Barley

Barley ripened earlier than wheat and was the cheaper grain, the bread of ordinary and poor families. Ruth arrived in Bethlehem 'in the beginning of barley harvest' and gleaned in Boaz's fields, and Boaz was winnowing barley on the threshing floor the night Ruth came to him. In a Midianite soldier's dream a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp and overturned a tent, a sign of Gideon's coming victory. Elisha fed a hundred men with twenty barley loaves, and Jesus fed five thousand with a boy's 'five barley loaves, and two small fishes.'

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Strongest connections in Scripture

Ruth 1 John 6

Key Passages

The Beginning of Barley Harvest

Ruth 1:22

Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem empty-handed at harvest time, setting the stage for God's provision through Boaz.

S²²o Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Five Barley Loaves

John 6:8-13

A boy's humble lunch of barley bread becomes a feast for thousands in Jesus' hands, with twelve baskets left over.

O⁸ne of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,

⁹ There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? ¹⁰ And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹ And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. ¹² When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. ¹³ Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.