H1250a H1250a
Grain, corn; wheat -- threshed cereal grain, especially in storage or commerce
The noun בַּר refers to threshed grain -- clean, winnowed cereal ready for storage, sale, or transport. It features prominently in the Joseph narrative, where Pharaoh commands grain to be gathered during the seven years of plenty (Gen 41:35, 49), and Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to buy grain (Gen 42:3, 25). In the prophetic literature, Amos condemns those who manipulate the grain trade (Amos 5:11, 8:5-6), and Jeremiah contrasts grain and chaff as metaphors for true and false prophecy (Jer 23:28). The Arabic cognate burr (wheat) and the consistent multilingual rendering -- 'grano' (Spanish), 'ble/grain' (French), 'Getreide/Korn' (German) -- all point to cereal grain as the core referent.
Senses
1. grain — Grain as a stored or transported commodity -- clean, threshed cereal collected in bulk. This sense dominates the Joseph narrative in Genesis: Pharaoh stores grain during the years of abundance (Gen 41:35, 49), the brothers travel to Egypt to buy grain (Gen 42:3), Joseph fills their sacks with grain (Gen 42:25), and donkeys carry grain back to Jacob (Gen 45:23). Psalm 65:14 and 72:16 celebrate grain as a sign of God's agricultural blessing. The emphasis falls on grain as an economic and nutritional resource, with multilingual glosses converging on generic cereal terms: 'grano' (Spanish), 'grain/ble' (French), 'Getreide/Korn' (German). 8×
AR["الحِنْطَةِ-", "حِنْطَةٍ", "قَمْحاً", "قَمْحًا"]·ben["শস্য", "শস্যে", "শস্যের"]·DE["Getreide", "Korn", "grain", "mit-Korn", "mit-grain"]·EN["grain", "with-grain"]·FR["blé", "grain", "בר"]·heb["בר"]·HI["अनाज", "अनाज-को", "अनाज-से", "अन्न"]·ID["gandum"]·IT["figlio", "grain"]·jav["gandum"]·KO["곡식", "곡식-으로", "곡식-을", "곡식과", "곡식으로", "곡식을"]·PT["de-cereal", "de-trigo", "grão"]·RU["зерна", "зерно", "зерном"]·ES["grano"]·SW["kumi", "mgati", "na-kurudisha", "nafaka", "ngano", "wa-ngano"]·TR["buğday", "buğdayın", "tahıl", "tahılla", "tahılı"]·urd["اناج", "غلہ", "غلہ-سے", "غلہ-کی"]
2. grain — Grain or wheat in prophetic and poetic contexts, often with a qualitative or metaphorical edge. Jeremiah 23:28 draws the famous contrast: 'What has straw to do with grain (בָּר)?' -- a metaphor distinguishing true prophecy from false. Joel 2:24 promises the threshing floors will be full of grain as a sign of restoration. Amos 5:11 condemns those who exact levies of grain from the poor, while Amos 8:5-6 exposes merchants who cheat in the grain trade. Here בָּר carries moral and theological freight beyond its agricultural denotation. Some glosses shift toward 'wheat' specifically -- 'el trigo' (Spanish), 'froment' (French) -- suggesting the prophetic contexts may evoke the more refined cereal rather than generic grain. 5×
AR["القَمْحِ", "الْحِنْطَةِ", "الْقَمْحِ", "حِنْطَةً"]·ben["-শস্যের", "শস্য-গোদাম", "শস্যে", "শস্যের"]·DE["Getreide", "[הבר]"]·EN["grain", "the-grain", "the-wheat", "wheat"]·FR["[הבר]", "froment"]·heb["בָּר", "בר", "ה-בר"]·HI["अनाज", "अनाज-का", "अनाज-से", "गेहूँ", "गेहूँ-का"]·ID["dengan-gandum,", "gandum"]·IT["[הבר]", "grano"]·jav["gandum", "lan-tegelan"]·KO["곡식-으로", "곡식을", "곡식의", "그-밀에게", "날곡을"]·PT["cereal", "o-trigo", "trigo"]·RU["зерна", "зерном", "зерну", "пшеницу"]·ES["de-grano", "el-trigo", "el-trigo?", "grano", "trigo"]·SW["ngano"]·TR["buğday", "buğdayı", "buğdayın", "tahılla"]·urd["اناج-سے", "اناج-کا", "غلہ", "گیہوں-کا", "گیہوں-کے"]
Related Senses
H3754 1. vineyard, cultivated grape plot (92×)H0730 1. cedar tree or wood (73×)H1612 1. vine, grapevine (55×)H3293a 1. forest, wood, thicket (55×)H5560 1. fine flour (53×)H5193 1. plant vegetation (48×)H2232 1. sow seed, plant crops (41×)H1715 1. grain, cereal crop (40×)H7114b 1. reap, harvest grain (36×)H2132 1. olive tree (34×)H8184 1. barley (34×)H2406 1. wheat (grain crop) (30×)H7070 1. reed, cane (plant) (30×)H7848 1. acacia (28×)H8328 1. root of a plant (28×)H8384 1. fig tree (25×)H5488 1. reeds, rushes (in 'Sea of Reeds') (24×)G0290 1. a vineyard (23×)G2325 1. reap, harvest a crop (21×)G4687 1. sow seed, plant (21×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† III. בַּר n.m. grain, corn (cf. Arabic بُرٌّ wheat, grain of wheat), ψ 72:16 Am 5:11; 8:5, 6; בָּר Gn 41:35, 49; 42:3, 25; 45:23 (E) ψ 65:14 Pr 11:26 Je 23:28 Jo 2:24.