Isaiah 28:25

fitches(R.V. marg. black cummin [Nigella sativa) and cummin[Cuminum sativum are both mentioned only in this passage. Note the different methods of sowing; scatter (of the fitches), sow (of the cummin), plant (of wheat and barley). The planting of wheat, &c. in rows is a mark of the most careful husbandry, still practised in Yemen and Egypt.

the principal wheat Rather: the wheat in rows (R.V.).

the appointed barley a very difficult expression. Perhaps "barley in the appointed place" (R.V.). Both this adjective and that for "principal" are wanting in the LXX. and are deleted as mistakes or glosses by Cheyne and others.

the ryein their place the spelt (others, "vetches") as its border (see R.V.). The allusion apparently is to a custom of surrounding certain crops with a protecting border of hardier plants.