Exodus 9:31

31 The flax was in bloom, and the barley had ripened, so these crops were destroyed.

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 Moses told the king, "When I leave the city, I will raise my hands to the Lord in prayer, and the thunder and hail will stop. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord.

30 But I know that you and your officers do not yet fear the Lord God."

31 The flax was in bloom, and the barley had ripened, so these crops were destroyed.

32 But both wheat crops ripen later, so they were not destroyed.

33 Moses left the king and went outside the city. He raised his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and hail stopped. The rain also stopped falling to the ground.