The farmer gets ready for ploughing after the first rain starts falling, if he has not already done so before. Thomson tells of one year when the farmers waited until the month of February for sufficient rain to enable them to plough the ground for the grain crop. Such a man will retreat into his home and enjoy the warmth of his fire, but he will miss the harvest.

'The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold' (Prov. Once the rain has come, the industrious farmer will start his ploughing.

Jeremiah described lack of rain thus: 'There was no rain in the earth, the ploughmen were ashamed, they covered their heads' (Jer. Job said, 'They waited for me as for the rain' (Job 29:23). If they do not come then, the farmer must wait for them before he can plough his ground. These rains usually come the latter part of October or the first part of November. In Palestine, ploughing is done after the early rains have softened the earth (cf. Waiting for rain before beginning to plough It is a remarkable fact that the methods used by them in growing and harvesting this crop are, virtually the same as those that have been used by the Palestinian Arab peasants for centuries down to the present day. THE NUMEROUS REFERENCES to the growth of grain, which are found in the law of Moses, indicate that it was expected that the Israelites would become an agricultural people after entering the land of Canaan, and that the cultivation of grain would become one of their chief industries. Topics Manners & Customs Excerpts from Manners and Customs of Bible Lands By Fred H.

Ancient warfare 2 crop farm