Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BARLEY

A winter grain (Hordeum; Heb. śĕʿōrâ) planted from late October through December. Its growing season is shorter than that of wheat, and its harvest commences in April, coinciding with the festival of Pesaḥ/maṣṣôṯ (Passover). Barley is much more resistant than wheat to harsh environmental conditions; thus its cultivation can be extended into regions where wheat cultivation is unsuccessful because of low precipitation or poor soils. These characteristics placed barley on the list of the seven crops and fruit trees with which biblical Israel was blessed (Deut. 8:8). Barley, which was domesticated with other cereals in the early Neolithic period, is divided into three species: six-row barley (H. vulgare L. emend.), two-row barley (H. disticon L.), and irregular barley (H. irregulare Åberg and Weibe).

Barley can be eaten raw (2 Kgs. 4:42) or parched (2 Sam. 17:28). It can be ground to flour (qemaḥ śĕʿōrîm; Num. 5:15) for bread (Judg. 7:13) and other baked goods (Ezek. 4:12). It was used to make porridge (Ezek. 4:9) and to produce beer (šēḵār; Isa. 29:9).

Bibliography. O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel (Winona Lake, 1987); J. M. Renfrew, Palaeoethnobotany (New York, 1973).

Oded Borowski

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BARLEY

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)