SCRIPTURE REFERENCES TO HARVEST. 1G7 



bread," (Gen. iii. 19,) it is supposed that wheat has 

 existed from the creation ; and from another passage, 

 " Judah traded in wheat of Minnith," (Ezek. xxvii. 17,) 

 it is reasonably concluded, that upwards of one thousand 

 years before the Christian era, improvements had been 

 made in the culture of wheat, and some superior variety, 

 known as " wheat of Minnith," was in extensive 

 demand. There are also various passages scattered 

 throughout the Old Testament, in which allusions ar 

 made to the gathering in of the crops, sometimes with 

 distinct mention of the wheat harvest. The following 

 are a few of them : " While the earth remaineth, seed 

 time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and 

 winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Gen. viii. 

 22.) " And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, 

 and found mandrakes in the field." (Gen. xxx. 14.) 

 " And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks of the first 

 fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of in-gathering at 

 the year's end." (Exod. xxxiv. 22.) " Let us now fear 

 the Lord our God, that giveth rain both the former 

 and the latter in his season : he reserveth unto us the 

 appointed weeks of the harvest." (Jer. v. 24.) " The 

 harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not 

 saved." (Jer. viii. 20.) The notices of harvest spread 

 through the New Testament are still more numerous. 

 We can only allude to the striking parable of the tares 

 of the field, (Matt, xiii.) and the description of the 

 general harvest of the earth, (Rev. xiv.) in both of 

 which the occurrences of the wheat field are employed 

 as the figure to represent the final gathering in of all 

 mankind. 



A profane writer* in the time of our Lord makes 

 mention of several kinds of wheat : " The chief and 

 most profitable corns for men are common wheat and 

 bearded wheat. We have known several kinds of 

 wheat ; but of these we must chiefly sow what is called 

 the red wheat, because it excels both in weight and 



* Columella. 



