Ears of Corn. Matt. 12. 1.
19. Why the Disciples being hungry pluck’d the Ears of Corn, it seems strange to us, who observe that men half starved betake not themselves to such supply; except we consider the ancient Diet of Alphiton and Polenta, the Meal of dried and parched Corn, or that which was Ὠμήλυσις, or Meal of crude and unparched Corn, wherewith they being well acquainted, might hope for some satisfaction from the Corn yet in the Husk; that is, from the nourishing pulp or mealy part within it.
Stubble of Ægypt Exod. 5.7, etc.
20. The inhumane oppression of the Ægyptian Task-masters, who, not content with the common tale of Brick, took also from the Children of Israel their allowance of Straw, and forced them to gather Stubble where they could find it, will be more nearly apprehended, if we consider how hard it was to acquire any quantity of Stubble in Ægypt, where the Stalk of Corn was so short, that to acquire an ordinary measure, it required more than ordinary labour; as is discoverable from that account, which Pliny[193] hath happily left unto us. In the Corn gather’d in Ægypt the Straw is never a Cubit long: because the Seed lieth very shallow, and hath no other nourishment than from the Mudd and Slime left by the River; For under it is nothing but Sand and Gravel.
So that the expression of Scripture is more Emphatical than is commonly apprehended, when ’tis said, The people were scattered abroad through all the Land of Ægypt to gather Stubble instead of Straw. For the Stubble being very short, the acquist was difficult; a few Fields afforded it not, and they were fain to wander far to obtain a sufficient quantity of it.
Flowers of the Vine. Cant. 2. 13.
21. It is said in the Song of Solomon, that the Vines with the tender Grape give a good smell. That the Flowers of the Vine should be Emphatically noted to give a pleasant smell, seems hard unto our Northern Nostrils, which discover not such Odours, and smell them not in full Vineyards; whereas in hot Regions, and more spread and digested Flowers, a sweet savour may be allowed, denotable from several humane expressions, and the practice of the Ancients, in putting the dried Flowers of the Vine into new Wine to give it a pure and flosculous race or spirit, which Wine was therefore called Οἰνάθινον, allowing unto every Cadus two pounds of dried Flowers.
And, therefore, the Vine flowering but in the Spring, it cannot but seem an impertinent objection of the Jews, that the Apostles were full of new Wine at Pentecost when it was not to be found. Wherefore we may rather conceive that the word Γλεύκυ[194] in that place implied not new Wine or Must, but some generous strong and sweet Wine, wherein more especially lay the power of inebriation.
But if it be to be taken for some kind of Must, it might be some kind of Ἀεγίλευκος, or long-lasting Must, which might be had at any time of the year, and which, as Pliny delivereth, they made by hindring, and keeping the Must from fermentation or working, and so it kept soft and sweet for no small time after.
The Olive Leaf in Gen. 8. 11.