Topic

Agriculture

Passages from across the Bible

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

Divine institution of

Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground — because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:23 Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Practiced by Cain

Genesis 4:2 Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.

Practiced by Noah

Genesis 9:20 Now Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.

Practiced by Elisha

1 Kings 19:19 So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.

Practiced by David

1 Chronicles 27:26–31 Ezri son of Chelub was in charge of the workers in the fields who tilled the soil. Shimei the Ramathite was in charge of the vineyards. Zabdi the Shiphmite was in charge of the produce of the vineyards for the wine vats. Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in the f…

Practiced by Uzziah

2 Chronicles 26:10 Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.

Practiced by Solomon

Ecclesiastes 2:4–6 I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.

God to be acknowledged in

Jeremiah 5:24 They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
Hosea 2:8 For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold — which they crafted for Baal.

Requires wisdom

Isaiah 28:26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.

Requires diligence

Proverbs 27:23 Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
Proverbs 27:27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you— food for your household and nourishment for your maidservants.
Ecclesiastes 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

Requires patience

James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil — how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

Requires toil

2 Timothy 2:6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to partake of the crops.

Persons engaged in, called husbandmen

2 Chronicles 26:10 Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.

Called laborers

Matthew 9:37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Called tiller of the ground

Genesis 4:2 Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.

Planters of vineyards, exempted from military service

Deuteronomy 20:6 Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit.

Fruits blasted because of sin

Isaiah 5:10 For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
Isaiah 7:23 And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
Joel 1:10–11 The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

Laws Concerning

Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exodus 22:5–6 If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and allows them to stray so that they graze in someone else’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard. If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole…
Exodus 23:10–12 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove. For six days you ar…
Exodus 34:21–22 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest. And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
Leviticus 19:9–10 When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:19 You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.
Leviticus 19:23–25 When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit…
Leviticus 25:2–12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops. But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the la…
Leviticus 25:15–16 You are to buy from your neighbor according to the number of years since the last Jubilee; he is to sell to you according to the number of harvest years remaining. You shall increase the price in proportion to a greater number of years, or decrease it in proportion to a lesser number of years; for…
Leviticus 25:19–28 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and dwell in safety in the land. Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’ But I will send My blessing upon you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield a crop sufficient…

Show 8 more passages

Deuteronomy 5:13–14 Deuteronomy 22:9–10 Deuteronomy 23:24–25 Deuteronomy 24:19–21 Proverbs 3:9–10 Ecclesiastes 5:9 Proverbs 27:23–27 Matthew 12:1

Facts About

Genesis 8:22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”
1 Samuel 13:19–21 And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.” Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. The charge was a pim for s…
Isaiah 28:24–28 Does the plowman plow for planting every day? Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, and rye within its border. For his God instructs and teaches him properly. Surely c…
Matthew 13:3–8 And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the…
2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

See Husbandman

Figurative

Fallow ground

Jeremiah 4:3 For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.

Sowing wheat, but reaping thorns

Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

Parable

Of the sower

Matthew 13:3–8 And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the…
Matthew 13:19–23 When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he…
Luke 8:5–15 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with…

Of the tares

Matthew 13:24–30 Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away. When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants c…
Matthew 13:36–43 Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He replied, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds…