A grain plant that produces edible seeds. It has spikes of flowers with bristly hairs. Common barley (Hordeum distichon), winter barley (Hordeum hexastichon), and spring barley (Hordeum vulgare) have been grown in mild climate regions since ancient times. Barley was an important food in Bible lands and remains a major grain crop today.
Barley and wheat were the two main cereal crops of Egypt and Israel and the surrounding areas. Because barley was less expensive than wheat, people often used it to feed animals. However, people also ate barley, either by itself or mixed with wheat and other seeds (Ezekiel 4:9–12). The Bible mentions barley more than 30 times as a common food. Since barley cost less than wheat, it became a symbol of poverty (Hosea 3:2).