barley

Barley Hordeum distichum or Hordeum vulgare is a type of grass like wheat and rice. It has been cultivated in the Middle East for thousands of years and is now one of the most prominent seed crops grown in the world. Twenty species are known, of which eight are European. Barley needs less rain than wheat does, so in the Holy Land it was typically found in the drier areas above the coastal plain and near the desert. From 2 Kings 7:1 and Revelation 6:6 we know that barley was considered inferior to wheat and was often used to feed animals, as it is today. When the wheat supply ran out, people had to make their bread with barley. Barley was gathered before wheat, the harvest coming around March or April in the lower regions and in May in the mountains (see Exodus 9:31 et al.). In Egypt and in ancient Greece barley was used to make beer.

Barley plants look like wheat or rice. They are less than 1 meter (3 feet) tall, and have a single head on each stalk, with six rows of kernels, although the biblical kind may have had only two rows. The head bends at a down-ward angle when it is ripe.

In the story of Gideon and the Midianites in Judges 7:13, “a cake of barley” representing the (despised) Israelite army tumbles into the Midianite camp and knocks down the tent (representing the nomadic Midianites).

Barley is a plant of temperate zones, like Europe and the Near East; it does not grow well in the tropics. However, barley has been recently introduced along with wheat into many parts of the world for brewing beer and other malted drinks. It is also known to have grown in Korea as early as 1500 B.C. along with wheat and millet. It is becoming known in Malay as barli. Except for the reference in Judges, all references to barley in the Bible are non-rhetorical, so unrelated cultural equivalents are discouraged. Some receptor language speakers may coin a name for it as in Malay, or the translator can use a transliteration from Hebrew (se‘orah), Latin (horideyo), or from a major language (for example, Arabic sha’ir, Spanish cebada, French orge, Portuguese cevada, Swahili shayiri), together with a classifier, if there is one (for example, “grain of shayir”).

Barley, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also barley bread.

Translation commentary on Numbers 5:15

Then the man shall bring his wife to the priest: When a man is suspicious of his wife committing adultery, he must bring her to one of the priests. No specific priest is in view here, so the priest may be rendered “a priest” (PV).

And bring the offering required of her …: When he brings his wife to the priest, he must also bring the required grain offering for her. The Hebrew word for offering is qorban, which is the vaguest and most common expression for a sacrificial gift. Since the death of an animal is not in view here, a general word for offering in the target language will be needed, instead of the more specific word “sacrifice.” Good News Bible omits the phrase of her, which refers to the wife. Renderings of this clause that keep it are “and bring the offering concerning her” (Bible en français courant) and “and he must bring the offering required for her” (NET).

A tenth of an ephah of barley meal: An ephah was a dry measure for grain. Many scholars believe that it was approximately 40 liters (1 bushel). Others believe it was 22 liters (0.6 bushel). To translate the phrase a tenth of an ephah, some translations give a rough equivalent by using a receptor language expression, such as “three kilos” (Bible en français courant), “two and a quarter kilos” (Dutch Common Language Version), or “two pounds” (Good News Bible). As these translations show, there is no certainty concerning the amount of barley in view here. It is better to provide the reader with a meaningful equivalent rather than being overly concerned about the precise value of a tenth of an ephah; for example, “a tenth of a measure” (La Bible de Jérusalem: Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée) is a good model. A target language equivalent might be even more appropriate, for example, “one basket” (as long as consistency is maintained in other passages where the ephah is mentioned.) In general, if approximate local dry and liquid measures are available in the language, it is better to use them rather than the anachronistic metric and imperial measurements. The Hebrew expression for barley meal refers to flour made of barley. Barley is a type of grass like wheat and rice. It has hairy kernels that can be ground into flour. It was the cheapest, most common type of cereal grain in Israel, so it was also available to the poor.

He shall pour no oil upon it and put no frankincense on it: Oil refers to “olive oil” (Good News Bible; see 4.9). The Hebrew word for frankincense refers to a resin that was burned for its pleasing aroma. Olive oil and incense were used in the normal grain offerings (see A Handbook on Leviticus at Lev 2.1). Perhaps the possible association with sin or the uncertain status of the accusation makes this grain offering a dry one.

For it is a cereal offering of jealousy gives the reason why olive oil and incense should not be put on this grain offering. For cereal offering, see 4.16. A cereal offering of jealousy means it is “an offering from a suspicious husband” (Good News Bible). The husband’s jealousy makes this grain offering necessary.

A cereal offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance means it is a grain offering that reveals sinfulness, in this case whether the man’s wife has committed adultery or not. Good News Bible says “an offering … made to bring the truth to light,” but New Jewish Publication Society Version is better with “a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.” Contemporary English Version has “an offering to find out if she is guilty.” Other possible models are “a grain offering made to bring a wrongdoing to light” or “a grain offering causing people to think [seriously] about sinfulness.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .