AGEE
omen
{Dt
28",
1
K
12',
Is
47»).
It
was
to
the
grand-mother
of
Obed
that
the
Hebrew
women
said
'
he
shall
be
...
a
nourisher
of
thine
old
age'
(Ru
4");
the
dutiful
affection
of
children's
children
illumined
the
gracious
message
of
Israel's
God:
'even
to
old
age
I
am
he,
and
even
to
hoar
hairs
will
I
carry
you'
(Is
46<).
J.
G.
Tasker.
AGEE.
—
The
father
of
Shammah,
one
of
'the
Three'
(2
S
23").
AGGABA
(1
Es
5").—
In
Ezr
2«
Hagabah,
Neh
7"
Hagaba.
AGG^US.—
The
form
used
in
1
Es
6i
V
and
2
Es
1"
for
Haggai
(wh.
see).
AGIA
(1
Es
53<).—
In
Ezr
2",
Neh
7"
Hattil.
AGONY
(Lk
22«)
is
not
a
translation
but
a
trans-literation
of
the
Greek
agSnia,
equivalent
to
St.
Matthew's
'sorrowful
and
sore
troubled'
(26")
and
St.
Mark's
'greatly
amazed
and
sore
troubled'
(14^3).
The
word
does
not
mean
'
agony
'
in
the
English
sense.
Agon
was
'a
contest,'
and
agonia
the
trepidation
of
a
combatant
about
to
enter
the
Usts.
Christ's
Agony
in
Gethsemane
was
the
horror
which
overwhelmed
Him
as
He
faced
the
final
ordeal.
David
Smith.
AGBAFHA.
—
See
Unwritten
Satinqs.
AGRICULTURE.—
Throughout
the
whole
period
of
their
national
existence,
agriculture
was
the
principal
occupation
of
the
Hebrews.
According
to
the
priestly
theory,
the
land
was
the
property
of
J";
His
people
enjoyed
the
usufruct
(Lv
25^).
In
actual
practice,
the
bulk
of
the
land
was
owned
by
the
towns
and
village
communities,
each
free
husbandman
having
his
allotted
portion
of
the
common
lands.
The
remainder
included
the
Crown
lands
and
the
estates
of
the
nobility,
at
least
under
the
monarchy.
Husbandry
—
the
Biblical
term
for
agriculture
(2
Oh
26")
—
was
highly
esteemed,
and
was
regarded
as
dating
from
the
very
earliest
times
(Gn
42).
It
was
J"
Himself
who
taught
the
husbandman
his
art
(Is
28»).
">
Of
the
wide
range
of
topics
embraced
by
agriculture
in
the
wider
significance
of
the
term,
some
of
the
more
important
wiU
be
treated
in
separate
articles,
such
as
Cart,
Flax,
Food,
Garden,
Olive,
Ox,
Thorns,
Vine,
etc.
The
present
article
will
deal
only
with
the
more
restricted
field
of
the
cultivation
of
the
principal
cereals.
These
were,
in
the
first
rank,
wheat
and
barley:
less
important
were
the
crops
of
millet
and
spelt,
and
those
of
the
pulse
family
—
lentils,
beans,
and
the
like.
1.
The
agricultural
year
began
in
the
latter
half
of
October,
with
the
advent
of
the
early
rains,
which
soften
the
ground
baked
by
the
summer
heat.
Then
the
husbandman
began
to
prepare
his
fields
for
the
winter
seed
by
means
of
the
plough.
From
the
details
given
in
post-Biblical
literature,
it
is
evident
that
the
Hebrew
plough
differed
but
little
from
its
modern
Syrian
counter-part
(see
PEFSt,
1891).
The
essential
part
or
'body'
of
the
latter,
corresponding
in
position
to
the
modern
plough-tail
or
'stilt,'
consists
of
a
piece
of
tough
wood
bent
and
pointed
at
the
foot
to
receive
an
iron
sheath
or
share
(1
S
13^"),
the
upper
end
being
furnished
with
a
short
cross-piece
to
serve
as
a
handle.
The
pole
is
usually
in
two
parts:
one
stout
and
curved,
through
the
lower
end
of
which
the
'
body
'
is
passed
just
above
the
share;
at
the
other
end
is
attached
the
lighter
part
of
the
pole,
through
the
upper
end
of
which
a
stout
pin
is
passed
to
serve
as
attachment
for
the
yoke.
The
plough
was
usually
drawn
by
two
or
more
oxen
(Am
6i'),
or
by
asses
(Is
30^),
but
the
employment
of
one
of
each
kind
was
forbidden
(Dt
22i").
The
yoke
is
a
short
piece
of
wood—
the
bar
of
Lv
26"
(RV)—
fitted
with
two
pairs
of
converging
pegs,
the
lower
ends
connected
by
thongs,
to
receive
the
necks
of
the
draught
animals.
Two
smaller
pegs
in
the
middle
of
the
upper
side
hold
in
position
a
ring
of
willow,
rope,
or
other
material,
which
is
passed
over
the
end
of
the
pole
and
kept
in
position
by
the
AGRICULTURE
pin
above
mentioned.
As
the
ploughman
required
but
one
hand
to
guide
the
plough,
the
other
was
free
to
wield
the
ox
-goad,
a
light
wooden
pole
shod
at
one
end
with
an
iron
spike
wherewith
to
prick
the
oxen
(cf.
Ac
9=),
and
having
at
the
other
a
small
spade
with
which
to
clean
the
plough-share.
Gardens,
vineyards
(Is
5«
RV),
and
parts
too
difficult
to
plough
were
worked
with
the
hoe
or
mattock
(Is
7^).
The
prevailing
mode
of
sowing
was
by
hand,
as
in
the
parable
of
the
Sower,
the
seed
being
Immediately
ploughed
in.
It
was
possible,
however,
to
combine
both
operations
by
fixing
a
seed-box
to
the
plough-tail.
The
seed
passed
through
an
aperture
at
the
bottom
of
the
box
and
was
conducted
by
a
pipe
along
the
tail.
It
thus
fell
into
the
drill
behind
the
share
and
was
immediately
covered
in.
The
patriarch
Abraham
was
credited
by
Jewish
legend
with
the
invention
of
this
form
of
seeding-plough
(Bk.
of
Jubilees
ll^ss).
This
mode
of
sowing
is
probably
referred
to
in
Is
28'*
('
the
wheat
in
rows'
RV).
There
is
no
evidence
that
harrows
were
used
for
covering
in
the
seed.
2.
During
the
period
of
growth
the
crops
were
exposed
to
a
variety
of
risks,
such
as
the
delay
or
scanty
fall
of
the
spring
rains
(the
'latter
rain'
of
the
OT,
Am
4'),
blasting
by
the
hot
sirocco
wind,
mildew,
hail
—
these
three
are
named
together
in
Hag
2";
cf.
Dt
28*^,
Am
4'
—
and
worst
of
all
a
visitation
of
locusts.
The
pro-ductiveness
of
the
soil
naturally
varied
greatly
(cf.
Mt
138).
Under
favourable
conditions,
as
in
the
Hauran,
wheat
is
said
to
yield
a
hundredfold
return.
3.
Owing
to
the
wide
range
of
climatic
conditions
in
Palestine,
the
time
of
the
harvest
was
not
uniform,
being
earliest
in
the
semi-tropical
Jordan
valley,
and
latest
in
the
uplands
of
Galilee.
The
average
harvest
period,
reckoned
by
the
Hebrew
legislation
(Lv
23i5,
Dt
16')
to
cover
seven
weeks,
may
be
set
down
as
from
the
middle
of
April
to
the
beginning
of
June,
the
barley
ripening
about
a
fortnight
sooner
than
the
wheat.
The
standing
corn
was
reaped
with
the
sickle
(Dt
16'
RV),
the
stalks
being
cut
considerably
higher
up
than
with
us.
The
handfuls
of
ears
were
gathered
into
sheaves,
and
these
into
heaps
(not
into
shocks)
for
transportation
to
the
threshing-floor.
The
corners
of
the
field
were
left
to
be
reaped,
and
the
fallen
ears
to
be
gleaned,
by
the
poor
and
the
stranger
(Lv
19"-,
Dt
2419,
Ru
221I).
For
small
quantities
the
ears
were
stripped
by
beating
with
a
stick
(Ru
2",
Jg
6"
RV),
otherwise
the
threshing
was
done
at
the
village
threshing-floor.
This
was
a
large,
specially
prepared
(Jer
51^3
RV)
space
on
an
elevated
situation.
Hither
the
corn
was
brought
on
asses
or
on
a
cart
(Am
2"),
and
piled
in
heaps.
Enough
sheaves
were
drawn
out
to
form
a
layer,
6
to
8
ft.
wide,
all
round
the
heap.
Over
this
layer
several
oxen,
un-muzzled
according
to
law
(Dt
25*),
and
harnessed
together
as
represented
on
the
Egyptian
monuments,
might
be
driven.
More
effective
work,
however,
was
got
from
the
threshing
-drag
and
the
threshing
-wagon,
both
still
in
use
in
the
East,
the
former
being
the
favourite
in
Syria,
the
latter
in
Egypt.
The
former
consists
of
two
or
three
thick
wooden
planks
held
together
by
a
couple
of
cross-pieces,
the
whole
measuring
from
5
to
7
ft.
in
length
by
3
to
4
ft.
in
breadth.
The
under-side
of
the
drag
is
set
with
sharp
pieces
of
hardstone
(cf.
Is
4115),
which
strip
the
ears
as
the
drag,
on
which
the
driver
sits
or
stands,
is
driven
over
the
sheaves,
and
at
the
same
time
cut
up
the
stalks
into
small
lengths.
The
threshing-wagon
is
simply
a
wooden
frame
con-taining
three
or
more
rollers
set
with
parallel
metal
discs,
and
supporting
a
seat
for
the
driver.
The
former
instrument
was
used
by
Araunah
the
Jebusite
(2
S
24^),
while
the
latter
is
probably
referred
to
in
'
the
threshing
wheel'
of
Pr
2025
(RV).
Both
are
mentioned
together
in
the
original
of
Is
28".
After
the
threshing
came
the
winnowing.
By
means
of
a
five-
or
six-pronged
fork,
the
'
fan'
of
the
OT
and
