thresh (illustration)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “thresh” in English is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

See also threshing floor.

threshing sledge

The Hebrew that is translated as “threshing sledge” in English is translated in Bura-Pabir as sur dəga or “threshing thing.” “It is good to use this quite general term here, since it is a hyperonym (more general term) for both the Hebrew and Bura cultural variants (a sledge and a stick respectively).” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

cumin

Two controversial seeds are mentioned in Isaiah 28:25 and 27: qetsach (see nigella) and kammon. The seeds referred to as kammon are probably those of cumin (also spelled “cummin”), which takes its Latin scientific name Cuminum cyminum from the Greek. It was common to the Mediterranean area (especially in Syria) and Ethiopia, possibly even native to Egypt, where it was used in cooking and also as medicine.

The cumin plant belongs to the same family as the carrot. It branches abundantly from the base and has similar leaves and flowers. However, the seeds have a much sharper smell than those of the carrot. Cumin is planted and harvested each year, reaching a height of perhaps 50-60 centimeters (20-24 inches).

In Isaiah 28 cumin is cited with other garden plants to show how different plants and their fruits require different care and processing. (Cumin and nigella, for example, are more easily damaged in threshing than hard cereal grains would be). It is part of a parable Isaiah tells to the proud Israelite leaders who thought they knew how God deals with people. Interestingly, farmers in Malta still thresh cumin in the way described by Isaiah. In New Testament times the Jewish authorities were not sure whether cumin should be tithed since it was not mentioned specifically in the Mosaic Law. They took no chances and insisted that people tithe their cumin. But then they ignored the need for justice and mercy, thereby incurring the condemnation of Jesus in Matthew 23:23.

Translators will either transliterate “cumin” from a major language, or they can seek an equivalent, depending on what they have done with the other terms (“mint” and “dill”) in Matthew 23:23. Simplified versions may use a generic phrase such as “all kinds of small garden plants.”

Cumin, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

nigella

The English versions of Isaiah 28:25 and 27 reveal the confusion of the translators who have encountered the Hebrew word qetsach. It has been rendered “fitches,” “dill,” “fennel,” and “caraway.” Against all of these renderings, Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) confidently asserts that the word qetsach refers to the nigella plant Nigella sativa, also called by the names “nutmeg flower,” “black cumin,” “black seed,” “charnushka,” and “kalonji.” The Aramaic and Arabic equivalent is qatscha. Jews, Arabs, and Europeans use nigella seeds to decorate cakes and bread up to the present. It is also used as a spice in cooking.

Nigella is planted and harvested annually. It grows to around 30 centimeters (1 foot) in height and has a lacy leaf like dill or carrot and a greenish-blue flower with five petals. The base of the flower becomes a seedpod that contains many round, black, sharp-smelling seeds.

Nigella is used by Isaiah as one of several species in a parable he tells to the leaders of Israel. A farmer, he says, does not destroy the results of one season’s work while preparing for that of the next season. This is spoken to know-it-all scoffers who claim that God’s ways are completely fixed. Against that Isaiah says that God’s ways are according to the conditions of his creatures, as a farmer plants and harvests according to the needs of the various crops.

The abundance of names for nigella is an indication of its popularity around the world. Fortunately the Latin name nigella is now replacing the confusing name “black cumin.” This is good because cumin is a totally different plant. Likewise, “nutmeg flower” and “black caraway” are losing favor. So translators can avoid the confusion brought on by the English by transliterating from a major language.

Nigella, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 28:27

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 .