Fruits
Summary
The produce of the land, classified by the Hebrews into three categories: field crops, vineyard produce, and orchard fruits, all subject to tithes and first-fruit offerings.
☩The Three Categories
The Hebrews had three generic terms designating the great classes of land produce, frequently associated in Scripture as a comprehensive triad of blessings: Dagan (field produce), Tirosh (vineyard produce), and Yitzhar (orchard fruit). Understanding this classification illuminates many passages about divine blessing and offering requirements. 'Summer-fruits' (Jeremiah 40:10, 12) denotes species adapted only to immediate consumption that could not be easily preserved for winter use.
☩Dagan: Field Produce
Dagan, often translated 'corn' or 'wheat,' comprehends all field produce: wheat, millet, spelt, barley, beans, lentils, cumin, flax, cotton, cucumbers, and perhaps rice. This rendering as merely 'corn' or 'wheat' limits our conception of divine bounty and impairs the beauty of passages where it occurs. Dagan includes the largest and most valuable species of vegetable produce.
☩Tirosh: Vineyard Produce
Tirosh refers to the fruit of the vine in its natural or solid state—grapes whether fresh or dried, in early cluster or ripened (1 Samuel 25:18; Hosea 3:1; Isaiah 65:8). The Authorized Version usually renders it 'wine,' which improperly restricts its meaning. Tirosh is distinctly referenced as the yielder of wine, not wine itself, but the raw material from which wine was prepared.
☩Yitzhar: Orchard Fruits
Yitzhar denotes orchard fruits, especially winter or keeping fruits such as dates, figs, olives, pomegranates, citrons, and nuts. While often translated 'oil,' the term encompasses the full range of tree-borne produce. This understanding explains why tithes and first-fruit injunctions mention these three terms (Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 14:23)—they comprehensively cover every vegetable substance of necessity and luxury commonly consumed by the Hebrews.