Exodus 9:31

31 And the flax and the barley were struck, because the barley [was in the] ear and the flax [was in] bud.

Exodus 9:31 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 9:31

And the flax and the barley was smitten
With the hail, thunder, and lightning, and were beat down, bruised, broken, and blasted, and destroyed; of the former there were great quantities produced in Egypt, which was famous for linen, much was made there, and there were many that wrought in fine flax, see ( Isaiah 19:9 ) and the latter were used not only to feed their cattle, but to make a drink of, as we do, ale and strong beer; and so the Egyptians use it to this day, as Dr. Shaw ^F16 says, both to feed their cattle, and after it is dried and parched, to make a fermented, intoxicating liquor, called "bonzah"; probably the same with the barley wine of the ancients, and a species of the "sicar", or strong drink of the Scriptures: for the barley [was] in the ear, and the flax [was] bolled;
or in the stalk, quite grown up, and so the ears of the one were beat off, and the stalks of the other battered with the hail, and broken and destroyed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Travels, tom. 2. c. 2. sect. 5. p. 407. Ed. 2.

Exodus 9:31 In-Context

29 And Moses said to him, "At my leaving the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will stop, and the hail will be no more, so that you will know that the earth [belongs] to Yahweh.

30 But [as for] you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the presence of Yahweh God."

31 And the flax and the barley were struck, because the barley [was in the] ear and the flax [was in] bud.

32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, because they [are] late-ripening.

33 And Moses went from Pharaoh out of the city, and he spread his hands to Yahweh, and the thunder and the hail stopped, and rain did not pour [on the] earth.