Crop

CROP (Lev.1.16). The enlargement of the gullet of a bird where food is partly macerated, removed by the priest for sacrificial purposes.

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CROP. As a Heb. noun, (מֻרְאָה, H5263, Lev 1:16), crop refers to the craw of a bird and was to be removed in sacrificial rites. As a Heb. verb, (קָטַף, H7786, Ezek 17:4, 22), crop means “to strip off” or “plucking,” hence it does not fully conceptualize modern agricultural use where the idea is gathering the yield of cultivated plants. Harvest is the common Biblical term referring to agricultural products as well as attending activity in reaping or gathering. Major crops in Biblical culture were wheat, barley, grapes, olives, figs, and pomegranates (Deut 8:8). Supplementary crops included products from fields as flax, lentils, millet, sesame, and spelt (“rye”); from gardens as beans, chick peas, cucumbers, garlic, leeks, melons, and onions; and from trees as almonds, dates, pistachio nuts, and walnuts (see Agriculture).

Bibliography

H. N. and A. L. Moldenke, Plants of the Bible (1952).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

(1) As noun the translation of mur’-ah (Le 1:16), which is the craw of a bird, especially of doves and pigeons, which had to be removed by the priest before he offered the birds as a burnt sacrifice.

(2) As a verb it is (Eze 17:4,22) the translation of qaTaph, which has the meaning of "cutting off," "cutting down," "plucking."