Husbandman
Husbandman (properly אַישׁ אֲדָמָה, man of the ground; γεωργός), one whose profession and labor is to cultivate the ground. It is among the most ancient and honorable occupations (Ge 9:20; Ge 26:12,14; Ge 37:7; Job 1; Job 2; Isa 28:24-28; Joh 15:1). All the Hebrews who were not consecrated to religious offices were agriculturists. Husbandmen at work are depicted on the ancient monuments of Egypt. It was remarked by the members of the French Commission that there is a great similarity between the joyless looks of the husbandmen on the monuments and the somber countenances of the modern fellahs, whose toil is so miserably remunerated. In reference to the husbandmen of Syria, Dr. Bowring says, "The laboring classes, if left to themselves, and allowed unmolested to turn to the best account the natural fertility and richness of the country, would be in a highly favorable condition. But this cannot be considered as the case when their services may be and are called for as often as the government require them, and for which they are always inadequately paid; they are likewise frequently sent from one part of the country to another wholly without their consent. The fellah, or peasant, earns little more than a bare subsistence. In Syria a great proportion of the labor is done by females, and they are constantly seen carrying heavy burdens, and, as in Egypt, a large portion of their time is employed in fetching water from the wells for domestic use. They bring home the timber and brushwood from the forests, and assist much in the cultivation of the fields." — Bastow. SEE HIRELING.
God is compared to a husbandman (Joh 15:1; Corinthians 3:9); and the simile of land carefully cultivated, or of a vineyard carefully dressed, is often used in the sacred writings. The art of husbandry is from God, says the prophet Isaiah (28:24-28), and the various operations of it are each in their season. The sowing of seed, the waiting for harvest, the ingathering when ready, the storing up in granaries, and the use of the products of the earth, afford many points of comparison, of apt figures, and similitudes in Scripture. SEE HUSBANDRY.
