Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

AGRICULTURE*

During Bible times agriculture took the same three main forms found in Palestine today. Emphasis on each of these has depended upon the social and technological status of the people.

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• Herding

• Field Cropping

• Fruit Raising

• Cultivating

• Harvesting

Herding

Raising livestock is one of the first occupations mentioned in the Scriptures. Abel (Gn 4:2) and Jabal (Gn 4:20) were keepers of sheep or had cattle. This occupation fit the seminomadic life, providing both food and clothing while requiring a minimum of techniques and equipment.

The patriarchs were mainly herdsmen, pasturing their sheep and cattle on common land and generally neglecting to till the soil. Jacob and his sons entered Egypt as shepherds (Gn 47:3). Later this pastoral life is still found in the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Transjordan (Nm 32:1) and in certain of the tribes dwelling in the western Palestinian hills (1 Sm 25:2). Herding continued to be a part of Hebrew agriculture even in postnomadic days, partly because the animals utilized less productive lands and partly because of the people’s traditions. Important among these traditions were the sacrifices performed in the temple.

Field Cropping

Most authorities agree that the Israelites learned field agriculture from the Canaanites, since contact with these people was contemporaneous with the settling of the Promised Land. The raising of grain is known to have existed before that time. Cain was a tiller of the soil (Gn 4:2), although it is uncertain what he raised. Archaeologists date the existence of grain farming to around 6800 BC in the Near East. Isaac sowed in Gerar (Gn 26:12), and Joseph dreamed of sheaves of grain (Gn 37:6-7). Joseph probably learned more about farming grain from the Egyptians, who raised it on the fertile soils of the Nile floodplain.

Yet it was from contact with the Canaanites that Israelites began to raise grain. The productivity of Canaan was reported by Joshua and Caleb at Kadesh-barnea (Nm 13:26), and the Canaanites, who were later conquered, were no doubt made to initiate their conquerors into agricultural practices. Probably such a relationship contributed to the continual Israelite lapses into idolatry (Jgs 9:27). How rapidly they made the transition from the purely nomadic life is not clear. Some tribes never did shed the nomadic way, but cultivation of the soil seems to have been common by the time of the kings (2 Sm 14:30).

Of the cereals raised, wheat was one of the most important. Solomon sent great amounts of it, along with barley and oil, to Hiram (2 Chr 2:10), and it continued to be a chief item of export (Ez 27:17). Barley was second in importance. In early times it was the chief ingredient of bread (Jgs 7:13); later it became an important food for the poorer classes (Jn 6:9, 13). It was also fed to cattle.

Other field crops were beans and lentils (2 Sm 17:28), which were ground into meal and sometimes used for bread (Ez 4:9). Leeks, garlic, and onions were raised for seasoning, and cumin, coriander, dill, mint, rue, and mustard for spices. Flax was important (Jos 2:6). Some cotton was grown (Is 19:9). The fiber supply was supplemented with wool. By Roman times cotton had become much more important than flax.

Fruit Raising

When the Israelites became well settled, orchards and vineyards were planted and came to be symbols of prosperity. Vineyards supplied wine to drink. Olive orchards provided oil for cooking, cosmetics, and medicine. Figs and pomegranates were also grown. For all of these crops more skill and equipment became necessary.

Cultivating

Throughout biblical times, much of the labor for agriculture came from the farmer himself. To plant for the first time, it was necessary to clear the land of forest (Jos 17:18), stones (Is 5:2), weeds, and thorns. Sometimes the thin soil on hillsides was terraced, and sometimes irrigation was employed. Such tasks limited the size of farms so that only the wealthy, such as Job and Boaz, had large holdings.

To till the land, farmers used oxen or cows to pull very primitive plows (Jgs 14:18; Am 6:12). Occasionally an ass was used (Dt 22:10). Clods were broken with a hoe or the driver’s goad. The surface was evened by drawing a simple harrow, perhaps only a thornbush, or a stoneboat over it. Seed was sown by hand, sometimes carefully in the furrow, and covered lightly with the harrow or stoneboat. Weeds were controlled by the plow, harrow, or hoe.

Implements did not change much during Bible times. The plow consisted of an upright J-shaped piece of hardwood so fixed to be drawn by oxen at one end and held by the driver at the other. Such a primitive device could break up only four to five inches (10 to 13 centimeters) of soil. After the exodus, iron became available for the tip of the plow (1 Sm 13:20), but this served mainly to cut down wear on the point.

The use of fertilizer was very limited on Palestinian farms. Of course, ceremonial law requiring that the soil lie fallow every seventh year helped to replenish water and nutrients, or at least delay their depletion. Manuring of fields was not common because dung was used for fuel. However, there is some mention of this practice in Scripture (Lk 13:8, where dung is placed around trees). There is mention in the Mishnah of the use of wood ashes, leaves, blood of slaughtered animals, and oil scum for fertilizer.

Harvesting

Seeding was done at the beginning of the rainy season and harvesting was begun at the end. Harvesting lasted at least seven weeks. Some crops were pulled up by the roots (pulse), others were dug with a hoe (some grain), but most were cut with a sickle. Iron sickles have been found in archaeological excavations, some with cutting edges set with flakes of flint. The cut grain was tied in sheaves (Ps 126:6) and cast into heaps to be transported to the threshing floor. Barley was harvested first and wheat last.

Small quantities of grain, dill, cumin, and other small crops were beaten out with a flail (Jgs 6:11; Ru 2:17), but most grain was threshed on a floor placed on high ground so that the wind would carry off the chaff. The usual method was to scatter the loosened bundles of straw on the floor and to drive oxen over them to dislodge the grains. Sometimes heavy implements were drawn over the straw (Is 28:27; 41:15). These were weighted by stones and ridden by the driver. The resulting bits of straw, or chaff, were separated from the grain by a tedious winnowing process that involved throwing the material in the air with a fork or shovel (Is 30:24; Jer 15:7). The lighter straw would be blown to the edge of the floor, and the grain would collect at the feet of the worker. The chaff was burned or used as fodder. Grain was sifted (Am 9:9), shoveled into a heap, and later stored in covered pits in the field (Jer 41:8). Sometimes storehouses or granaries were used (Dt 28:8).