AFFRAY.-See CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS. AFORE and its compounds.-Afore = before, is used as prep. Is 185 afore the harvest'; as adj. 2 Es 5the night a.'; and as adv. Ro 12 which he had promised afore.' Aforehand as adv. = beforehand, in anticipation, occurs Mk 148 She is come a. to anoint my body'; and Jth 7'. Aforepromised is now found 2 Co 95 RV 'your a. bounty' (poveμévos). Aforesaid occurs only 2 Mac 423 148. Aforetime = formerly, as Dn 60 (Daniel) prayed .. as he did a. Aforetime is happily introduced by RV at Dt 210. 12. 20, Jos 418, 1 Ch 440, Jn 98 Ro 325 Eph 22.11, Col 37, Tit 33, Philem v., 1 P 35, for various AV expressions, generally as tr. of or wÓTE. The a in these words is a worn-down form of the old Eng. prep. an or on. See A. J. HASTINGS. AFTER, AFTERWARD ('After, orginally a compar. of af, Lat. ab, Gr. ȧró, Skr. ápa, with compar. suffix ter, like ther in "either," etc.= farther off.'-MURRAY) is found in AV and RV in all the modern usages as adv., prep., and conj., both of place and of time. The only examples demanding attention are: 1. some passages where after means according to,' as in Gn 126 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness'; esp. the following (where Gr. is xará), Ro 25 after thy hardness and impenitent heart'; 1 Co 70 after my judgment'; 2 Co 1117 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord'; Eph 42 The new man, which after God is created in righteousness'; 2 P 33 Scoffers, walking after their own lusts'; Gal 423 he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh'; Tit the acknowledging of the truth which is after (RV according to') godliness'; and He 4 (where Gr. is év) lest any man fall after (RVm into') the same example of unbelief.' 2. Where after means 'in proportion to': Ps 28 'give them after the work of their hands'; Ps 9015 (Pr. Bk.) Comfort us again now after the time that Thou hast plagued us.' So Ps 51' (Pr. Bk.). Cf. Litany, 'Deal not with us after our sins,' and Wyclif's tr. of Mt 167 He schal yelde to every man after his works.' 3. Where after is used for afterwards, as 1 K 1713 Make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after (RV afterward') make for thee and for thy son.' So He 118, 2 P 26. Afterward is the older form; when the AV was made, afterwards' was coming into use. Skeat says he has not been able to find it much earlier than Shakespeare's time (but Oxf. Dict. gives one 1300, and one 1375). AV (Camb. ed.) has afterward 66 times, afterwards 13 times. J. HASTINGS. AGABUS ("Ayaßos, of uncertain derivation: probably from either a locust,' Ezr 246, or ay to love'), a Christian prophet living at Jerusalem, Ac 1127-30 2110.11. Though the prophets were not essentially predicters of the future, the case of Agabus shows that their functions sometimes included the actual prediction of coming events. At Antioch, A.D. 44, A. foretold a famine 'over all the world' in the days of Claudius. Only local famines are known in this reign, though some were so severe as necessarily to affect indirectly the entire empire (Suet. Claud. xviii.; Tac. Ann. xii. 43; Euseb. Chron. Arm., ed. Schöne, ii. 252 et al.). Both Suetonius and Eusebius date a famine in the fourth year of Claudius, A.D. 45; and since Judæa as well as Greece suffered, it is probably this to which Agabus referred. Josephus speaks of its severity, and of means taken for its relief (Ant. III. xv. 3, xx. ii. 6 and v. 2). The other prophecy of Agabus (A.D. 59) followed the OT method of symbolism, and has a close parallel in Jn 2118. He foretold to St. Paul his imprisonment in Jerusalem, but did not thereby divert him from the journey. Nothing more is known concerning Agabus, though there are traditions that he was one of the seventy disciples of Christ, and that he suffered martyrdom at Antioch. R. W. Moss. AGAG (, Nu 247 violent (?)' Assyr. agûgu, displeasure').-A king of the Amalekites, conquered by Saul and, contrary to the divine command, saved alive, but put to death by Samuel (1 S 15). From the way in which the name is used by Balaam (Nu 247), it seems not to have been the name of any one individual prince, but, like Pharaoh among the Egyptians, and (possibly) Abimelech among the Philistines, a designation or title borne by all the kings,-perhaps by the king of that nation which stood at the head of the confederacy. Kneucker and others, without any reasonable ground, insist upon taking it as a personal name, and make its use by the writer of Nu 247 a reminiscence of the story from Saui's time. J. MACPHERSON. AGAGITE().-A term of reproach used to designate Haman, the enemy of the Jews at the Persian court of Ahasuerus (Est 31.10 3.5 924). In Josephus' version of the story (Ant. XI. vi. 5), Haman is described as 'by birth an Amalekite.' In Est 31 instead of Agagite the LXX reads Bovyatov, and in 9 Makeoŵr, while in the other passages simply the name Haman occurs. Thus in the LXX the word Agagite does not occur. Some have argued (e.g. Bertheau in Comm.) that the designation was used to indicate to a Hebrew what 'Macedonian' would to a Greek, and that it meant Amalekite in the sense of a contemptible, hateful person, but not as implying that Haman had any genealogical connexion with Amalek. The promotion of a foreigner to such a position in the empire as Haman occupied, even under the regime of the most despotic monarchs, must have been quite an exceptional occurrence. Apart from any other indication of Haman's foreign extraction, it is scarcely safe to base an assumption of such a kind on the possible meaning of a mere appellative. Others (e.g. v. Orelli in Herzog) think that the connexion of this adjective with the proper name Agag is extremely doubtful. J. MACPHERSON. AGAIN. The proper meaning of again, 'a second time,' is well seen in Rev 193 And a. (Gr. devrepov, RV'a second time') they said, Alleluia'; Jn 924 Then a. called they (RV so they called a second time, Gr. ex devrépov) the man that was blind'; Ac 119 But the voice answered me a. (Gr. ¿k dEUTÉρov, RV 'a second time') from heaven'; Ph 416 'ye sent once and again' (Gr. dís, twice, as in Lk 1812 'I fast twice in the week'). But the oldest meaning of a. is in the opposite direction' (now generally expressed by 'back'), and of this there are some interesting examples in the Bible: Jg 319 'He himself turned a. (RV 'back') from the quarries'; Lk 10 when I come a. (RV back again') I will repay thee'; Pr2 None that go unto her return a."; 2 S 2238 (I) turned not a. until I had consumed them'; Lk 65 lend, hoping for nothing a.' (RV never despairing'); Gn 245 Must I needs bring thy son a. unto the land from whence thou camest?; Mt 11 'go and show John a. (=go back and show John) those things which ye do hear'; Ro 920 AVm 'who art thou that answerest again?' Cf. Ps 196 (Pr. Bk.) 'It (the sun) goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth almost unto the end of it a.'; and Turn again, Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London!" J. HASTINGS. AGAINST. —1. In its primitive meaning of 'opposite to' against is rarely found alone, usually 'over a.,' as Dt 11 in the plain over a. the Red Sea'; but we find Gn 1510 and laid each piece one a. another' (RV each half over a. the otlier'); 1 Ch 258 They cast lots, ward a. ward'; Ezk 38 I have made thy face strong a. their faces'; esp. Nu 25 Take all the heads (RV chiefs') of the people, and hang them up before the Lord a. the sun (RV unto the Lord before the sun'); | and 1 S 2520David and his men came down a. her' (i.e. opposite her, so as to meet her). 2. From the meaning opposite to' of place, easily arises opposite to of time, of which we have an example in Ro 25 treasurest up unto thyself wrath a. (Gr. év, RV 'in') the day of wrath'; 1 Mac 527. Cf. Spenser, Prothalamion— 'Against the Brydale day, which is not long.' 3. In this sense a. is found as a conjunction in three places, Gn 435 they made ready the present a. Josephi came at noon"; Ex 75, 2 K 1611. J. HASTINGS. AGAR.-The sons of Agar are mentioned (Bar 3) along with the merchants of Midian and Teman, as ignorant of the way that leads to the secret haunt of Wisdom. They are called Hagarenes (which see), Ps 83; and Hagrites, 1 Ch 519.20 2731. Their country lay east of Gilead. J. T. MARSHALL. AGATE. See MINERALS AND PRECIOUS STONES. AGE, AGED, OLD AGE.—Respect towards the aged as such, apart from any special claims of kinship, wealth, or public office, has always been a characteristic feature in Oriental life. In modern Syria and Egypt it has a foremost place among social duties, taking rank with the regard paid to the neighbour and the guest. Any failure to show this respect on the part of the young is severely frowned down as unseemly and unnatural. In Israel the general custom was strengthened by the command in the law of Moses, Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head' (Lv 193). This beautiful bond between youth and age may be described as a threefold cord of wisdom, authority, and affection. ecclesiastical term. When the Lord sought to set forth the high meaning of discipleship with regard to enmity, slander, immorality, and murder, He at once reached a point that seemed beyond the ideal when He alluded to the law revered by age and authority, and declared that even it must be vitalised and transfigured (Mt 521-23). 3. Mutual Affection. The teaching of the Bible on age appeals as much to the heart as to the head, and many affectionate interests are made to cluster around the relationship of old and young. In the language of endearment, the beauty of old men is the grey head' (Pr 209), and The hoary head is a crown of glory' (Pr 1631). The presence of the aged in a community is regarded as a sign of peace and goodwill, just as the rarity of old age and of natural death indicates a state of blood-feud and party strife (Job 2216). John, who in youth came to Christ with a petition of selfishness, lives to say in his old age, Greater joy have I none than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth' (3 Jn v.*). The women of Bethlehem in their rejoicing over the child of Boaz and Ruth, bring the expression of their joy to her who would feel it most, and say, 'There is a son born to Naomi' (Ru 417). In the same spirit the aged apostle, in his appeal to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, gives a predominance to love over law, saying, ‘I rather beseech, being such an one as Paul the aged' (Philem v.9). The last and softest fold of this affectionate relationship is the feebleness of age, and its claim upon the protection of the strong. It was the absence of this that made Moses stand apart and unique. Barzillai is too old for new friendships and fresh surroundings. The limit is set at threescore and ten, and excess of that is increase of sorrow. Jacob's retrospect is over days 'few and evil.' There are days in which there is no pleasure. Along with the recognition of long life as a mark of divine favour, the apostle can say, 'To die is gain.' Lastly, when heart and flesh fail, the prayer is made to the Almighty, 'When I am old, forsake me not' (Ps 7118). · Along with this devotion to the old and reverence for the past, the Bible keeps a large space for the fact of reaction against routine, and the superseding of the provincial and preparatory. Elihu occupies it 1. Wisdom. Where there is a scarcity of written when he says with the intensity of epigram, There record, personal experience becomes the one book is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty of wisdom. As it is put by the Arab. proverb, 'He giveth them understanding. It is not the great that is older than you by a day is wiser than you that are wise, nor the aged that understand by a year.' There is a similar emphasis on the judgment' (Job 327-9). Cf. A new commandment value of experience when they say,Consult the I give unto you' (Jn 1334). The old existed for patient, not the physician.' Hence the diffidence the young, not the young for the old. As the and respectful waiting of the youth Elihu, Days wisdom of the man of years grew into the teachshould speak, and multitude of years should teaching of the historical past, it was discovered that wisdom (Job 327). Similarly the taunt of Eliphaz, the new was really the old, and that the latest 'Art thou the first man that was born?' (Job 157), born might be the most mature. The very reverand his claim, 'With us are the grey-headed and ence for the wisdom of the past set the limitation very aged men' (Job 15). Thus also Moses, to its authority. The well-worn garment had to though possessed of the learning of the Egyptians, be protected against the loud predominance of the receives helpful advice from Jethro; and later on, new patch. The old bottles were once new. Hence the tragedy of the divided kingdom in the days of along with the exhortation to seek the old paths' Rehoboam turns upon the difference of opinion we have the announcement that 'old things are between the old and young advisers of the passed away.' Further, in the Via Dolorosa of the king. centuries along which the Word of God walked with the questionings and sorrows of men, as the light forced the darkness into self-consciousness, and the kingdom of God came nearer, it could not but happen that the august form would sometimes appear to block the way, and dispute the passage of the truth for which it existed. The appeal to the Burning Bush is always for some newer name than the God of the fathers. Hence in the course of revelation, as the purpose of divine grace grows luminous, the infinite spirit chafes against the limited form, and a distaste is provoked towards regimental wisdom and macadamized morality. 2. Authority. It was natural that the voice of experience and wisdom should also be the voice of authority. It was the tide-mark of Job's prosperity that the aged rose up before him. From the dignity conferred on the father as lord of the house and head of the family, the title soon passed into one of public office. The old men became the elders' of Israel and of the Christian Church. Similarly among the Arabs, the family of the ruling sheikh (old man) bore the title of sheikhs from their youth-an extension of the orig. meaning that is seen also in the corresp. I The Bible witnesses throughout to this vital relationship between the new and the old; for its last scene is a repetition of the first-the new creature stepping into the new heavens and new earth, and in the eternal service behind the veil new notes are heard in the song of Moses and the Lamb. As long as the power of vision remains limited, it is essential to the sublime that something of blue haze and boundlessness should lie on the horizon both of life and landscape. 33 G. M. MACKIE. AGEE (N). The father of Shammalı, one of 'the Three' (2 S 231). We should prob. read the Hararite' here in conformity with v.3 and 1 Ch 11, the Jonathan of v. (as emended) being the grandson of Agee. Wellhausen, however, prefers the reading Shage' (1 Ch 113) to 'Shammah' of 2 S 233, and would restore 'Shage' here for Agee'; on this view, Jonathan (v.3) would be the brother of Shammah. J. F. STENNING. AGGABA (A Bab mg. 'Ayyaßá, B om., AV Graba), 1 Es 52-In Ezr 2 Hagabah, Neh 7 Hagaba. The source of the AV form is doubtful. the form of the domestication of wild animals, and this, by bringing man into closer and more deliberate contact with the soil, contained the promise of further progress. The domestication of wild plants naturally succeeded, and the neolithic man is known, not only to have reared cattle, goats, and swine, but to have cultivated wheat, barley, and millet, which he ground with millstones and converted into bread or pap. The While the Aryans were still virtually in the pastoral stage, the A art was being actively developed in Egypt and Assyria. In the Nile Valley nature bountifully paved the way. The inundations of the Nile create an admirable bed for the seed by reducing the irrigated soil to a 'smooth black paste,' and the monuments exhibit the people as improving from the earliest times their great natural advantages. early traditions of the Hebrews, on the other hand, were essentially nomadic. The association of Cain with A. (Gn 4) implies a disparagement of the calling. Abraham is represented as a pure nomad. And although, as is indicated in the histories of Isaac (Gn 2612) and Jacob, the beginnings of A. would naturally have a place in the primitive period, it is only after the conquest of Can. that the Jews take rank as an Aal people; and even then the tribes of the trans-Jordanic plateau, whose territory was unsuitable for tillage, continued to depend on cattle-rearing. The agrarian legislation of the Pent. in reference to the settlement of Can. doubtless embodies some AGGAEUS (AV Aggeus), 1 Es 61 7%, 2 Es 14o, for ancient laws and customs regulating the tenure Haggai (which see). of the soil, although other enactments must be regarded as of later origin, or even as the AGIA ('Ayıά, AV Hagia), 1 Es 54.—In Ezr 257, unfulfilled aspirations of the exilic age. To the Neh 759 Hattil. AGONE.-1 S 3013 Three days agone 1 fell sick.' This is the earlier form of the past part. of the verb agan or agon, 'to pass by,' or 'go on.' Only the part. is found after 1300, and after Caxton's day this longer form gradually gave place to ago. Chaucer (Troilus, ii. 410) says— "Of this world the feyth is all agon.' J. HASTINGS. AGONY. In the sense of great trouble or distress, agony is used in 2 Mac 3 There was no small a. throughout the whole city' (cf. 316. 21). In Canonical Scripture the word is found only in Lk 22 of our Lord's Agony in the Garden. And there it seems to have been introduced by Wyclif directly from the Vulg. agonia, just as the Lat. of the Vulg. was a transliteration of the Gr. aywria (on which see Field, Otium Norv. iii., ad for.). Tindale (1534), Cranmer (1539), the Geneva (1557), the Rheims (1582), the AV (1611), and the RV (1881) all have an agony' here; Wyclif himself has simply agony." J. HASTINGS. AGREE TO. In the sense of 'assent to,' with a person as object, a. is found in Ac 50 To him they n.' ἐπείσθησαν αὐτῷ. In Mk 147 it is used in the obsolete sense of agree with' or 'correspond with,' Thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto' (óμμoiáše, TR; RV following edd. omits the clause). J. HASTINGS. AGRICULTURE.- Agriculture, which in its wider sense embraces horticulture, forestry, and the pastoral industry, is here restricted to the art of arable farming including not only ploughing, hoeing, etc., but reaping and threshing. As the savage phase has been followed by the pastoral, so the pastoral has been followed by the Aa, in the history of the progressive peoples. The first important advance upon the primitive stage took last class probably belong the institution of the sabbatical year (Ex 23, Lv 25'), the produce of which, or its 'volunteer' crop, was reserved for the poor, the stranger, and cattle; and that of the year of jubilee (Lv 25), in which the dispossessed heir resumed possession of his ancestral acres. Among the enactments of a greater antiquity and validity may be mentioned the law against the removal of landmarks (Dt 19%), which was made urgent by the fact that the arable lands, unlike the vineyards, were not divided by hedges (Is 55). The climate of Pal., owing to the removal of forests, must now be much less humid than in early times. The summer is rainless and warm, the winter and early spring are rainy and colder. During the dry season the heat, esp. in the low country, is excessive, and rapidly burns up all minor vegetation; while any surface-water, as from springs, is evident in the spots of unwonted verdure which it induces on the parched landscape. In autumn the cisterns are nearly empty, and the ground has become very hard. The husbandman must consequently wait for the rains before he can start ploughing. The rainy season begins about the end of Oct., and is divided into three periods— early rains (7), which prepare the land for the reception of the seed, heavy winter rains (3), saturating the ground and filling the cisterns, and late rains (p), falling in spring and giving the crops the necessary moisture. Snow is often seen on the higher lands in winter, and hail is not infrequent. The coldest month is February, the warmest August. The soil of Pal. varies widely in texture and appearance. In the higher regions it is formed mostly from cretaceous limestone or decomposing basalt rocks; in the maritime plain and the Jordan Valley there are more recent formations. Like the sedentary soils, where of sufficient depth, the alluvial deposits are naturally fertile; and under the intensive and careful cultivation of ancient times the fertility was proverbial (cf. Ex 38. 17, Jer 11, Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. c. 6). The lessened productiveness of modern times is due in part to the diminished rainfall, but mainly to political and social changes. The high farming of antiquity took several forms. Low walls, built along hill-slopes to prevent soil-washing,' gave rise to flat terraces. Various methods of irrigation were practised (Gn 210, Pr 211, Is 3025 322. 20). Canals conveyed the water from the natural sources to the fields, or water-wheels might be used. Other A improvements were the removal of stones from the fields, and the utilisation of the ash residue of stubble and weeds. Ordinary dung, made in dunghills by treading in straw (Is 2510), was also in common use (2 K 937). A bare fallow would be occasionally allowed to raise the temporary fertility of the soil. The number of Crops under cultivation was large. The most important was wheat (). The supply exceeded the requirements of the country, and it was possible to export it in considerable quantities (Ezk 2717). Second in importance was barley (), which was extensively used as food (Ru 315), esp. by the poorer classes. Spelt (2) was frequently grown on the borders of fields. Millet (7), beans (5), and lentils (w) were cultivated and used as food (Ezk 49, 2 S 1728). Flax (9) was grown (Ex 931), and probably also cotton (097). Among the statutory regulations relating to the crops, the most noteworthy are :-the prohibition against sowing a field with mixed seed (Lv 1919), a regulation implying considerable botanical knowledge; the provision for damages in case of pasturing a beast in a neighbour's field (Ex 225); permission to the wayfarer to pluck from the standing corn enough to satisfy hunger (Dt 235); reservation for the stranger and the poor of the corners of the field (Lv 199), and other provisions dictated by humanity (Dt 2419). In times from the forehead, or even from the horns. In some cases men with hoes may have pulverised MODERN SYRIAN PLOUGH. (1) El-Kabusah, grasped in working by the left hand; (2) el-akar, OX-GOAD. The plough was drawn by oxen, i.e. the ox-kind, for the Jews did not mutilate their animals (Am 612), or by asses (Is 3024), but not by an ox and ass together (Dt 2210). On thin soil a mattock was sometimes necessary (1 S 13). The unit of square measure was the area ploughed in a day by a yoke of oxen (773). The season of Sowing was not one of joy (Ps 1265), owing to the uncertainty of the weather (Mic 615, Pr 20), and the toilsomeness of the work in a hard and rocky soil. A start was made with the pulse crops, barley followed a fortnight later, and wheat after another month. Usually the sower scattered the seed broadcast out of a basket, but by careful farmers the wheat was placed in the furrows in rows (Is 285). The summer or spring grain was sown between the end of Jan. and the end of Feb. In a season of excessive drought the late-sown seed rotted under the clods (J1 1); in a wet season the early-sown grain grew rank and lodged, and the husbandman was accordingly counselled to make sure of a crop by attending to both (Ec 11o). The A. of Pal. has not advanced or changed in any important particular since OT times. consequence we can, apart from Biblical notices, largely reconstruct the Al picture of the past from the Syrian conditions of to-day. An additional source of information has of recent years been opened up in the Egyp. hieroglyphics, and esp. in the representations of Aal operations found in the Egyp. tombs; and in order the better to bind together this material, we shall now follow the process of cultivation of one of the common cereal crops from seed-time to harvest, giving some account of the implements employed and of the dangers incident to the growing crops. The year of the agriculturist was well filled up-from the middle Between sowing and reaping, the crops were of Oct. to the middle of Apr. with ploughing, exposed to several dangers. Of these the chief sowing, harrowing, weeding; from the middle of were the easterly winds prevalent in Mar. and Apr. onward with reaping, carrying, threshing, and Apr. (Gn 415), hailstorms (Hag 217), the irrupstoring the grain. The interval between threshing tion of weeds - esp. mustard, thistles, tares, and sowing was occupied with the vineyard pro and thorns (Jer 12), the depredations of crows duce. It appears that the seed was sometimes and sparrows (Mt 13'), of fungoid diseases, esp. sown without any previous cultivation, and after- mildew (Dt 282), and of injurious insects, esp. the wards ploughed in or otherwise covered, while at palmer-worm, the canker-worm, the caterpillar, other times the seed was scattered on ploughed and the locust. These names do not, as has been land, and covered by a rude harrow or by cross-suggested, refer to the different stages in the life ploughing. The former method was common in history of the locust (Pachytylus migratorius), but Egypt, where the grain, deposited on moist ground, the first three are probably specific names for night be covered by dragging bushes over it, and groups of pests. The crops were also in danger afterwards trodden down by domestic animals (cf. from the inroads of cattle (Ex 225), and as harvest Is 32). Where cultivation preceded sowing, approached, from fire (Jg 151). various implements were used. From the Egyp monuments it is possible to trace the evolution of the Plough-the starting-point being a forked branch used as a hoe, which was afterwards improved into a kind of mattock, and finally was enlarged and modif ed so as to be drawn by oxen. The plough was drawn by two oxen, and the draught was sometimes from the shoulders, some VOL. I.-4 The commencement of Harvest naturally varied, not only with the season, but according to elevation, exposure, etc. On the average it began with barley (2 S 219)-in the neighbourhood of Jericho about the middle of Apr., in the coast plains ten days later, and in the high-lying districts as much as a month later. Wheat was a fortnight later in ripening, and the barley and wheat harvest lasted about seven weeks (Dt 169). The harvest was the occasion of festivities which in the later legislation were brought into close connexion with the religious history of the people. The crops were cut, as in Egypt, with the sickle. (See Wilkinson, op. cit. woodcuts 426 and 436.) Little value was put upon the Straw, which was cut about a foot below the ears (Job 2424). The reaper left the grain in handfuls behind him (Jer 922), and the binder tied it into sheaves (Gn 377), which, however, were not set up as shocks. The Egyptians usually cut the straw quite close under the ears, while some crops, such as dhurah, were simply plucked up by the roots. The method of floor, and, according to one system, cattle-four or five harnessed together-were driven round and round, until a more or less complete detachment of the grain was effected (Hos 101). To facilitate the process, the straw was repeatedly turned over by a fork with two or more prongs. A well-known picture gives a representation of this system as anciently practised in Egypt, noteworthy being the fact that the oxen are unmuzzled (cf. Dt 251). The group further shows how the oxen were yoked together that they might walk round more regularly. (See Wilkinson, op. cit.) Of the threshing-machine two kinds were, and still are, employed in Palestine. flints, supposed by Prof. Flinders Petrie to be an imitation of the jawbone of an ox, was used in Syria as well as in Egypt. The reapers were the owners and their families, along with hired labourers (Mt 988), the latter of whom probably followed the harvest from the plains to the mountains. The workers quenched their thirst from vessels taken to the harvest-field (Ru 29), and ate bread steeped in vinegar (214), and parched corn (Lv 2314), the latter prepared by being roasted and then rubbed in the hand. The Threshing usually took place in the fields, a custom made possible by the rainless weather of harvest. The Threshing-floor (1) consisted of a round open space, probably of a permanent character, and preferably on an eminence where it was exposed to the free sweep of air currents. For bringing in the sheaves, carts were employed in old times (Am 213). Threshing was performed in various ways. Small quantities of produce, also pulse-crops and cummin, were beaten out with a stick (Ru 217). In dealing with large quantities of grain, the sheaves were spread out over the by stones and by the driver, not only shelled out the corn, but lacerated the straw (Is 4115, Job 4130). THRESHING-WAGGON. The other kind of machine was the threshingwaggon, (Is 2827. 28), now seldom seen in Pal., but |