Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
GAR'DEN. Isa 1:8. The gardens of the Hebrews were enclosures upon the outskirts of towns. Allusions to them are made Gen 21:33; Num 24:6; Job 8:16, and there is reason to suppose that they were chiefly devoted to fruit- and shade-trees and aromatic plants and herbs. 1 Kgs 21:2; Song 4:12-16. A reservoir of water was considered an indispensable appendage, either in the form of a fountain, a well, or a stream passing through it. Gen 2:10; Num
13:10. The gardens around Damascus are abundantly watered by little currents which are made to flow through every part of them. Beautiful allusions to this are made. Prov 21:1; Isa 58:11; Eccl 2:5-6. Gardens were used to some extent as burying-places, John 19:41, and also as places of religious worship and retirement. Isa 1:29; Isa 65:3. The custom at the present day is, as in the past, to erect a hut upon an artificial mound built in the centre
of the field in which is a valuable crop, such as cucumbers, gourds, etc. In this hut a watchman lives until the crop is secured. This fact explains the allusion in Isa 1:8. When the harvest is over the hut is deserted, and gradually falls to pieces.