Isaiah 28:25

When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? WHEN HE HATH MADE PLAIN THE FACE THEREOF - the surface of the ground: 'made plain,' or level, by harrowing. FITCHES - rather dill, or fennel, Nigella Romana, with black seed easily beaten out, used as a condiment and medicine in the East. So the Septuagint [mikron]. CUMMIN was used in the same way. CAST IN THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT - or, as the Septuagint, plant the wheat in rows [ sowraah (H7795)]; because wheat was thought to yield the largest crop by being planted sparingly (Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.,' 18: 21). 'Sow the wheat regularly' (Horsley). But Gesenius takes it from the Arabic sense of the wor...

25._When he hath levelled its surface. _He now speaks about sowing. The sower will not put into the earth as much as he can, nor will he throw it in at random, but will measure the ground, and give to it as much as is necessary; for otherwise the superfluous mass would rot, and not a single grain would take root. _Wheat in measure, and barley measured. _(246) He will not mix various seeds, but will allot one part of the field for “wheat,” another for “vetches,” and another for “cummin.” He will do this in measure, for that I consider to be the proper interpretation of שורה (_sōrāh_.) (247) It does not mean excellent or good; for he is speaking about measurement. Similar statements are made about reaping and thrashing; for all kinds of grain are not thrashed in the same manner. Wheat is thrashed with the wheel of a cart or wa

23-29 The husbandman applies to his calling with pains and prudence, in all the works of it according to their nature. Thus the Lord, who has given men this wisdom, is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in his working. As the occasion requires, he threatens, corrects, spares, shows mercy, or executes vengeance. Afflictions are God's threshing instruments, to loosen us from the world, to part between us and our chaff, and to prepare us for use. God will proportion them to our strength; they shall be no heavier than there is need. When his end is answered, the trials and sufferings of his people shall cease; his wheat shall be gathered into the garner, but the chaff shall be burned with unquenchable fire....

WHEN HE HATH MADE PLAIN ... - That is, when he has leveled, or made smooth the surface of the ground by harrowing, or rolling it. DOTH HE NOT SCATTER ABROAD - He does not sow one kind of grain merely, but different species according to the nature of the soil, or according to his wishes in regard to a crop. THE FITCHES - (קצח _qetsach_). Vulgate, Gith; a kind of cockle (Nigella Romana), an herb of sweet savor. Septuagint, Μικρόν μελάνθιον _Mikron_ _melanthion_. The word ‘fitch’ denotes a small species of pea. The Hebrew word, however, which occurs nowhere else but here, probably denotes fennel, or dill, an herb whose seed the ancients mixed with their bread in order to give it a more agreeable relish. And scatter the cummi

SECTION VII. RENEWED DENUNCIATIONS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH (CH. 28-31.) EXPOSITION ISAIAH 28:1 A WARNING TO SAMARIA. The prophet has now east his eagle glance over the whole world and over all time. He has denounced woe upon all the principal nations of the earth (Isaiah 13-23.), glanced at the destruction of the world itself (Isaiah 24:17), and sung songs over the establishment of Christ's kingdom, and the ingathering of the nations into it (Isaiah 25-27.). In the present chapter he returns to the condition of things in his own time and among his own people. Afte

WHEN HE HATH MADE PLAIN THE FACE THEREOF,.... By harrowing it, after it is ploughed: DOTH HE NOT CAST ABROAD THE FITCHES, AND SCATTER THE CUMMIN; in sowing them in the ground, prepared for them; the former of these does not seem to be the same we so call, but something else. The Septuagint version calls it the little "melanthion" c, the same with the "nigella" d of the Latins, and is sometimes called "gith" e, as in the Vulgate Latin version here. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it "anise", which is mentioned along with "cummin", as common with the Jews, and which, in Christ's time, were tithed, Matthew 23:23 and both these in the text are by Kimchi said to be the food of man: AND CAST IN THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT AND THE APPOINTED BARLEY AND THE RYE IN THEIR PLACE? each in their proper place, or in soil suitable for them; some land being more suitab

3. THE SIX WOES OF THE PROPHET, JUDGMENT RUINS AND RESTORATION GLORIES TO COME (28-35) CHAPTER 28 The First Woe and the Message of Assurance 1. _Ephraim addressed (Isaiah 28:1)_ 2. _Jerusalem equally corrupt and guilty (Isaiah 28:7)_ 3. _The prophet mocked (Isaiah 28:9) The prophet's answer (Isaiah 28:11)_ 4. _Their covenant with death (Isaiah 28:14)_ 5. _The message of assurance (Isaiah 28:16)_ 6. How Jehovah judges

THE HUSBANDMAN ADAPTS HIS METHODS TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH CASE. This parable may perhaps not have been spoken to the same audience as Isaiah 28:7, but there is no valid reason for denying it to Isaiah. When the ploughman has finished, does he begin to plough over again? Of course not. He does not go on ploughing indefinitely; he levels the surface of the ground, and then sows, putting each kind of seed in the soil adapted for it. For so God has taught him. In threshing, he uses the measures suited to each particular kind of grain. The tenderer seeds are beaten with a rod, for they would be crushed or spoiled by large or sharp implements. Bread corn is not crushed; it is threshed, it is true, with a cart wheel, but, once it has been threshed, the husbandman does not keep on driving the cart over it. Such wisdom is inspired by Yahweh, and thus, the prophet suggests, Yahweh will deal w...

THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. wheat in rows. Only here. place. due order. Connect "appointed" with "place", not with "barley"....

A parable derived from husbandry. The motive of its insertion in this place was probably the different treatment meted out to Samaria and to Jerusalem. The precise point of the analogy is somewhat uncertain; but perhaps we may interpret the thought as follows. There are two parts. The first (Isaiah 28:24) appears to justify Jehovah's procedure by the end He has in view. As the farmer does not go on ploughing for ever out of a mere blind passion for ploughing, but ploughs in order to sow; so Jehovah's work of judgment is to issue in the preparation of a seed-plot, and in due time ploughing will give place (in the case of Judah) to sowing. The second (Isaiah 28:27) draws the lesson that the operation of threshing varies with the material to be operated on. The delicate fennel, e.g. would be destroyed by the rough im