Plow
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Luke 9:62). Cultivation with the plow is mentioned as early as the days of Job. Scripture distinguishes the plowshare and cutting blade, and the prophets speak of beating swords into plowshares and, in the opposite image, plowshares into swords (Isa. 2:4; Joel 3:10). The Savior’s saying assumes that the plowman must look steadily forward: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).