Psalm 1:3. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
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 31:3-4, 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 38:25 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. 21:1). 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. 2:5-6). See note on Deuteronomy 11:10 (#191). See also Isaiah 1:30; 58:11; Jeremiah 17:8; 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.