This adjective means 'made of barley' or 'consisting of barley.' It appears only in John's account of the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:9, 13), describing the five loaves that the boy had as 'barley loaves' (ἄρτους κριθίνους). Barley was considered inferior to wheat and was the food of the poor—making the miracle even more striking, as Jesus feeds thousands with the most humble provisions. The detail emphasizes both the boy's poverty (he had only barley bread, not wheat) and God's power to multiply even the lowliest offerings into abundance.