BARLEY. 49 



Scriptures, which is distinguished from the wine of the country 

 in several passages. Lev. x. 9 ; Numb. vi. 3. 



Barley appears in some slightly different varieties; but the 

 kind known to the ancients is an Oriental variety now con 

 sidered the best. In the Scriptures, allusion is made to its 

 uses for food and in the offerings, and also to its time of 

 growth as a method of distinguishing the seasons of the year. 



From the first class of references, it seems to have formed a 

 great part of the bread of the people, and was generally con 

 fined to the poorer sort, as not quite so rare as wheat, in con 

 nection with which it seems to be mentioned very frequently. 



In the sacrifices, barley was offered in case of jealousy on 

 the part of the husband, and it was to be unaccompanied by any 

 spices or oil, as was customary in other offerings. More than 

 four hundred years before the Christian era, the nations of the 

 northernmost parts of Europe sent offerings to Delos ; and 

 Herodotus tells us that these offerings were conveyed from 

 town to town wrapped in barley-straw. This author also relates 

 that the same singularity is practised among the Thracian and 

 Paeonian women, who in their sacrifices to Diana, the goddess 

 of the chaste, make use of barley-straw.* In this there seems 

 to be a similarity to the practice of the early Hebrews, and 

 one is led to suppose that in some way the custom among the 

 Thracians was derived from the Israelites. 



The third class of references have respect to the season of the 

 year. As we have seen, the times of the present crops vary 

 with the distance north or south of Jerusalem. We shall be 



* Melpomene, xxxiii. 



