82
HEBREW LIFE AND CUSTOM
Cant. v. 2 mentions the gathering of lilies : it is, however,
somewhat doubtful, judging from ver. 3, whether the lilies
are in the garden.1
Scarecrows were put up in gardens.2
WORKERS IN WOOD
Hewing wood for fuel and drawing water is unskilled
labour ; and the non-Israelite Gibeonite slaves who
performed this necessary service3 for the Temple at
Jerusalem were evidently held in inferior estimation as
compared with the rest of the Temple personnel. In general
each household in which there were not slaves would
provide its own fuel,4 and fetch or draw its own water.
The reference to the skill of the Sidonians in timber
work 5 indicates that in consequence of their large forests
on the Lebanon they were able to supply timber to coun-
tries producing none, and were therefore able to deal
easily with larger trees than the Hebrews commonly
had to cut.
A skilled worker in wood—a carver and more than a
mere carpenter—is mentioned in Isa. xl. 20.
From various sources we Ieam something of the tools
used in working wood. The first of these is naturally
the axe (kard∂τn,f> maasadh,1 garzen3) : whether the im-
plements denoted by these different names differed one
from another, or not, it is impossible to say. They were all
used in felling trees. Saws were in use,9 and also some sort
of chisel.10 We read of nails or rivets,1 ɪ and of a hammer
1 See also Cant. ii. ιβ.
’ Jer. x. 5 (tδmer miksha) ; cf. Baruch vi. 70. 3 Joshua ix. 2i.
4 SeeJer. vii. ι8. 5 ɪ Kings v. 6 {Heb. ver. 20).
6 Judges ix. 48 ; Jer. xlvi. 22.
7 Jer. x. 3 ; and, though the text is unsound, in Isa. xliv. 12 ma'*fadh
is probably to be retained. AH the different sorts of work involved in
the fashioning of an axe are there described.
8 Deut. xix. 5, xx. 19. ’ Isa. x. ɪʒ.
” MakfiTa, Isa. xliv. ɪɜ. “ Jer. x. 4.
TRADES AND PROFESSIONS 83
for fastening them,1 of a compass or divider,2 and of
what appears to be a sharp engraving tool ɜ for marking
out the design. The gold plates with which wooden figures,
furniture, and even the timber linings of walls were some-
times adorned belong to the art of the goldsmith.
The carpenter also made use of a cord, apparently to
rule a straight line.4 The plumb-lines mentioned ≡ were
probably masons’ rather than carpenters’ tools.
WORKERS IN METAL
For the relative values of metals see Num. xxxi. 22 ;
Ezek. xxii. 20; Isa. lx. 17 ; ɪ Chron. xxii. 14.
Iron. Iron ore is mentioned as plentiful in Palestine,6
and the iron-smelting furnace, rather than that for other
metals, is figuratively used of great oppression.7 The fuel
used by smelters generally appears to have been charcoal
{pehaτn},i and the bellows are mentioned several times.’
For the relative value of iron compared with other metals,
see Jer. vi. 28; Isa. lx. 17. Iron was apparently not in
general use in the early days of the Hebrew conquest, and
owing to its comparative novelty its use was forbidden in
the construction of stone altars.10 It was not unnaturally
often used in metaphor to denote what was a symbol of
strength,1 ɪ of what is unbreakable,12 of what cannot be
x Isa. xliv. 12. The handling of the word commonly rendered nails
will to a great extent depend upon the view taken of Isa. xli. 5-7.
Are the peoples in their panic manufacturing gods, or weapons ? The
presence of the word sôrêph, which is not used of smelting iron, as also
the general resemblance between this passage and Jer. x. 4, favours the
former suggestion. On the other hand the mention of hammer and
anvil and the soldering or riveting favours the other.
’ Isa. xliv. ɪɜ. 3 siredh, Isa. xliv. ɪɜ. 4 Lam. ii. 8.
5 2 Kings xxi. 13 ; Isa. xxxiv. ɪ ɪ ; Amos vii. 7 f.
6 Deut. viii. 9 ; Job xxviii. 2.
7 Deut. iv. 20 ; ɪ Kings viii. 51 ; Jer. xi. 4 ; cf. Ezek. xxii. 20.
8 Isa. xliv. 12. 9 Jer. vi. 29 ; Isa. liv. ι6 ; cf. Ezek. xxii. 21.
,0 Exod. xx. 25, &c. n Jer. i. 18.
“ Ps. cvii. t6 ; Isa. xlv. 2 ; Deut. xxviii. 48 ; Jer. xxviii. 14.