Difference between revisions of "Bread"

<p> <b> BREAD. </b> —In Syria and [[Palestine]] there are certain shrines and groves that have been preserved undisturbed through times of political change, and are to-day venerated by all the religions of the country. Such also has been the unchanged history of bread in Bible lands. It is to-day practically what it has always been with regard to (1) the materials of which it is made, (2) the way in which it is prepared, (3) its importance and use as an article of food, and (4) the symbolism and sanctity suggested by its value. </p> <p> <b> 1. </b> <i> Materials </i> .—Bread is usually made of wheat flour, the wheat of the [[Syrian]] plains being remarkable for its nutritious quality. An inferior and cheaper kind of bread is also made from barley flour, and less frequently the meal of Indian corn is used. </p> <p> <b> 2. </b> <i> Modes of preparation </i> .—The most primitive way is that of making a hollow in the ground, burning twigs, thorn-bushes, thistles and dry grass upon it, and then laying the flat cakes of dough upon the hot ashes. These loaves are about seven inches in diameter and from half an inch to an inch in thickness. The upper surface is frequently studded with seeds of Indian corn, and they are generally turned in the process of baking (&nbsp;Hosea 7:8). They are ‘cakes upon the hearth’ (&nbsp;Genesis 18:6), ‘baken upon the coals’ (&nbsp;1 Kings 17:12-13). Such probably were the barley loaves brought to Christ at the feeding of the five thousand (&nbsp;John 6:9; &nbsp;John 6:13). Out of this custom, prevailing among the pastoral tribes and the poorest of the peasantry, were developed several improved methods made possible by more civilized conditions of life. ( <i> a </i> ) Large smooth pebbles were laid over the hollow in the ground, and when the fire had been kept up for a sufficient time, the ashes were removed and the loaves were laid upon the hot stones.—( <i> b </i> ) Thinner cakes of both leavened and unleavened bread were made upon a flat pan or convex griddle. These are now made especially at times of religious festival, and are coated on the upper surface with olive oil and sprinkled with aromatic seeds. They recall the ‘oiled bread’ of &nbsp;Leviticus 8:26, and the ‘wafers anointed with oil’ of &nbsp;Exodus 29:2 and &nbsp;Leviticus 2:4.—( <i> c </i> ) The cavity for the fire is deepened, and a cylindrical hole about the size of half a flour barrel is made of stone and lime with a facing of plaster. The pebbles are still left at the bottom for the better preservation of the heat, and the same fuel is applied till the oven has been sufficiently heated. The dough is then rolled out into broad thin cakes, and each disc, after being still further distended by being passed with a quick rotatory motion between the hands of the female baker, is laid on a convex cushion or pad, and is thus transferred evenly to the hot wall of the cavity. In a moment it is fired, and as it begins to peel off it is lifted and laid above the others at her side.—( <i> d </i> ) The most developed form is that of the public oven in the village or town. Here features of the more primitive types still survive, but the cavity now becomes a low vaulted recess about twelve feet in length, and the pebbles are changed into a pavement of smoothed and squared stones. On it wood and lighter fuel of thorns are burnt, and the glowing ashes are finally brushed to each side of the vault. When the oven has been thus prepared the discs of dough are laid in rows upon long thin boards like canoe paddles, and are inserted by these into the oven, and by a quick jerk of the arm slipped off and placed upon the hot pavement to be fired. These loaves, when fired, are about an inch in thickness and about eight inches in diameter, and when newly baked are soft and flexible. </p> <p> <b> 3. </b> <i> Use and importance of bread </i> .—In the West bread is eaten more or less along with the other articles of food that chiefly constitute the meal; but in the East those other articles are rather eaten along with bread, and are regarded as merely accessory to it. When the farmer, carpenter, blacksmith or mason leaves the house for the day’s labour, or the messenger or muleteer sets out on his journey, he wraps his other articles of food in the thin loaves of home-made bread. In the case of loaves fired in the public oven, these, owing to the glutinous adhesiveness and elasticity of the dough, and the sudden formation within them of vapour on the hot pavement, pull out into air-tight balls. They can then be opened a little at one side, and the loaf thus forms a natural pouch enclosing the meat, cheese, raisins or olives to be eaten with it by the labourer. As the loaf thus literally includes everything, so bread represents generally the food of man. A great exclusion was expressed in ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’ (&nbsp;Luke 4:4). In the miraculous feeding of the multitude (&nbsp;Matthew 14:15 ff. ||) it was enough to provide them with bread. It was three loaves of bread that the man asked from his neighbour to put before his guest (&nbsp;Luke 11:5). Two would have been sufficient for his actual needs; but even in such an emergency a third loaf was required to represent that superabundant something which as a touch of grace, often passing into tyrannical imposition, so deeply affects Oriental social life. </p> <p> In the act of eating, Oriental bread is broken or torn apart by the hand. This is easily done with the bread of the public oven, as it can be separated into two thin layers. The thin home-made bread is named both in [[Hebrew]] and Arabic from its thinness, and is translated ‘wafer’ in &nbsp;Exodus 29:23, &nbsp;Leviticus 8:26, &nbsp;Numbers 6:19, &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:29 ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885). Such bread is called רָקיק ( <i> râkîk </i> ; Arab. [Note: Arabic.] <i> markûk </i> , from <i> warak </i> , ‘foliage,’ ‘paper’). At a meal a small piece of such bread is torn off, and with the ease and skill of long habit is folded over at the end held in the hand. It thus makes a spoon, which is eaten along with whatever is lifted by it out of the common dish. This is the dipping in the dish (&nbsp;Matthew 26:23), and is accomplished without allowing the contents of the dish to be touched by the fingers or by anything that has previously been in contact with the lips of those who sit at meat. </p> <p> <b> 4. </b> <i> [[Symbolism]] and sanctity of bread </i> .—In a land where communication with other sources of supply was difficult, everything depended upon the local wheat and barley harvest. As this in turn depended upon the rain in its season, which was beyond the control of the sower, a special sanctity attached itself to what was peculiarly a gift of God, and a reminder of His continual and often undeserved care (&nbsp;Matthew 5:45). To the disciples of Jesus, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ would seem a very natural petition. An Oriental seeing a scrap of bread on the road will usually lift it up and throw it to a street dog, or place it in a crevice of the wall or on a tree branch where the birds may find it. It should not be trodden under foot in the common dust. Thus the most familiar article of food, so constantly in the hands of all, both rich and poor, and used alike by the evil and the good, had in it an element of mystery and nobility as having been touched by the unseen [[Giver]] of all good. How deeply this feeling of reverence possessed the mind of the Lord Jesus is evidenced by the fact that He was recognized in the breaking of bread (&nbsp;Luke 24:35). </p> <p> In the social customs of the East, the giving and receiving of bread has always been the principal factor in establishing a bond of peace between the host and the guest at his table. It was a gravely unnatural offence to violate that law of hospitality. Of this offence [[Judas]] [[Iscariot]] was guilty at the Last Supper. </p> <p> In travelling through Palestine and partaking of the hospitality of the peasantry, one may notice in the bread the indentations of the pebbles, and small patches of grey ash, with here and there an inlaid attachment of singed grass or charred thorn, the result of the simple baking process. It is bread, however, the best that the poor can give, and it is given with gladness and the dignity of a high duty towards the guest. When Christ sent forth His disciples to tell of His approach, He charged them to take no bread with them (&nbsp;Mark 6:8). It would have been a serious discourtesy to have set aside as unlit for their use that which was offered to them willingly by their own people, and would have hindered the reception of the good tidings of the Kingdom. </p> <p> To the crowd that selfishly followed Christ the giving of bread as by Moses was the sordid summary of Messianic hope (&nbsp;John 6:31). God’s gift of natural food to His people enters into the praises of the [[Magnificat]] (&nbsp;Luke 1:53). When Christ called Himself ‘the bread of life’ (&nbsp;John 6:35), He could confidently appeal to all the endeared and sacred associations connected in the East with the meaning and use of bread. In the initiation of the Passover, and in its commemoration afterwards, bread was regarded by the [[Israelites]] as the most general and effective symbol of their life in Egypt. In the initiation of the new covenant also the same humble article of food was adopted at the Lord’s Supper, to be, with wine, the token of fellowship between Himself and His Church, and the symbol among His disciples of the [[Communion]] of Saints. The use of a symbol so familiar and accessible to all, and so representative of common life, seems to suggest that to the mind of Christ some realized and visible communion among the members of His Church was possible and to be expected. </p> <p> [[G. M]]  Mackie. </p>

<p> a term which in [[Scripture]] is used, as by us, frequently for food in general; but is also often found in its proper sense. [[Sparing]] in the use of flesh, like all the nations of the east, the chosen people usually satisfied their hunger with bread, and quenched their thirst in the running stream. Their bread was generally made of wheat or barley, or lentiles and beans. [[Bread]] of wheat flour, as being the most excellent, was preferred: barley bread was used only in times of scarcity and distress. So mean and contemptible, in the estimation of the numerous and well-appointed armies of Midian, was Gideon, with his handful of undisciplined militia, that he seems to have been compared to bread of this inferior quality, which may account for the ready interpretation of the dream of the [[Midianite]] respecting him: "And when [[Gideon]] was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host." In the cities and villages of Barbary, where public ovens are established, the bread is usually leavened; but among the Bedoweens and Kabyles, as soon as the dough is kneaded, it is made into thin cakes, either to be baked immediately upon the coals, or else in a shallow earthen vessel like a frying-pan, called Tajen. Such were the unleavened cakes which we so frequently read of in Scripture; and those also which [[Sarah]] made quickly upon the hearth. These last are about an inch thick; and, being commonly prepared in woody countries, are used all along the shores of the Black Sea, from the Palus Maeotis to the Caspian, in [[Chaldea]] and Mesopotamia, except in towns. A fire is made in the middle of the room: and when the bread is ready for baking, a corner of the hearth is swept, the bread is laid upon it, and covered with ashes and embers; in a quarter of an hour, they turn it. Sometimes they use small convex plates of iron, which are most common in Persia, and among the nomadic tribes, as being the easiest way of baking, and done with the least expense; for the bread is extremely thin, and soon prepared. The oven is also used in every part of Asia: it is made in the ground, four or five feet deep, and three in diameter, well plastered with mortar. When it is hot, they place the bread (which is commonly long, and not thicker than a finger) against the sides: it is baked in a moment. Ovens, Chardin apprehends, were not used in [[Canaan]] in the patriarchal age: all the bread of that time was baked upon a plate, or under the ashes; and he supposes, what is nearly self-evident, that the cakes which Sarah baked on the hearth were of the last sort, and that the shew bread was of the same kind. The Arabs about Mount [[Carmel]] use a great strong pitcher, in which they kindle a fire; and when it is heated, they mix meal and water, which they apply with the hollow of their hands to the outside of the pitcher; and this extremely soft paste, spreading itself, is baked in an instant. The heat of the pitcher having dried up all the moisture, the bread comes on as thin as our wafers; and the operation is so speedily performed, that in a very little time a sufficient quantity is made. But their best sort of bread they bake, either by heating an oven, or a large pitcher full of little smooth shining flints, upon which they lay the dough, spread out in the form of a thin broad cake. Sometimes they use a shallow earthen vessel, resembling a frying pan, which seems to be the pan mentioned by Moses, in which the meat-offering was baked. This vessel, Dr. Shaw informs us, serves both for baking and frying; for the bagreah of the people of Barbary differs not much from our pancakes; only, instead of rubbing the pan in which they fry them with butter, they rub it with soap, to make them like a honey-comb. If these accounts of the [[Arab]] stone pitcher, the pan, and the iron hearth or copper plate, be attended to, it will not be difficult to understand the laws of Moses in the second chapter of Leviticus: they will be found to answer perfectly well to the description which he gives us of the different ways of preparing the meat-offerings. As the Hebrews made their bread thin, in the form of little flat cakes, they did not cut it with a knife, but broke it; which gave use to the expression, <em> breaking bread, </em> so frequent in Scripture. </p> <p> The [[Arabians]] and other eastern people, among whom wood is scarce, often bake their bread between two fires made of cow dung, which burns slowly, and bakes the bread very leisurely. The crumb of it is very good, if it be eaten the same day; but the crust is black and burnt, and retains a smell of the materials that were used in baking it. This may serve to explain a passage in &nbsp;Ezekiel 4:9-13 . The straits of a siege and the scarcity of fuel were thus intimated to the Prophet. During the whole octave of the passover, the Hebrews use only unleavened bread, as a memorial that at the time of their departure out of Egypt they wanted leisure to bake leavened bread; and, having left the country with precipitation, they were content to bake bread which was not leavened, &nbsp;Exodus 12:8 . The practice of the [[Jews]] at this day, with relation to the use of unleavened bread, is as follows: They forbid to eat, or have in their houses, or in any place belonging to them, either leavened bread or any thing else that is leavened. That they may the better observe this rule, they search into all the corners of the house with scrupulous exactness for all bread or paste, or any thing that is leavened. After they have thus well cleansed their houses, they whiten them, and furnish them with kitchen and table utensils, all new, and with others which are to be used only on that day. If they are movables, which have served only for something else, and are made of metal, they have them polished, and put into the fire, to take away all the impurity which they may have contracted by touching any thing leavened. All this is done on the thirteenth day of Nisan, or on the vigil of the feast of the passover, which begins with the fifteenth of the same month, or the fourteenth day in the evening; for the Hebrews reckon their days from one evening to another. On the fourteenth of Nisan, at eleven o'clock, they burn the common bread, to show that the prohibition of eating leavened bread is then commenced; and this action is attended with words, whereby the master of the house declares that he has no longer any thing leavened in his keeping; that, at least, he believes so. In allusion to this practice, we are commanded to "purge out the old leaven;" by which "malice and wickedness" are intended; and to feed only on the "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." </p> <p> <strong> 2. </strong> [[Shew Bread]]  or, according to the Hebrews, <em> the bread of faces, </em> was bread offered every [[Sabbath]] day upon the golden table in the holy place, &nbsp; Exodus 25:30 . The Hebrews affirm that these loaves were square, and had four sides, and were covered with leaves of gold. They were twelve in number, according to the number of the twelve tribes, in whose names they were offered. Every loaf was composed of two assarons of flour, which make about five pints and one-tenth. These loaves were unleavened. They were presented hot every Sabbath day, the old ones being taken away and eaten by the priests only. This offering was accompanied with salt and frankincense, and even with wine, according to some commentators. The Scripture mentions only salt and incense; but it is presumed that wine was added, because it was not wanting in other sacrifices and offerings. It is believed that these loaves were placed one upon another, in two piles of six each; and that between every loaf were two thin plates of gold, folded back in a semicircle the whole length of them, to admit air, and to prevent the loaves from growing mouldy. These golden plates, thus turned in, were supported at their extremities by two golden forks, which rested on the ground. The twelve loaves, because they stood before the Lord, were called לחם הפנים , αρτοι προθεσεως , or ενωπιοι , the bread of faces, or of the presence; and are therefore denominated in our English translation <em> the shew bread. </em> Since part of the frankincense put upon the bread was to be burnt on the altar for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord; and since Aaron and his sons were to eat it in the holy place, &nbsp; Leviticus 24:5-9 , it is probable that this bread typified Christ, first presented as a sacrifice to Jehovah, and then becoming spiritual food to such as in and through him are spiritual priests to God, even his Father, &nbsp;Revelation 1:6; &nbsp;Revelation 5:10; &nbsp;Revelation 20:6; &nbsp;1 Peter 2:5 . It appears, from some places in Scripture, (see &nbsp;Exodus 29:32 , and &nbsp;Numbers 6:15 :) that there was always near the altar a basket full of bread, in order to be offered together with the ordinary sacrifices. </p>

<p> <strong> BREAD </strong> . The pre-eminence of bread in the dietary of the Hebrews is shown by the frequent use in OT, from &nbsp; [[Genesis]] 3:19 onwards, of ‘bread’ for food in general. It was made chiefly from wheat and barley, occasionally mixed, more especially in times of scarcity, with other ingredients (&nbsp; Ezekiel 4:9; see Food). [[Barley]] was in earlier times the main breadstuff of the peasantry (&nbsp; Judges 7:13 ) and poorer classes generally (&nbsp; John 6:13 , cf. Jos [Note: Josephus.] <em> BJ </em> V. x. 2). </p> <p> The first step in bread-making, after thoroughly sifting and cleaning the grain, was to reduce it to flour by rubbing, pounding, or grinding (cf. &nbsp;Numbers 11:8 ). In the first process, not yet extinct in Egypt for certain grains, the grain was rubbed between two stones, the ‘corn-rubbers’ or ‘corn-grinders,’ of which numerous specimens have been found at [[Lachish]] and [[Gezer]] ( <em> PEFSt </em> <em> [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] </em> , 1902, 326; 1903, 118; cf. Erman, <em> Egypt </em> . 180 for illust. of actual use). For the other two processes see [[Mortar]] and [[Mill]] respectively. Three qualities of flour are distinguished a coarser sort got by the use of the pestle and mortar, the ‘beaten (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘bruised’ corn’ of &nbsp; Leviticus 2:14; &nbsp; Leviticus 2:16 , ordinary flour or ‘meal,’ and the ‘fine meal’ for honoured guests (&nbsp; Genesis 18:6 ) or ‘fine flour’ for a king’s kitchen (&nbsp; 1 Kings 4:22 ) and the ritual meal-offerings. </p> <p> The flour was then mixed with water and kneaded in the wooden basin or <strong> kneading-trough </strong> (&nbsp; Exodus 8:3; &nbsp; Exodus 12:34 ). In a case of urgency the dough was at once made into <strong> cakes </strong> and fired. These unleavened cakes were termed <em> mazzoth </em> and were alone permitted for the altar and during [[Passover]] and the immediately following Feast of [[Unleavened]] [[Cakes]] ( <em> [[Mazzoth]] </em> ). On ordinary occasions, however, a small lump of yesterday’s baking, which had been reserved for the purpose, was broken down and mixed with to-day’s ‘batch.’ The whole was then set aside for a few hours till thoroughly leavened (see Leaven). </p> <p> Three modes of firing bread are found in OT, as in the East at the present day. ( <em> a </em> ) The first is represented by Elijah’s ‘cake baken on the hot stones’ (&nbsp; 1 Kings 19:5 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). A few flat stones are gathered together, and a fire lighted upon them. When the stones are sufficiently heated, the embers are raked aside, the cakes are laid on the stones and covered with the embers. After a little the ashes are again removed, the cake is turned (&nbsp; Hosea 7:8 ) and once more covered. [[Presently]] the cake is ready. ( <em> b </em> ) In Syria and [[Arabia]] today a convex iron plate is much used, especially among the Bedouin. It is placed over a small fire-pit with the convex side uppermost, on which the cakes of dough are laid and fired. The Hebrew <strong> ‘baking-pan’ </strong> (&nbsp; Leviticus 2:5; &nbsp; Leviticus 7:9 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) must have resembled this species of iron ‘girdle.’ ( <em> c </em> ) The settled population, however, chiefly made use of one or other of the various kinds of oven, then as now called <em> tannur </em> . In one form, which may be termed the bowl-oven, since it consists of a large clay bowl inverted, with a movable lid, the heat is applied by heaping cattle dung, etc., on the <em> outside </em> . The cakes are baked on the heated stones covered by the oven. In other parts of the country the jar-oven is used. This is really a large earthenware jar which is heated by fuel, consisting of stubble (&nbsp; Malachi 4:1 ), grass (&nbsp; Matthew 6:30 ), dry twigs (&nbsp; 1 Kings 17:12 ) and the like, placed in the bottom of the jar. When the latter is thoroughly heated, the cakes are applied to the inside walls. From this type was developed the pit-oven, which was formed partly in the ground, partly built up of clay and plastered throughout, narrowing from the bottom upwards. Many of these pit-ovens have been discovered in the recent excavations. It is to the smoke issuing from one of these, while being heated, that the smoke of the ruined cities of the plain is compared in &nbsp; Genesis 19:28 (EV [Note: English Version.] <strong> furnace </strong> , and often unnecessary rendering for ‘oven’). Such no doubt were the ovens of the professional bakers in the street named after them in [[Jerusalem]] (&nbsp; Jeremiah 37:21 ). </p> <p> Bread-making was at all times the special charge of the women of the household. Even when, as we have just seen, baking became a recognized industry, a large part of the baker’s work had been, as now in the East, merely to fire the bread baked by the women at home. </p> <p> A considerable variety of <strong> bakemeats </strong> (&nbsp; Genesis 40:17 , lit. ‘food, the work of the baker’) is met with in OT, but only in a few cases is it possible to identify their nature or form. The ordinary cake the <strong> loaf </strong> of OT and NT was round and fairly thick; such at least was the rolling ‘cake of barley bread’ of &nbsp; Judges 7:13 . These cakes were always broken by the hand, never cut. A cake frequently used for ritual purposes (&nbsp; Exodus 29:2 and often) seems, from its name, to have been pierced with holes like the modern Passover-cakes. The precise nature of the <strong> cracknels </strong> of &nbsp; 1 Kings 14:3 (Amer. RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘cakes’) is unknown. The <strong> wafer </strong> , often named in ritual passages (cf. also &nbsp; Exodus 16:31 ), was evidently a very thin species of cake. For what may be called the pastry of the Hebrews, the curious in these matters are referred to the art. ‘Bakemeats’ in the <em> Encyc. Bibl </em> . col. 460 f. </p> <p> [[A. R. S]]  Kennedy. </p>

<p> A word which in Scripture is often put for food in general, &nbsp;Genesis 3:19 &nbsp; 18:5 &nbsp; 28:20 &nbsp; Exodus 2:20 &nbsp; Leviticus 11:3 . [[Manna]] is called bread from heaven, &nbsp;Exodus 16:4 . Bread, in the proper and literal sense, usually means cakes made of wheaten flour; barely being used chiefly by the poor and for feeding horses. The wheat was ground daily, in small stone mills; the flour was made into dough in a wooden trough, and subsequently leavened, &nbsp;Exodus 12:34 &nbsp; Hosea 7:4 . It was then made into cakes, and baked. </p> <p> The ancient Hebrews had several ways of baking bread: of baking bread: they often baked it under the ashes upon the earth, upon round copper or iron plates, or in pans or stoves made on purpose. The Arabians and other oriental nations, among whom wood is scarce, often bake their bread between two fires made of cow-dung, which burns slowly. The bread is good, if eaten the same day, but the crust is black and burnt, and retains a smell of the fuel used in baking it. This explains &nbsp;Ezekiel 4:9,15 . </p> <p> The Hebrews, in common with other eastern people, had a kind of oven, (tannoor,) which is like a large pitcher, open at top, in which they made a fire. When it was well heated, they mingled flour in water, and this paste they applied to the outside of the pitcher. Such bread is baked in an instant, and is taken off in thin, fine pieces, like our wafers, &nbsp;Leviticus 2:1-16 . Bread was also baked in cavities sunk in the ground, or the floor of the tent, and well lined with compost or cement. A tire was built on the floor of this oven; and the sides being sufficiently heated, thin cakes were adroitly stuck upon towns there were public ovens, and bakers by trade, &nbsp;Jeremiah 37:21 &nbsp; Hosea 7:4 . </p> <p> As the Hebrews generally made their bread thin, and in the form of flat cakes, or wafers, they did not cut it with a knife, but broke it, &nbsp;Lamentations 4:4 , which gave rise to that expression so usual in Scripture, of "breaking bread," to signify eating, sitting down to table, taking a repast. In the institution of the Lord's supper, our [[Savior]] broke the bread which he had consecrated; whence "to break bread," and "breaking of bread," in the New Testament are used for celebrating the Lord's supper. See under [[Eating]] . </p> <p> SHOWBREAD, Heb. Bread of presence, was bread offered every Sabbath-day to God on the golden table which stood in the holy place, &nbsp;Exodus 25:30; twelve cakes of unleavened bread, offered with salt and frankincense, &nbsp;Leviticus 2:13 &nbsp; 24:5-9 . The show-bread could be lawfully eaten by none but the priests; nevertheless, David having received some of these loaves from the high-priest Abimelech, ate of them without scruple in his necessity, &nbsp;1 Samuel 21:1-6; and our Savior quotes his example to justify the disciples, who had bruised ears of corn, and were eating them on the Sabbath-day. &nbsp;Matthew 12:1 - &nbsp;4 . </p>

<p> [[Constantly]] referred to as the sustenance of man, though animal food may be included, and thus it stands for 'food' in general. &nbsp;Genesis 3:19; &nbsp;Ruth 1:6; &nbsp;Psalm 41:9 . Bread was made of wheaten flour, or of wheat and barley mixed, or by the poor of barley only. It was generally made in thin cakes which could be baked very quickly when a visitor arrived. &nbsp;Genesis 18:6; &nbsp;Genesis 19:3; &nbsp;1 Samuel 28:24 . It was usually leavened by a piece of old dough in a state of fermentation. See LEAVEN. </p> <p> [[Unleavened Bread]]  was to be eaten with certain of the offerings, &nbsp;Leviticus 6:16,17; and for the seven days' feast connected with the Passover, often referred to as 'the Feast of Unleavened Bread,' &nbsp;Exodus 34:18; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 8:13; &nbsp;Luke 22:1; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:8; a symbol that all evil must be put away in order to keep the feast. </p> <p> The Lord Jesus called Himself the [[Bread Of God]]  the bread that came down from heaven, [[The Bread Of Life]]  the living bread, of which if any man ate he should live for ever: He said "He that eateth me shall live by me." He is the spiritual food that sustains the new life. &nbsp;John 6:31-58 . This was typified in Israel by the SHOWBREAD, the twelve loaves placed upon the table in the holy place, new every sabbath day: it was holy and was eaten by the priests only. &nbsp;Leviticus 24:5-9 . It is literally 'face or presence bread;' &nbsp;Exodus 25:30; and 'bread of arrangement' or 'ordering,' as in the margin of &nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:32; and in the N.T. 'bread of presentation.' &nbsp;Matthew 12:4; &nbsp;Hebrews 9:2 . It typified the nourishment that God would provide for Israel in Christ, as well as the ordering of the twelve tribes before Him; in them was the administration of God's bounty through Christ for the earth, as Christ is now the sustainment for the Christian. </p>

<p> ( '''''לֶחֶם''''' , ''Le'Chem; '''''Ἄρτος''''' .),'' a word of far more extensive meaning among the Hebrews than at present with us. There are passages in which it appears to be applied to all kinds of victuals (&nbsp;Luke 11:3); but it more generally denotes all kinds of baked and pastry articles of food. It is also used, however, in the more limited sense of bread made from wheat or barley, for rye is little cultivated in the East. The preparation of bread as an article of food dates from a very early period: it must not, however, be inferred from the use of the word lechem in &nbsp;Genesis 3:19 (" bread," [[A. V]] ) that it was known at the time of the fall, the word there occurring in its general sense ''Of Food:'' the earliest undoubted instance of its use is found in &nbsp;Genesis 18:6. </p> <p> '''1.''' ''Materials. '''''—''''' '' The corn or grain ( '''''שֵׁבֶר''''' , ''She'Ber, '''''דָּנָן''''' '' , ''Dagan')'' employed was of various sorts: the best bread was made of wheat, which, after being ground, produced the "flour" or "meal" ( '''''קֶמִח''''' , ''Ke'Mach; '''''Ἄλευρον''''' ;'' &nbsp;Judges 6:19; &nbsp;1 Samuel 1:24; &nbsp;1 Kings 4:22; &nbsp;1 Kings 17:12; &nbsp;1 Kings 17:14), and when sifted the "fine flour" ( '''''סֹלֶת''''' , ''So'Leth,'' more fully '''''סֹלֶת''''' '''''חַטַּים''''' , &nbsp;Exodus 29:2; or '''''קֶמִח''''' '''''סֹלֶת''''' ''',''' &nbsp;Genesis 18:6; '''''Σεμίδαλις''''' ) usually employed in the sacred offerings (&nbsp;Exodus 29:40; &nbsp;Leviticus 2:1; &nbsp;Ezekiel 46:14), and in the meals of the wealthy (&nbsp;1 Kings 4:22; &nbsp;2 Kings 7:1; &nbsp;Ezekiel 16:13; &nbsp;Ezekiel 16:19; &nbsp;Revelation 18:13). "Barley" was used only by the very poor (&nbsp;John 6:9; &nbsp;John 6:18), or in times of scarcity (&nbsp;Ruth 3:15, compared with 1:1; &nbsp;2 Kings 4:38; &nbsp;2 Kings 4:42; &nbsp;Revelation 6:6; Joseph. ''War,'' v, 10, 2): as it was the food of horses (&nbsp;1 Kings 4:28), it was considered a symbol of what was mean and insignificant (&nbsp;Judges 7:13; comp. Joseph. ''Ant.'' v, 6, 4, '''''Μάζαν''''' '''''Κριθίνην''''' , '''''Ὑπ᾿''''' '''''Εὐτελείας''''' '''''Ἀνθρώποις''''' '''''Ἄβρωτον''''' ; Liv. 27:13). as well as of what was of a mere animal character, and hence ordered for the offering of jealousy (&nbsp;Numbers 5:15; comp. &nbsp;Hosea 3:2; Philo, ii, 307). "Spelt" ( '''''כֻּסֶּמֶת''''' , ''Kusse'Meth; '''''Ὄλυρα''''' '' , '''''Ζέα;''''' V. rye, fitches, spelt) was also used both in Egypt (&nbsp;Exodus 9:32) and Palestine (&nbsp;Isaiah 28:25; &nbsp;Ezekiel 4:9; &nbsp;1 Kings 19:6; Sept. '''''Ἐλκρυφίας''''' '''''Ὀλυρίτης''''' ): [[Herodotus]] I indeed states (ii. 36) that in the former country bread was made exclusively of olyra, which, as in the Sept., he identifies with zea; but in this he was mistaken, as wheat was also used (&nbsp;Exodus 9:32; comp. Wilkinson, ''Anc. Eg.'' ii, 397). Occasionally the grains above mentioned were mixed, and other ingredients, such as beans, lentils, and millet, were added (&nbsp;Ezekiel 4:9; comp. &nbsp;2 Samuel 17:28); the bread so produced is called "barley cakes" (&nbsp;Ezekiel 4:12; [[A. V]]  ''"As'' barley cakes"), inasmuch as barley was the main ingredient. The amount of meal required for a single baking was an ephah or three measures (&nbsp;Genesis 18:6; &nbsp;Judges 6:19; &nbsp;1 Samuel 1:24; &nbsp;Matthew 13:33), which appears to have been suited to the size of the ordinary oven. [[Grain]] is ground daily in the East. (See Mill). </p> <p> '''2.''' ''Preparation. '''''—''''' '' After the wheaten flour is taken from the hand-mill, it is made into a dough or paste in a small wooden trough. (See Kneading- Trough). The process of making bread was as follows: the flour was first mixed with water, or perhaps milk (Burckhardt's ''Notes On The Bedouins,'' i, 58); it was then kneaded ( '''''לוּשׁ''''' ) with the hands (in Egypt with the feet also; Herod. ii, 36; Wilkinson, ii, 386) in a small wooden bowl or "kneading- trough" ( '''''מַשְׁאֶרֶת''''' , ''Mishe'Reth,'' a term which may, however, rather refer to the leathern bag in which the [[Bedouins]] carry their provisions, and which serves both as a wallet and a table; Niebuhr's ''Voyage,'' i, 171; Harmer, 4:366 sq.; the Sept. inclines to this view, giving '''''Ἐγκαταλείμματα''''' [[[A. V]]  "store"] in &nbsp;Deuteronomy 28:5; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 28:17; the expression in &nbsp;Exodus 12:34, however, "bound up in their clothes," favors the idea of a wooden bowl), until it became dough ( '''''בָּצֵק''''' , ''Batsek'; '''''Σταῖς''''' ,'' &nbsp;Exodus 12:34; &nbsp;Exodus 12:39; &nbsp;2 Samuel 13:8; &nbsp;Jeremiah 6:18; &nbsp;Hosea 7:4; the term "dough" is improperly given in the [[A. V]]  for '''''עֲרַיסוֹת''''' , ''Grits,'' in &nbsp;Numbers 15:20-21; &nbsp;Nehemiah 10:37; &nbsp;Ezekiel 44:30). When the kneading was completed, leaven ( '''''שְׂאֹר''''' , ''Seor'; '''''Ζύμη''''' )'' was generally added; but when the time for preparation was short, it was omitted, and unleavened cakes, hastily baked, were eaten, as is still the prevalent custom among the Bedouins (&nbsp;Genesis 18:6; &nbsp;Genesis 19:3; &nbsp;Exodus 12:39; &nbsp;Judges 6:19; &nbsp;1 Samuel 28:24). (See Leaven). </p> <p> Such cakes were termed '''''מִצּוֹת''''' , ''Matstsoth''' (Sept. '''''Ἄζυμα''''' ), a word of doubtful sense, variously supposed to convey the ideas of ''Thinness'' (Fiirst, ''Lex.'' s.v. ''), Sweetness'' (Gesen. ''Thesaur.'' p. 815), or [[Purity]] (Knobel, ''Comm. In'' &nbsp;Exodus 12:20), while leavened bread was called '''''חָמֵוֹ''''' , chamets' (lit. ''Sharpened'' or ''Soured;'' &nbsp;Exodus 12:39; &nbsp;Hosea 7:4). Unleavened cakes were ordered to be eaten at the Passover to commemorate the hastiness of the departure (&nbsp;Exodus 12:15; &nbsp;Exodus 13:3; &nbsp;Exodus 13:7; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:3), as well as on other sacred occasions (&nbsp;Leviticus 2:11; &nbsp;Leviticus 6:16; &nbsp;Numbers 6:15). The leavened mass was allowed to stand for some time (&nbsp;Matthew 13:33; &nbsp;Luke 13:21), sometimes for a whole night ("their baker sleepeth all the night," &nbsp;Hosea 7:6), exposed to a moderate heat in order to forward the fermentation (" he ceaseth from ''Stirring"'' [ '''''מֵעַיר''''' [[A. V]]  "raising"] the fire " until it be leavened," &nbsp;Hosea 7:4). The dough was then divided into round cakes ( '''''כַּכְּרוֹת''''' '''''לֶחֶם''''' , lit. circles of bread; '''''Ἄρτοι''''' ; [['''A.''' V]]  "loaves;" &nbsp;Exodus 29:23; &nbsp;Judges 8:5; &nbsp;1 Samuel 10:3; &nbsp;Proverbs 6:26; in &nbsp;Judges 7:13, i, '''''צְלוּל''''' '','' , '''''Μαγίς''''' ), not unlike flat stones in shape and appearance (&nbsp;Matthew 7:9; comp. 4:3), about a span in diameter and a finger's breadth in thickness (comp. Lane's Modern Egyptians, i, 164): three of these were required for the meal of a single person (&nbsp;Luke 11:5), and consequently one was barely sufficient to sustain life (&nbsp;1 Samuel 2:36, [[A. V]]  "morsel;" &nbsp;Jeremiah 37:21, [[A. V]]  "piece"), whence the expression '''''לֶחֶם''''' '''''לִחִוֹ''''' , "bread of affliction" (&nbsp;1 Kings 22:27; &nbsp;Isaiah 30:20), referring not to the quality ''(Pane Plebeio,'' Grotius), but to the quantity; two hundred would suffice for a party for a reasonable time (&nbsp;1 Samuel 25:18; &nbsp;2 Samuel 16:1). The cakes were ''Sometimes Punctured,'' and hence called '''''חִלָּה''''' chalah' ( '''''Κολλυρίς''''' '';'' &nbsp;Exodus 29:2; &nbsp;Exodus 29:23; &nbsp;Leviticus 2:4; &nbsp;Leviticus 8:26; &nbsp;Leviticus 24:5; &nbsp;Numbers 15:20; &nbsp;2 Samuel 6:19), and mixed with oil. [[Similar]] cakes, sprinkled with seeds, were made in Egypt (Wilkinson, ii, 386). Sometimes they were rolled out into wafers ( '''''רָקַיק''''' , rakik'; '''''Λάγανον''''' '';'' &nbsp;Exodus 29:2; &nbsp;Exodus 29:23; &nbsp;Leviticus 2:4; &nbsp;Numbers 6:15-19), and merely coated with oil. Oil was occasionally added to the ordinary cake (&nbsp;1 Kings 17:12). A more delicate kind of cake is described in &nbsp;2 Samuel 13:6; &nbsp;2 Samuel 13:8; &nbsp;2 Samuel 13:10; the dough [[(A. V]]  "flour") is kneaded a second time, and probably fried in fat, as seems to be implied in the name '''''לְבַיבוֹת''''' , ''Lebiboth','' q. d. ''Dough-Nuts'' (from '''''לָבִב''''' , to ''Befaet,'' kindred with '''''לֵבָב''''' ''',''' ''Heart;'' compare our expression [[Hearty]] food; Sept. '''''Κολλυρίδες''''' ; Vulg. ''Sorbitiunculce).'' (See below.) </p> <p> '''3.''' ''Baking. '''''—''''' '' The cakes were now taken to the oven; having been first, according to the practice in Egypt, gathered into " white baskets" (&nbsp;Genesis 40:16), '''''סִלֵּי''''' '''''חֹרַי''''' , ''Salley' Chori','' a doubtful expression, referred by some to the whiteness of the bread (Sept. '''''Κανᾶ''''' '''''Χονδριτῶν''''' ; Aquil. '''''Κὀφινοι''''' '''''Γύρεως''''' ; Vulg. ''Canistra Farina),'' by others, as in the [[A. V]]  to the whiteness of the baskets, and again, by connecting the word '''''חֹרַי''''' with the idea of a hole, to an open-work basket (margin, [[A. V]] ) or, lastly, to bread baked in a hole. The baskets were placed on a tray and carried on the baker's head (&nbsp;Genesis 40:16; Herod. ii, 35; Wilkinson, ii, 386). (See [[Basket]]). </p> <p> The baking was done in primitive times by the mistress of the house (&nbsp;Genesis 18:6) or one of the daughters (&nbsp;2 Samuel 13:8); female servants were, however, employed in large households (&nbsp;1 Samuel 8:13): it appears always to have been the proper business of women in a family (&nbsp;Jeremiah 7:18; &nbsp;Jeremiah 44:19; &nbsp;Matthew 13:33; comp. Plin. 18:11, 28). Baking, as a profession, was carried on by men (&nbsp;Hosea 7:4; &nbsp;Hosea 7:6). In Jerusalem the bakers congregated in one quarter of the town, as we may infer from the name "bakers' street" (&nbsp;Jeremiah 37:21), and "tower of the ovens" (&nbsp;Nehemiah 3:11; &nbsp;Nehemiah 12:38); [[A. V]]  "furnaces." In the time of the Herods, bakers were scattered throughout the towns of Palestine (Joseph. ''Ant. 15:'' 9, 2). As the bread was made in thin cakes, which soon became dry and unpalatable, it was usual to bake daily, or when required (&nbsp;Genesis 18:6; comp. Harmer's Observations, i, 483): reference is perhaps made to this in the Lord's prayer (&nbsp;Matthew 6:11; &nbsp;Luke 11:3). The bread taken by persons on a journey (&nbsp;Genesis 45:23; &nbsp;Joshua 9:12) was probably a kind of biscuit. (See Bake). </p> <p> The methods of baking ( '''''אָפָה''''' , ''Aphah')'' were, and still are, very various in the East, adapted to the various styles of life. In the towns, where professional bakers resided, there were no doubt fixed ovens, in shape and size resembling those in use among ourselves; but more usually each household possessed a portable oven ( '''''תִנּוּר''''' , ''Tannur'; '''''Κλίβανος''''' ),'' consisting of a stone or metal jar about three feet high, which was heated inwardly with wood (&nbsp;1 Kings 17:12; &nbsp;Isaiah 44:15; &nbsp;Jeremiah 7:18) or dried grass and flower-stalks ( '''''Χόρτος''''' , &nbsp;Matthew 6:30); when the fire had burned down, the cakes were applied either inwardly (Herod. ii, 92) or outwardly: such ovens were used by the [[Egyptians]] (Wilkinson, ii, 385), and by the Easterns of Jeronme's time (Comment. in Lam. v, 10), and are still common among the Bedouins (Wellsted's Travels, i, 350; Niebuhr's Descript. de I'Arabie, p. 45, 46). The use of a single oven by several families only took place in time of famine (&nbsp;Leviticus 26:26). Another species of oven consisted of a hole dug in the ground, the sides of which were coated with clay and the bottom with pebbles (Harmer, i, 487). Jahn (Archaol. i, 9, '''''§''''' 140) thinks that this oven is referred to in the term '''''כַירִיַם''''' , ''Kira'Yim'' (&nbsp;Leviticus 11:35); but the dual number is an objection to this view; the term '''''חֹרַי''''' above (&nbsp;Genesis 40:16) has also been referred to it. (See [[Oven]]). </p> <p> Other modes of baking were specially adapted to the migratory habits of the pastoral Jews, as of the modern Bedouins; the cakes were either spread upon stones, which were previously heated by lighting a fire above them (Burckhardt's Notes, i, 58) or beneath them (Belzoni's Travels, p. 84); or they were thrown into the heated embers of the fire itself (Wellsted's Travels, i, 350; Niebuhr, Descript. p. 46); or, lastly, they were roasted by being placed between layers of dung, which burns slowly, and is therefore specially adapted for the purpose (&nbsp;Ezra 4:12; &nbsp;Ezra 4:15; Burckhardt's ''Notes,'' i, 57; Niebuhr's Descript. p. 46). The terms by which such cakes were described were '''''עֻגָּה''''' , ''Uggah''' (&nbsp;Genesis 18:6; &nbsp;Exodus 12:39; &nbsp;1 Kings 17:13; &nbsp;Ezra 4:12; &nbsp;Hosea 7:8), '''''מָעוֹג''''' , (&nbsp;1 Kings 17:12; &nbsp;Psalms 35:16), or more fully '''''עֻגִּת''''' '''''רְצָפַים''''' ., ''Uggath' Retsaphin''' (&nbsp;1 Kings 19:6, lit. on the stones,' "coals," [[A. V]]  ), the term '''''עֻגָּה''''' referring, however, not to the mode of baking, but to the ''Rounded'' shape of the cake (Gesen. ''Thesaur.'' p. 997): the equivalent terms in the Sept. '''''Ἐγκρυφίας''''' , and in the Vulg. ''Subcizericius Panis,'' have direct reference to the peculiar mode of baking. </p>