426. Irrigation of Gardens

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Several commentators call attention to the fact that palge-mayim, here rendered “rivers of water,” literally means divisions of waters; and reference is supposed to be made to a very favorite mode of irrigation in some Eastern countries. Canals are dug in every direction, and through these the water is carried, to the great improvement of vegetation. Egypt was once covered with these canals, and in this way the waters of the Nile were carried to every part of the valley through which the river ran. Some Eastern gardens are so arranged that water is conveyed around every plot, and even to every tree. Allusion is probably made to this custom in Ezekiel 31:3-43Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. 4The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. (Ezekiel 31:3‑4), where “the Assyrian” is spoken of as “a cedar.” “The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running around about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.” We do not know that this ancient custom existed so early as the time of Job, but Job 38:2525Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; (Job 38:25) seems to indicate it: “Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters.” Solomon says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will” (Prov. 21:11The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)). In enumerating the many works of his reign the same king says, “I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees” (Eccl. 2:5-65I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: 6I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: (Ecclesiastes 2:5‑6)). See note on Deuteronomy 11:1010For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: (Deuteronomy 11:10) (#191). See also Isaiah 1:30; 58:1130For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. (Isaiah 1:30)
11And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (Isaiah 58:11); Jeremiah 17:8; 31:128For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8)
12Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. (Jeremiah 31:12).
Several methods are adopted for conveying the water from a river to the canals which run through the gardens. Sometimes largo wheels are so set that while the bottom enters the water, the top is a little above the level of the bank. The circumference of every wheel has earthen jugs fastened to it. The turning of the wheel, either by the current or by oxen, plunges the jugs under the water and fills them; when the jugs rise to the top of the bank they empty themselves into a channel prepared for the purpose, and the water is thus conveyed to the garden. Sometimes the water is raised from the river to the canal on the bank by means of a shadoof, or well-sweep, very similar to the old-fashioned machine for drawing water from wells in our own country—a horizontal pole, hung on a perpendicular one, having a bucket at one end and a balance of stones at the other.