H8184 H8184
barley — the bearded cereal grain, one of the seven species of the Land, used for food, feed, and offerings
Se'orah denotes barley, the hardy cereal that ripened before wheat and served as a staple grain for both humans and livestock throughout the ancient Near East. Its 34 occurrences span agricultural, cultic, and economic contexts. In the plague narrative, barley is singled out as already 'in the ear' when the hail struck Egypt, while wheat survived because it was late-ripening (Exod 9:31-32). It appears among the seven species that define the Land's bounty (Deut 8:8) and marks the harvest calendar in Ruth, where Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest (Ruth 1:22). Hosea purchases his wayward wife for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley (Hos 3:2), and Ezekiel includes it in his siege-bread recipe (Ezek 4:9). Every target language renders it straightforwardly: Spanish 'cebada,' French 'orge,' German 'Gerste,' confirming a single, unified agricultural sense across all occurrences.
Senses
1. barley — The cereal grain barley (Hordeum vulgare), cultivated widely in ancient Israel and the broader Near East. Appears in agricultural contexts as a crop that ripens before wheat (Exod 9:31), among the seven species of the promised land (Deut 8:8), as harvested grain marking the seasonal calendar (Ruth 1:22; 2:23), in economic transactions (Hos 3:2; 2 Kgs 7:1), and in cultic grain-offerings (Num 5:15; Ezek 45:13). Cognate with Aramaic se'arta and Arabic sha'ir. 34×
AR["الشَّعِيرِ", "شَعيرٌ", "شَعيرٍ", "شَعِير", "شَعِيرًا", "شَعِيرٍ", "وَ-الشَّعِيرَ", "وَ-شَعيرًا", "وَ-شَعِيرًا", "وَ-شَعِيرٌ", "وَشَعِيرٍ"]·ben["আর-যব", "এবং-যব", "ও-যব", "যব", "যবের"]·DE["Tore", "Torhueter", "[ושעורים]", "[ושערה]", "[שעורים]", "barley", "und-Tore", "und-Torhueter", "und-barley", "von-barley"]·EN["and-barley", "barley", "of-barley"]·FR["[ושעורים]", "[ושערה]", "[שעורים]", "barley", "de-barley", "et-barley", "et-orge", "et-portes", "orge", "portes"]·heb["ו-שעורה", "ו-שעורים", "ו-שערים", "שעורים"]·HI["और-जौ", "जौ", "जौ-की", "जौ-के", "सओरीम"]·ID["-jelai", "dan-jelai", "jelai"]·IT["[ושעורים]", "[ושערה]", "[שעורים]", "di-orzo", "e-barley", "e-orzo", "e-porte", "orzo", "porte"]·jav["gandum", "gandum-jali", "jali", "jawawut", "lan-jawawut", "lan-jewawut", "sèkul"]·KO["그리고-보리", "그리고-보리들", "그리고-보리를", "그리고-보리와", "그리고-보리의", "보리", "보리-의", "보리가", "보리를-위하여", "보리의"]·PT["cevada", "cevadas", "e-cevada"]·RU["и-ячмень", "и-ячменя", "ячменного", "ячменную", "ячменных", "ячмень", "ячменя"]·ES["cebada", "cebadas", "y-cebada", "y-de-cebada"]·SW["na-shayiri", "shayiri", "wa-shayiri"]·TR["arpa", "arpaların", "arpanın", "avuçları", "ve-arpa", "ve-arpanın", "ve-arpayi", "yuvarlanıyor"]·urd["اور-جو", "اور-جَو", "جو", "جو-کی", "جو-کے", "جَو", "جَو-کی", "و-جو"]
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×)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×)G0837 1. grow, increase (intransitive) (20×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† שְׂעֹרָה n.f. barley (bearded grain; 𝔊 κριθή, 𝔙 hordeum; NH id.; Sab. שערם Glass in FellZMG liv (1900), 256, Arabic شَعِيرٌ; Old Aramaic שערה, 𝔗 סְעָרְתָא; Syriac ܣܥܳܪܬܳܐ; Di260 cp. Ethiopic ሥርናይ wheat, grain);—abs. שׂ׳ Ex 9:31 +; usually pl. שְׂעֹרִים Ho 3:2 +;—barley, common grain (often ‖ חִטָּה, etc.): 1. growing, standing, sg. Ex 9:31(×2) (J), Dt 8:8 Jb 31:40 Jo 1:11, as sown Is 28:25;…