Barley
What it is
Barley is a hardy grain that ripens earlier than wheat. It grows in poorer soil and gives a darker, coarser bread.
Where it is in the Bible
Barley comes right after wheat in the list of the land’s good things (Deuteronomy 8:8). Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem at the start of the barley harvest (Ruth 1:22). In Gideon’s day a Midianite dreamed of a loaf of barley bread that knocked down a tent (Judges 7:13). A boy gave Jesus five barley loaves (John 6:9).
“So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.”Ruth 1:22 NLT
“Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!””Judges 7:13 NLT
““There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?””John 6:9 NLT
How people used it
Barley was the bread of ordinary families. It also fed donkeys, horses and oxen. Its harvest came in spring, the first one of the year, and the first sheaves were offered to God.
What it meant in the story
Barley reminds us that God uses small and simple things. A plain barley loaf in a dream, and five barley loaves from a boy’s lunch, were enough for him to do great things.
In the game
Grain is the first resource of the village, and barley grows on poor ground too. The barley loaf of the dream is part of Gideon’s story.
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