fear iron briars and thorns. Nevertheless, those hills will be reserved as a pasture where cattle will feed and where sheep will graze."
When he has leveled its surface, he scatters caraway and sows cumin, doesn't he? He plants wheat in rows, barley in its designated place, and feed for livestock around its borders, doesn't he? His God instructs him regarding the correct way, directing him how to plant. read more. For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks.
His breath is like an overflowing torrent, and it rises right up to the neck, to shake the nations in the sieve of destruction, and to place in the jaws of the nations a bit that leads them astray.
"See, I'm making you into a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge. You'll thresh and crush the mountains, and make the hills like chaff.
Ten men who were among them told Ishmael, "Don't kill us, because we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field." So Ishmael stopped and did not kill them or their companions.
For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it's pounded down. In just a little while, the time of her harvest will come."
"Oh, how I am burdened down with you, as a wagon is overloaded with harvested grain!
"I afflicted you with blight and fungus; and the locust swarm devoured the harvest of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
"I afflicted you with blight and fungus; and the locust swarm devoured the harvest of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
"Horses don't run over bare rock, do they? One doesn't plow rock with oxen, does he? But you have turned justice to gall, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.
"Look! I'm giving the order: I will sift the house of Israel throughout all the nations, as one sifts with a sieve, yet not a single kernel will reach the ground!
I punished you and everything that you undertook with scorching wind, with mildew, and with hail, and you still did not return to me,' declares the LORD.
Look at the birds in the sky. They don't plant or harvest or gather food into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are more valuable than they are, aren't you?
But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.
Smith
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,"
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,
De 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.
Rain.--Water was abundant in Palestine from natural sources.
De 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,"
De 11:14; Jer 5:24; Ho 6:3; Zec 10:1; Jas 5:7
generally reaching from November to April, constituted the "rainy season," and the remainder of the year the "dry season." Crops.--The cereal crops of constant mention are wheat and barley, and more rarely rye and millet(?). Of the two former, together with the vine, olive and fig, the use of irrigation, the plough and the harrow, mention is made ln the book of
Job 31:40; 15:33; 24:6; 29:19; 39:10
Two kinds of cumin (the black variety called fitches),
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.
New ground and fallows,
were cleared of stones and of thorns,
early in the year, sowing or gathering from "among thorns" being a proverb for slovenly husbandry.
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.
Seventy days before the passover was the time prescribed for sowing. The oxen were urged on by a goad like a spear.
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.
Sowing a field with divers seed was forbidden.
De 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,
to the floor--a circular spot of hard ground, probably, as now, from 50 to 80 or 100 feet in diameter.
On these the oxen, etc., forbidden to be muzzled,
De 25:4
trampled out the grain. At a later time the Jews used a threshing sledge called morag,
Isa 41:15; 2Sa 24:22; 1Ch 21:23
probably resembling the noreg, still employed in Egypt --a stage with three rollers ridged with iron, which, aided by the driver's weight crushed out, often injuring, the grain, as well as cut or tore the straw, which thus became fit for fodder. Lighter grains were beaten out with a stick.
The use of animal manure was frequent.
etc. Winnowing.--The shovel and fan,
indicate the process of winnowing--a conspicuous part of ancient husbandry.
Evening was the favorite time,
when there was mostly a breeze. The fan,
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.
Fields and floors were not commonly enclosed; vineyard mostly were, with a tower and other buildings.
Nu 22:24; Ps 80:13; Isa 5:5; Mt 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,
or a stipulated share of the fruits.
A passer by might eat any quantity of corn or grapes, but not reap or carry off fruit.
De 23:24-25; Mt 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.
See Corner
See Gleaning
Le 19:9-10; De 24:19
See Verses Found in Dictionary
God called the dry ground "land," and he called the water that had come together "oceans." And God saw how good it was. Then God said, "Let vegetation sprout all over the earth, including seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each kind containing its own seed!" And that is what happened:
Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received, because the LORD blessed him.
"Count for yourselves seven years of Sabbaths seven times seven years. This set of seven weeks of years total 49 years for you. Sound a horn on the tenth day of the seventh month of this fiftieth year. Likewise, on the Day of Atonement, sound the horn throughout your land. read more. Set aside and consecrate the fiftieth year to declare liberty throughout the land for all of its inhabitants. It is to be a jubilee for you. Every person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. Likewise, every person is to return to his tribe. The fiftieth year is to be a year of jubilee for you. You are not to sow or harvest the spilled kernels that grow of themselves or pick grapes from the untrimmed vines because it's the jubilee it's sacred for you. But you may eat its produce from the field. "During this year of jubilee, each person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. So if you had sold property to a neighbor or had acquired land from your neighbor, you are not to cheat one another. According to the number of years after the jubilee, you may buy from your neighbor. And according to the number of years with crops, he may sell to you. If the number of years after the jubilee is more, increase the selling price. If the number of years after the jubilee is few, decrease its selling price, because he's selling to you according to the potential production volume of the land.
"The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You're sojourners and travelers with me.
"The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You're sojourners and travelers with me. So throughout all of your land inheritance, grant the right of redemption for the land. read more. "If your brother becomes so poor that he has to a sell portion of his inheritance, then his nearest kinsman redeemer is to come and redeem what his brother has sold. If a person doesn't have a kinsman redeemer, but has become rich and found sufficient means for his redemption, then let him account for the years for which it was sold, return the excess to the person to whom it was sold, and then return to his property. If he's not able to redeem it back for himself, then what he sold is to remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee, it is to be returned so he may return to his property. "If a person sells a residential house in a walled city, he is to redeem it within the year in which it was sold. He may have right to its redemption for a full year. But if it's not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house next to which is a wall is to belong in perpetuity to the one who bought it throughout his generations. It is not to be returned in the jubilee. However, the houses in the villages that don't have walls around them are to be categorized along with the fields of the land they may be redeemed and returned in the jubilee. Nevertheless, the cities that belong to the descendants of Levi that is, the houses in the cities that belong to them are to belong to the descendants of Levi perpetually as part of their right of redemption. If someone from the descendants of Levi redeems the houses in the cities that they own, they are to be returned in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the descendants of Levi are to remain their property among the Israelis. Also, the open land of their cities is not to be sold, because it is to remain their perpetual inheritance." "If your relative becomes so poor that he is indebted to you, then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler.
but the angel of the LORD stood on a narrow path that crossed the vineyards. It had walls on both sides of the path.
because the LORD your God is bringing you to a good land a land with rivers and deep springs flowing to the valleys and hills.
"Keep all the commands that I'm giving you today, so you can be strong enough to enter and possess the land that you are crossing over to inherit and so you'll live long in the land that the LORD your God promised by an oath to give your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. read more. For the land that you are about to enter to inherit isn't like the land of Egypt that you just left, where you plant a seed and irrigate it with your feet like a vegetable garden. Instead, the land that you are crossing over to inherit is a land of hills and valleys that drinks water supplied by rain from heaven, a land about which the LORD your God is always concerned, because the eyes of the LORD are continuously on it throughout the entire year."
then he will send rain on the land in its season the early and latter rains then you'll gather grain, new wine, and oil.
"When you inherit the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't move your neighbor's boundary marker from where it was placed long ago."
"Don't plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, the entire crop will have to be forfeited, both the seed that you have sown and the produce from it.
"When you enter your countrymen's vineyard, you may eat the grapes to your satisfaction, but don't take any in a basket. When you enter your countrymen's grain fields, you may pluck the grain with your hand, but don't put a sickle to his standing grain."
"When you are reaping in the field, and you overlook a sheaf, don't return to get it. Let it remain for the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless everything you undertake.
"Don't muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain."
After Ehud, Anath's son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.
After this, the angel of the LORD arrived and sat down in the shade of the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press in order to safeguard it from the Midianites.
Isn't Boaz one of our close relatives? You've been associating with his women servants lately. Look, he'll be winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight.
You and your servants are to farm the land on his behalf and bring in the crops in order to provide for your master's grandson. Meanwhile, Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will always have a place at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and 20 servants.)
Then the hungry will devour his harvest, snatching it even from the midst of thorns, while the thirsty covet their wealth.
"He is like a vine that drops its unripe grapes; like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
May they become like a straw, blown away before the wind; like a chaff that's swept off by a storm.
They reap fodder in the field and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
My roots have spread out and have found water, and dew settles at night on my branches.
may thorns spring up instead of wheat, and obnoxious weeds instead of barley." With this, Job's discourse with his friends is completed.
Can you bind the ox to plow a furrow with a rope? Will he harrow after you in the valley?
Make them like the chaff before the wind, as the messenger of the LORD pushes them aside.
I went by the field belonging to a lazy man, by a vineyard belonging to a senseless person. There it was, overgrown with thistles, the ground covered with thorns, its stone wall collapsed.
Solomon has a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers each one is to bring 1,000 pieces of silver in exchange for its fruit.
He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones."
"Now, let me tell you, won't you please, what I'm going to do to my vineyard. "I'm going to take away its protective hedge, and it will be devoured; I'll break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
As for all the hills that used to be cultivated with a hoe, you won't go there, because you'll fear iron briars and thorns. Nevertheless, those hills will be reserved as a pasture where cattle will feed and where sheep will graze."
The nations roar like the rushing of many waters, but the LORD will rebuke them, and they will run far away, chased like chaff blown down from the mountains or like thick dust that rolls along, blown along by a wind storm.
For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin. Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks.
How happy you will be, sowing your seed beside every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range freely!"
"See, I'm making you into a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge. You'll thresh and crush the mountains, and make the hills like chaff.
For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, "Break up your unplowed ground, and don't sow among thorns.
They don't say to themselves, "Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'
They'll be spread out to the sun, the moon, and all the stars of the heavens, which they loved and served, and which they followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones won't be collected, nor will they be buried. They'll be like dung on the surface of the ground.
Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the LORD; his coming is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.
Sow in righteousness in your own interest, reap in gracious love, break up your own unprepared ground; It is now time to inquire of the LORD, until he comes to pour out righteousness for you.
"Oh, how I am burdened down with you, as a wagon is overloaded with harvested grain!
"Look! I'm giving the order: I will sift the house of Israel throughout all the nations, as one sifts with a sieve, yet not a single kernel will reach the ground!
"Ask the LORD for rain in the spring the LORD who fashions lightning thunderstorms, giving rain showers to mankind along with grain in the fields.
His winnowing fork is in his hand. He will clean up his threshing floor and gather his grain into the barn, but he will burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire."
At that time, Jesus walked through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His disciples became hungry and began picking heads of grain to eat.
But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.
"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad. When harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his produce.
So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop from his land, being patient with it until it receives the fall and the spring rains.