or VETCHES, a kind of tare. There are two words in Hebrew which
our translators have rendered _fitches_, קצח and כסמת: the first occurs
only in Isaiah xxviii, 25, 27, and must be the name of some kind of
seed; but the interpreters differ much in explaining it. Jerom,
Maimonides, R. David Kimchi, and the rabbins understand it of the
_gith_; and rabbi Obdias de Bartenora expressly says that its barbarous
or vulgar name is ניילי. The _gith_ was called by the Greeks μελάνθιον,
and by the Latins _nigella_; and is thus described by Ballester: “It is
a plant commonly met with in gardens, and grows to a cubit in height,
and sometimes more, according to the richness of the soil. The leaves
are small like those of fennel, the flower blue, which disappearing, the
ovary shows itself on the top, like that of a poppy, furnished with
little horns, oblong, divided by membranes into several partitions, or
cells, in which are enclosed seeds of a very black colour, not unlike
those of the leek, but of a very fragrant smell.” And Ausonius observes,
that its pungency is equal to that of pepper:--
_Est inter fruges morsu piper æquiparens git._
Pliny says it is of use in bakehouses, _pistrinis_, and that it affords
a grateful seasoning to the bread. The Jewish rabbins also mention the
seeds among condiments, and mixed with bread. For this purpose it was
probably used in the time of Isaiah; since the inhabitants of those
countries, to this day, have a variety of rusks and biscuits, most of
which are strewed on the top with the seeds of sesamum, coriander, and
wild garden saffron.
The other word rendered _fitches_ in our translation of Ezek. iv, 9, is
כסמת; but in Exod. ix, 32, and Isaiah xxviii, 25, “rye.” In the latter
place the Septuagint has ξέα, and in the two former ὀλύρα; and the
Vulgate in Exodus, _far_, and in Isaiah and Ezekiel, _vicia_. Saadias,
likewise, took it to be something of the leguminous kind, גלנאן,
_cicircula_, (misprinted _circula_ in the Polyglott version,) or, “a
chickling.” Aquila has ζέα, and Theodotion, ὀλύρα. Onkelos and Targum
have כונהיא and Syriac, כונחא, which are supposed to be the _millet_, or
a species of it called _panicum_; Persian, כורכדם, the _spelt_; and this
seems to be the most probable meaning of the Hebrew word; at least it
has the greatest number of interpreters from Jerom to Celsius. There are
not, however, wanting, who think it was rye; among whom R. D. Kimchi,
followed by Luther, and our English translators: Dr. Geddes, too, has
retained it, though he says that he is inclined to think that the
_spelt_ is preferable.
Dr. Shaw thinks that this word may signify _rice_. Hasselquist, on the
contrary, affirms that rice was brought into cultivation in Egypt under
the Caliphs. This, however, may be doubted. One would think from the
intercourse of ancient Egypt with Babylon and with India, that this
country could not be ignorant of a grain so well suited to its climate.
our translators have rendered _fitches_, קצח and כסמת: the first occurs
only in Isaiah xxviii, 25, 27, and must be the name of some kind of
seed; but the interpreters differ much in explaining it. Jerom,
Maimonides, R. David Kimchi, and the rabbins understand it of the
_gith_; and rabbi Obdias de Bartenora expressly says that its barbarous
or vulgar name is ניילי. The _gith_ was called by the Greeks μελάνθιον,
and by the Latins _nigella_; and is thus described by Ballester: “It is
a plant commonly met with in gardens, and grows to a cubit in height,
and sometimes more, according to the richness of the soil. The leaves
are small like those of fennel, the flower blue, which disappearing, the
ovary shows itself on the top, like that of a poppy, furnished with
little horns, oblong, divided by membranes into several partitions, or
cells, in which are enclosed seeds of a very black colour, not unlike
those of the leek, but of a very fragrant smell.” And Ausonius observes,
that its pungency is equal to that of pepper:--
_Est inter fruges morsu piper æquiparens git._
Pliny says it is of use in bakehouses, _pistrinis_, and that it affords
a grateful seasoning to the bread. The Jewish rabbins also mention the
seeds among condiments, and mixed with bread. For this purpose it was
probably used in the time of Isaiah; since the inhabitants of those
countries, to this day, have a variety of rusks and biscuits, most of
which are strewed on the top with the seeds of sesamum, coriander, and
wild garden saffron.
The other word rendered _fitches_ in our translation of Ezek. iv, 9, is
כסמת; but in Exod. ix, 32, and Isaiah xxviii, 25, “rye.” In the latter
place the Septuagint has ξέα, and in the two former ὀλύρα; and the
Vulgate in Exodus, _far_, and in Isaiah and Ezekiel, _vicia_. Saadias,
likewise, took it to be something of the leguminous kind, גלנאן,
_cicircula_, (misprinted _circula_ in the Polyglott version,) or, “a
chickling.” Aquila has ζέα, and Theodotion, ὀλύρα. Onkelos and Targum
have כונהיא and Syriac, כונחא, which are supposed to be the _millet_, or
a species of it called _panicum_; Persian, כורכדם, the _spelt_; and this
seems to be the most probable meaning of the Hebrew word; at least it
has the greatest number of interpreters from Jerom to Celsius. There are
not, however, wanting, who think it was rye; among whom R. D. Kimchi,
followed by Luther, and our English translators: Dr. Geddes, too, has
retained it, though he says that he is inclined to think that the
_spelt_ is preferable.
Dr. Shaw thinks that this word may signify _rice_. Hasselquist, on the
contrary, affirms that rice was brought into cultivation in Egypt under
the Caliphs. This, however, may be doubted. One would think from the
intercourse of ancient Egypt with Babylon and with India, that this
country could not be ignorant of a grain so well suited to its climate.