This verse notes that after the harvest the farmer does not separate the small herb seeds from their fine grass-like plants in the same way as the larger grain seeds from their sturdier plants.

Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge: The verb thresh refers to the process of separating seeds from their plants (see 21.10). A threshing sledge is a heavy wooden platform, which sometimes has metal pieces attached underneath it. A farm animal pulls it across cut stalks of grain that are laid out on the ground. The action of this heavy platform going over the cut stalks is enough to separate the grain seeds from the stalks. Obviously the seeds of fine herb plants cannot be harvested in this way.

Nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin: The action of cart wheels rolling over cut stalks of grain is enough to separate the grain seeds from the stalks. However, this method of threshing is also inappropriate for fine herbs. In cultures that do not thresh with threshing sledges or cart wheels, Good News Translation provides a possible model for the first two lines of this verse: “They do not use a heavy club to beat out dill seeds or cumin seeds.” It is important to communicate that fine herb plants are treated differently than sturdy grain plants.

But dill is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a rod: These two parallel lines explain how the farmer properly separates seeds from herb plants. He removes them easily by beating the plants with a light stick or rod. Any heavier treatment would be too severe.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Nobody threshes dill with a heavy threshing platform/tool,
nor does he run a cart wheel over cumin;
[to harvest their seeds,] dill is hit with a stick and cumin with a rod.

• You don’t remove dill seeds by using a threshing sledge,
you don’t separate cumin seeds by running over them with a cart;
you hit dill with a stick and cumin with a rod.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .