Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GARDEN

A plot of land (Heb. gan) where plants, fruits, vegetables, and spices were cultivated. These crops supplemented the diet of grain, dairy, and to a lesser extent meat. The garden was typically located closer to the house than were the grain fields. Smaller than a grain field, it offered shade with its trees and was a lush contrast to the arid surrounding terrain (Gen. 3:8; Isa. 36:16). Garden plots were fenced in with a stone wall or hedge to keep out unwanted intruders. They were irrigated at times, in contrast to the dry-farming characteristic of ancient Israel (Gen. 2:10; Deut. 11:10; Isa. 1:30; Jer. 31:12; Cant. 4:15). While larger farms might have had separate vineyards and olive orchards, many families probably intercultivated vines and fruit trees in their gardens (Cant. 5:1; Isa. 36:16). The garden in Eden has figs and other fruit trees (Gen. 3:7). Elsewhere, vegetable gardens are noted (Deut. 11:10; 1 Kgs. 21:2).

Palace-side gardens are attested pleasures for kings: Ahab (1 Kgs. 21:2), Manasseh (2 Kgs. 21:18), Zedekiah (25:4), and Ahasuerus (Esth. 7:7). Palace gardens gave food for the royal table, and lent prestige to the throne if stocked with plants from faraway places, as exotic plants signaled international trade. The esteem of gardens is also evident by the deity’s having one (Gen. 3:24; Ezek. 28:13; Isa. 51:3). Gardens may also have been a place for social gathering (John 18:1).

Bibliography. O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel (Winona Lake, 1987); H. N. Wallace, The Eden Narrative. HSM 32 (Atlanta, 1985).

Carey Walsh

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GARDEN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)