This well-known cereal was cultivated in the East from the earliest times
(Gen. 30:1414And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. (Genesis 30:14)), and grew luxuriantly and of many varieties in Egypt (Gen. 41:2222And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: (Genesis 41:22)). Syria and Palestine were both fine wheat-growing countries (Psa. 81:16; 147:1416He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee. (Psalm 81:16)
14He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. (Psalm 147:14); Matt. 13:88But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. (Matthew 13:8)). Wheat-harvest denoted a well-known season (Gen. 30:1414And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. (Genesis 30:14)).