BARLEY (bar'157), ; "IYVC ieh-ore' ; Gr. Kpletvos, kree'thee-nos, long hair).
(1) Where Cultivated. This grain is men tioned in Scripture as cultivated and used in Egypt (Exod. ix:31), and in P'alestine (Lev. xxvii :16; Deut. viii :8; 2 Chron. :to; Ruth ii;17; 2 Sam. xiv :3o; Is. xxviii:25; Jer. :di :8; Joel i :it). Barley was given to cattle, especially horses (1 Kings iv:28), and was indeed the only corn grain given to them, as oats and rye were un known to the Hebrews, and are not now grown in Palestine, although Volney affirms (ii :117) that small quantities are raised in some parts of Syria as food for horses. Hence barley is men tioned in the Mishnah (Pesach. fol. 3) as the food of horses and asses. This is still the chief use of barley in Western Asia. Bread made of barley was, however, used by the poorer classes (Judg. vii :13 ; 2 Kings iv :42; John vi :9, 13; Comp. Ezek. iv:9). In Palestine barley was for the most part sown at the time of the autumnal rains—October, November, and again in early spring, or rather as soon as the depth of winter had passed. This later sowing has not hitherto been much noticed by writers on this part of Biblical illustration, but is confirmed by various travelers who observed the sowing of barley at this time of the year.
(2) When Ready. The barley of the first crop was ready by the time of the Passover, in the month of Abib, March-April (Ruth i:22; 2 Sam. xxi:9; Judith viii :2) ; and if not ripe at the ex piration of a (Hebrew) year from the last cele bration, the year was intercalated to preserve that connection between the feast and the barley har vest which the law required (Exod. xxiii :15, 16; Deut. xvi:t6). Accordingly, travelers concur in showing that the barley harvest in Palestine is in March and April—advancing into May in the northern and mountainous parts of the land, but April is the month in which the barley-harvest is chiefly gathered in, although it begins earlier in some parts and later in others. At Jerusalem, Niebuhr found barley ripe at the end of March, when the later (autumnal) crop had only been lately sown.
(3) Mode of Culture. The passage in Is. xxxii :20 has been supposed by many to refer to rice, as a mode of culture by submersion of the land after sowing, similar to that of rice, is indi cated. The celebrated passage, 'Cast thy bread upon the waters; etc. (Eccles. xi:t), has been by some supposed to refer also to such a mode of cul ture. In Exod. ix :31 we are told that the plague of hail, some time before the Passover, destroyed the barley, which was then in the green car, but not the wheat or the rye, which were only in the blade. This is minutely corroborated by the fact
that the barley sown after the inundation is reaped, some after ninety days, some in the fourth month (Wilkinson's Thebes, p. 395), and that it there ripens a month earlier than the wheat (Sonnini, P. 395)• BARN (barn).
1. Aw-sawnz' (Heb. Prov. iii:to; rendered "storehouse" in Deut. xxviii:8), a place for the storing of grain.
2. ..11ez-oo-raw' (Heb. Hag. ii:19) and mam-meg-oo-raw' Joel i:17), a granary.
3. Go'ren (Heb. ham, Job xxxix:t2; "barn floor" in 2 Kings vi:27) signifies rather a thrashing-floor, as elsewhere translated.
4. The passage in Luke xii:18 indicates gran aries above ground.
Figurative. (t) The blessing or filling one's barns, or his enlarging them, imports great plenty and prosperity (Deut. xxviii:8; Luke xii:18). (2) Breaking them down imports great scarcity and want (Joel i:17).
BARNABAS.(bar'na-bas),(Syro-Chald.:i n;, bar-neb-bah' ; Gr. Bapvdpas, bar-nab'as).
(1) Name and Family. His name was origi nally '10.1eijs, ee-oh-sace' , loses, or 'Iwcrao, ee-oh-safe' , Joseph (Acts iv:36); but he received from the Apostles the surname of Barnabas, which signifies the Son of Profikecy. Luke interprets it Son of Exhortation, R. V.; but in A. V., of Consolation.
It can hardly be doubted that this name was given to Joses to denote his eminence as a Chris tian teacher. In Acts xiii :t his name is placed first in the list of prophets and teachers belonging to the church at Antioch. Chrysostom, however, understands the surname in the same way as the A. V., Son of Consolation, and supposes that it was given to Barnabas on account of his mild and gentle disposition : 'This Barnabas was a mild and gentle person. His name means Son of Con solation, hence he became a friend of Paul ; and that he was very kind and easy of access is proved by the instance before us, and by the case of John (Mark)' (In Acts Apost. Horn. xxi). He is de scribed by Luke as 'a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith' (Acts xi:24). He was a na tive of Cyprus, but the son of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. From Acts iv :36, 37 it appears that he was possessed of land, but whether in Judaea or Cyprus is not stated. He generously disposed of the whole for the benefit of the Chris tian community, and 'laid the money at the apos tles' feet.' As this transaction occurred soon after the day of Pentecost, he must have been an early convert to the Christian faith.