Barley

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

BARLEY. —In the Gospels, barley is mentioned only in the account given by St. John ( John 6:5-14) of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand with five barley loaves and two fishes. The word occurs twice ( John 6:9;  John 6:13), and in both cases represents the adjectival form κρίθινος in the original. The noun κριθή (in ordinary Gr. usage almost invariably in the plur. κριθαί), which is employed in the LXX Septuagint to render the Heb. שִעֹרָה, occurs only once in NT ( Revelation 6:6). Barley was one of the most important of Biblical food-products. According to the elder Pliny ( HN xviii. 72), it was the most ancient nutriment of mankind. It certainly dates back to a very remote antiquity. It was cultivated by the Canaanites prior to the time of the Hebrew conquest ( Deuteronomy 8:8), and by the ancient Egyptians, as appears from  Exodus 9:31 and from the representations on the oldest Egyptian monuments. Among the Jews it was used for making bread ( Ezekiel 4:9), and it seems to have been the principal food of the poorer classes ( Ruth 2:17;  Ruth 3:15,  1 Kings 4:22,  John 6:9). This is confirmed by  Judges 7:13, where a cake of barley-bread is the symbol of an army of peasants, and is also in accordance with modern usage. Thus Dr. Thomson says: ‘ Barley bread is only eaten by the poor and the unfortunate . Nothing is more common than for these people, at this day, to complain that their oppressors have left them nothing but barley bread to eat’ ( Land and Book [1878 ed.], p. 449). He also mentions that the Bedawin often ridicule their enemies by calling them ‘eaters of barley bread’ ( l.c. ). Barley was also grown as a forage crop. Its employment as provender for horses is mentioned in  1 Kings 4:28, and the chopped straw from the threshing-floor was likewise used as fodder. This practice continues to the present day, oats and hay being unknown.

In Palestine the normal time for sowing barley is about the beginning of October: when the winter is exceptionally cold and wet, sowing takes place early in February. In the Jordan Valley, the harvest begins in April, but it varies according to the elevation of the different regions. At the highest altitudes the crop is not ripe till July or even August.

Hugh Duncan.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

שערה ,  Exodus 9:31;  Leviticus 27:16 , &c; a well- known kind of grain. It derives its Hebrew name from the long hairy beard which grows upon the ear. Pliny, on the testimony of Menander, says that barley was the most ancient aliment of mankind. In Palestine the barley was sown about October, and reaped in the end of March, just after the passover. In Egypt the barley harvest was later; for when the hail fell there,  Exodus 9:31 , a few days before the passover, the flax and barley were bruised and destroyed: for the flax was at its full growth, and the barley began to form its green ears; but the wheat, and more backward grain, were not damaged, because they were only in the blade, and the hail bruised the young shoots which produce the ears.

The rabbins sometimes called barley the food of beasts, because in reality they fed their cattle with it.  1 Kings 4:28; and from Homer and other ancient writers we learn, that barley was given to horses. The Hebrews, however, frequently used barley bread, as we find by several passages of Scripture: for example, David's friends brought to him in his flight wheat, barley, flour, &c,  2 Samuel 17:28 . Solomon sent wheat, barley, oil, and wine, to the labourers King Hiram had furnished him,  2 Chronicles 2:15 . Elijah had a present made him, of twenty barley loaves, and corn in the husk,  2 Kings 4:22 . And, by miraculously increasing the five barley loaves. Christ fed a multitude of about five thousand,  John 6:8-10 . The jealousy-offering, in the Levitical institution, was to be barley meal,  Numbers 5:15 . The common mincha, or offering, was of fine wheat flour,  Leviticus 2:1; but this was of barley, a meaner grain, probably to denote the vile condition of the person in whose behalf it was offered. For which reason, also, there was no oil or frankincense permitted to be offered with it. Sometimes barley is put for a low, contemptible reward or price.

So the false prophets are charged with seducing the people for handfuls of barley, and morsels of bread,  Ezekiel 13:19 . Hosea bought his emblematic bride for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer and a half of barley,  Hosea 3:2 .

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

First mentioned in  Exodus 9:31, which shows the barley harvest was earlier than the wheat, a month earlier in Egypt. Neither is found wild. Cereals and the art of converting them into bread were probably God's direct gift to man from the first. The worship of Ceres was probably a corruption of this truth. Canaan was "a land of wheat and barley" ( Deuteronomy 8:8). Barley was a food for horses ( 1 Kings 4:28), but also for men. The hordeum distichum, or "two rowed barley" was that usual in Palestine ( Judges 7:13;  Ezekiel 4:12). Its inferiority to wheat is marked by the jealousy offering being of barley, whereas the ordinary ( Minchah ) meat, offering was of fine wheaten flour ( Leviticus 2:1), and the purchase price of the adulteress ( Hosea 3:2). The scanty supply, marking the poverty of the disciples, but multiplied by Jesus, was five barley loaves ( John 6:9).

The people in Palestine still complain that their oppressors leave them nothing but barley bread to eat (Thomson's Land and Book, p. 449). A measure of wheat is made equivalent to three of barley ( Revelation 6:6). Barley rapidly ripens. Some was sowed at the autumnal rains in October or November, other barley seed immediately after winter. Barley harvest was a note of time; as when it is said Rizpah, the afflicted widow of Saul, watched over her seven sons' bodies "from the beginning of barley harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven" ( 2 Samuel 21:9-10), i.e., from May until September. In the Midianite's dream Gideon was regarded as a mere vile barley cake, yet it is just such whom God chooses to overthrow the mighty ( Judges 7:13;  1 Corinthians 1:27).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

seorah , κριθή. The well-known cereal, which was used as food for horses,  1 Kings 4:28; and also for the food of man when wheat failed. At the famine of Samaria, when the Syrian camp was found deserted, one measure (seah) of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel,  2 Kings 7:1,16 , showing that barley was valued at half the price of wheat. In  Revelation 6:6 , when scarcity is foretold, one choenix of wheat will be sold for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius. Here it is one-third the value of wheat, and 5 pints would have cost, in N.T. times, about the equivalent of a man's daily wages.

In the trial of jealousy an offering was made of barley meal, without oil or frankincense,  Numbers 5:15 . It was a domestic sorrow, that never ought to occur; but if the sin was there it must be judged. In  Judges 7:13 Gideon hears himself compared to a cake of barley bread: he would not have heard this had he not been afraid,   Judges 7:10; but it the more showed him whose hand must give the victory. Israel is charged with having polluted God among His people for "handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread,"  Ezekiel 13:19; as it says elsewhere, they had sold themselves for nought.

It was with five barley-loaves and a few fishes that the Lord fed the five thousand.  John 6:9-13 . Such loaves are still the bread of the poorest in Palestine. Barley is sown in October as soon as the ground is softened by the rains, and the harvest is in April, but extends to May in the colder districts.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

A — 1: Κριθή (Strong'S #2915 — Noun Feminine — krithe — kree-thay' )

"barley," is used in the plural in  Revelation 6:6 .

B — 1: Κρίθινος (Strong'S #2916 — Adjective — krithinos — kree'-thee-nos )

signifies "made of barley,"  John 6:9,13 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Barley. Barley is one of the most important of the cereal grains, and the most hardy of them all. It was grown by the Hebrews,  Leviticus 27:16;  Leviticus 8:8;  Ruth 2:17, etc., who used it for baking into bread chiefly among the poor,  Judges 7:13;  2 Kings 4:42;  John 6:9;  John 6:13, and as fodder for horses.  1 Kings 4:28.

The barley harvest,  Ruth 1:22;  Ruth 2:23;  2 Samuel 21:9-10, takes place in Palestine in March and April, and in the hilly districts, as late as May. It always precedes the wheat harvest, in some places, by a week, in others, by fully three weeks. In Egypt, the barley is about a month earlier than the wheat; whence, its total destruction by the hail storm.  Exodus 9:31.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Deuteronomy 8:8 Joel 1:11 Leviticus 23:22 Ruth 3:15 3:17 2 Samuel 17:28 2 Kings 4:42 2 Kings 7:18 2 Chronicles 2:15 2 Chronicles 27:5 Jeremiah 41:8 Judges 7:13 Ezekiel 4:12 John 6:9 6:13 1 Kings 4:28 Hordeum vulgare Hordeum hexastichon

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

BARLEY ( se‘ôrâh ). As in ancient times, so to-day barley (Arab. [Note: Arabic.] sha‘ir ) is the most plentiful cereal of Palestine. It is the chief food of horses (  1 Kings 4:28 ), mules, and donkeys, oats being practically unknown. It is still used by the poor for making bread (  Judges 7:13 ,   John 6:9;   John 6:13 etc.) in the villages, but not in the cities. Barley was the special ritual offering for jealousy (  Numbers 5:16 ). The barley harvest (  Ruth 1:22 ) precedes that of wheat: it begins around Jericho as early as March, and in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood at the end of May.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 9:31 Leviticus 27:16 Deuteronomy 8:8 1 Kings 4:28 Judges 7:13 2 Kings 4:42 Ruth 1:22 2 Samuel 21:9 Numbers 5:15 John 6:9

King James Dictionary

B'ARLEY, n. L. far Heb. bar,corn. A species of valuable grain, used especially for making malt, from which are distilled liquors of extensive use, as beer, ale and porter. It is of the genus hordeum, consisting of several species. Those principally cultivated in England, are the common spring barley, the long eared barley, the winter or square barley, by some called big,and the sprat or battledore barley. This grain is used in medicine, as possessing emollient, diluent, and expectorant qualities.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Sown in Palestine in autumn, and reaped in the spring, that is, at the Passover. The Hebrews frequently used barley bread,  2 Samuel 1:27;  2 Kings 4:42;  John 6:9 . Barley also was much used as food for cattle,  1 Kings 4:28 .

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Ruth 1:22 (c) This is a picture of the rich blessings that await those who come back to the Lord from their backslidden state. In the New Testament this picture is seen in the return of the prodigal. They began to be merry, and there was no end to that merriment (  Luke 15:24).

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) A valuable grain, of the family of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( שְׂעֹרָה , Seorah', from its Bristling beard; the plur. שְׂעֹרַים , Seorim', designates the grains; Gr. Κριθή ) , a grain mentioned in Scripture as cultivated and used in Egypt ( Exodus 9:31), and in Palestine ( Leviticus 27:16;  Numbers 5:15;  Deuteronomy 8:8;  2 Chronicles 2:10;  Ruth 2:17;  2 Samuel 14:30;  Isaiah 28:25;  Jeremiah 41:8 :  Joel 1:11; etc.). Barley was given to cattle, especially horses ( 1 Kings 4:28), and was, indeed, the only corn grain given to them, as oats and rye were unknown to the Hebrews, and are not now grown in Palestine, although Volney affirms (2. 117) that small quantities are raised in some parts of Syria as food for horses (comp. Homer, 11 . v. 196). Hence barley is mentioned in the Mishna (Pesach, fol. 3) as the food of horses and asses. This is still the chief use of barley in Western Asia. Bread made of barley was, however, used by the poorer classes ( Judges 7:13;  2 Kings 4:42;  John 6:9;  John 6:13; comp.  Ezekiel 4:9). In Palestine barley was for the most part sown at the time of the autumnal rains, October-November (Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. Ad  Matthew 12:1), and again in early spring, or rather as soon as the Depth of winter had passed (Mishna, Berachoth, p. 18). This later sowing has not hitherto been much noticed by writers on this part of Biblical illustration, but is confirmed by various travelers who observed the sowing of barley at this time of the year. Russell says that it continues to be sown to the end of February (Nat. Hist. Aleppo, 1:74; see his meaning evolved in Kitto's Phys. Hist. of Palestine, p. 214; comp. p. 229).

The barley of the first crop was ready by the time of the Passover, in the month Abib, March-April ( Ruth 1:22;  2 Samuel 21:9;  Judith 8:2); and if not ripe at the expiration of a (Hebrew) year from the last celebration, the year was intercalated (Lightfoot, Ut Supra ) to preserve that connection between the feast and the barley-harvest which the law required ( Exodus 23:15-16;  Deuteronomy 16:16). Accordingly, travelers concur in showing that the barley harvest in Palestine is in March and April — advancing into May in the northern and mountainous parts of the land; but April is the month in which the barley harvest is chiefly gathered in, although it begins earlier in some parts and later in others ( Pict. Palestine, p. 214, 229, 239). At Jerusalem, Niebuhr found barley ripe at the end of March, when the later (autumnal) crop had only been lately sown ( Beschreib. Von Arabien, p. 160). It was earlier than wheat ( Exodus 9:31), and less prized (Thomson, Land And Book, 2:166), although reckoned among the valuable products of the promised land in  Deuteronomy 8:8. We read of barley- meal in  Numbers 5:15, of barley-bread in  Judges 7:13, and barley- cakes in  Ezekiel 4:12. It was measured by the ephah and homer. The jealousy-offering ( Numbers 5:15) was to be barley-meal, though the common mincha was of fine wheat-flour ( Leviticus 2:1), the meaner grain being appointed to denote the vile condition of the person on whose behalf it was offered. The purchase-money of the adulteress in  Hosea 3:2, is generally believed to be a mean price. (See Cereals).

The passage in  Isaiah 32:20, has been supposed by many to refer to rice, as a mode of culture by submersion of the land after sowing, similar to that of rice, is indicated. The celebrated passage, "Cast thy bread upon the waters," etc. ( Ecclesiastes 11:1), has been by some supposed to refer also to such a mode of culture. But it is precarious to build so important a conclusion as that rice had been so early introduced into the Levant upon such slight indications; and it now appears that barley is in some parts subjected to the same submersion after sowing as rice, as was particularly noticed by Major Skinner (i. 320) in the vicinity of Damascus. In  Exodus 9:31, we are told that the plague of hail, some time Before the Passover, destroyed the barley, which was then in the green ear; but not the wheat or the rye, which were only in the blade. This is minutely corroborated by the fact that the barley sown after the inundation is reaped, some after ninety days, some in the fourth month (Wilkinson's Thebes, p. 395), and that it there ripens a month earlier than the wheat (Sonnini, p. 395). (See Agriculture).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bar´lı̄ ( שׂערה , se‛ōrāh ):

(1) In the Bible, as in modern times, barley was a characteristic product of Palestine - "a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees," etc. ( Deuteronomy 8:8 ), the failure of whose crop was a national disaster ( Joel 1:11 ). It was, and is, grown chiefly as provender for horses and asses ( 1 Kings 4:28 ), oats being practically unknown, but it was, as it now is, to some extent, the food of the poor in country districts (Rth 2:17;  2 Kings 4:42;  John 6:9 ,  John 6:13 ). Probably this is the meaning of the dream of the Midianite concerning Gideon: "Behold, I dreamed a dream; and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came unto the tent, and smote it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel" ( Judges 7:13 f). Here the barley loaf is type of the peasant origin of Gideon's army and perhaps, too, of his own lowly condition.

Barley was ( Ezekiel 4:9 ) one of the ingredients from which the prophet was to make bread and "eat it as barley cakes" after having baked it under repulsive conditions ( Ezekiel 4:12 ), as a sign to the people. The false prophetesses ( Ezekiel 13:19 ) are said to have profaned God among the people for "handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread."

Barley was also used in the Ordeal Of Jealousy (s.v.). It was with five barley loaves and two fishes that our Lord fed the five thousand ( John 6:9 ,  John 6:10 ).

(2) Several varieties of barley are grown in Palestine The Hordeum distichum or two-rowed barley is probably the nearest to the original stock, but Hordeum tetrastichum , with grains in four rows, and Hordeum hexastichum , with six rows, are also common and ancient; the last is found depicted upon Egyptian monuments.

Barley is always sown in the autumn, after the "early rains," and the barley harvest, which for any given locality precedes the wheat harvest ( Exodus 9:31 f), begins near Jericho in April - or even March - but in the hill country of Palestine is not concluded until the end of May or beginning of June.

The barley harvest was a well-marked season of the year (see Time ) and the barley-corn was a well-known measure of length. See Weights And Measures .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

This grain is mentioned in Scripture as cultivated and used in Egypt ( Exodus 9:31), and in Palestine ( Leviticus 27:16;  Deuteronomy 8:8;  2 Chronicles 2:10;  Ruth 2:17;  2 Samuel 14:30;  Isaiah 28:25;  Jeremiah 41:8;  Joel 1:11). Barley was given to cattle, especially horses ( 1 Kings 4:28), and was indeed the only corn grain given to them, as oats and rye were unknown to the Hebrews, and are not now grown in Palestine. This is still the chief use of barley in Western Asia. Bread made of barley was, however, used by the poorer classes ( Judges 7:13;  2 Kings 4:42;  John 6:9;  John 6:13; comp.  Ezekiel 4:9). In Palestine barley was for the most part sown at the time of the autumnal rains, October—November, and again in early spring, or rather as soon as the depth of winter had passed. The barley of the first crop was ready by the time of the Passover, in the month Abib, March—April ( Ruth 1:22;  2 Samuel 21:9;  Judith 8:2); April is the month in which the barley-harvest is chiefly gathered in, although it begins earlier in some parts and later in others.

In  Exodus 9:31, we are told that the plague of hail, some time before the Passover, destroyed the barley, which was then in the green ear; but not the wheat or the rye, which were only in the blade. This is minutely corroborated by the fact that the barley sown after the inundation is reaped, some after ninety days, some in the fourth month, and that it there ripens a month earlier than the wheat.