A type of food made from dough, which is created by mixing flour or meal from grains with water. This can include items such as bread, pasta, and other baked goods.
Kinds of Seed Used in Making Bread
The Bible tells us that people used wheat, barley, rye, beans, lentils, millet, and manna to make bread.
Wheat
Wheat is often mentioned in the Bible, with about 48 references in the Old Testament and 14 in the New Testament. The hard winter wheat (Triticum aestivuum) is still popular with farmers in Palestine, who plant it in the fall and harvest it the following summer.
Barley
Barley grows faster and produces more than wheat. In Egypt, the plague of hail destroyed the barley because it had already ripened, while wheat and rye were not yet mature (Exodus 9:31–32). Barley is mentioned 32 times in the Old Testament. It could grow even during famines (Ruth 1:22; 2:17, 23; 3:2, 15, 17). It was cheaper than wheat (2 Kings 7:1, 16). Because of this, poorer people relied on barley. The boy who gave his lunch to Jesus to feed 5,000 people had barley bread (John 6:9, 13). Barley was also fed to cattle (1 Kings 4:28). Barley has a larger husk and long, wiry hair, making it harder to separate the chaff (the outer covering of the grain). This, along with its less popular flavor, made barley cheaper than other grains.
Rye
The word "rye" in the Bible translates a Hebrew word that can also mean "vetch," "fitches," or "spelt" (Exodus 9:32; Ezekiel 4:9). Rye is a hardy grass that can grow even in poor soil. Rye bread became popular in northern Europe and to some extent in Egypt (Exodus 9:32). In Isaiah 28:24–28, there is a summary of the work farmers did in growing and threshing various seed crops, including rye. The people of Israel occasionally made bread from rye (Ezekiel 4:9). But, they normally used it as food for their cattle.
Other Seeds
Beans, lentils, and millet were also ground and mixed with wheat, barley, and spelt to make bread (Ezekiel 4:9). The prophet Ezekiel ate this mixture as a symbol of the "defiled bread" that the Jews would eat while in captivity among the gentiles (non-Jewish people).
Manna
Numbers 11:8 says that the people ground manna in mills or crushed it in a mortar, then baked it in pans to make bread. God called manna "bread" in its original state (see Exodus 16:4–32). Manna looked like coriander seed (Exodus 16:31; Numbers 11:7). The grains were smaller than wheat. The Hebrews complained that they had no bread and said that their souls hated "wretched food" (Numbers 21:5). The psalmist referred to it as "the bread of the angels" (Psalm 78:25).
Tools Used to Make Bread
Ancient Near Eastern people used many different tools and methods to make bread. Most of the equipment used in ancient bakeries can be seen in the bas-reliefs (carvings that stand out slightly from a flat background) found in Egyptian mastaba tombs (a type of ancient Egyptian tomb with a flat roof). These detailed carvings show historians how bread was prepared, shaped, and baked thousands of years ago. By studying these images, archaeologists have learned about the bread-making process that was essential to daily life in biblical times.
Sieve
A sieve, similar to a strainer, was used to remove small impurities from the grain.
Grindstones
A pair of stones was used to grind grain into flour. The top stone would be turned against the bottom stone, crushing grain into flour.
Jars
Clay jars were used to hold olive oil, water, and liquid yeast, which were mixed with the flour to make dough (Leviticus 2:4; 1 Kings 17:12–16).
Bowls
People used kneading bowls, or wooden boards or tables, to mix the ingredients thoroughly (Exodus 8:3; 12:34; Deuteronomy 28:5, 17).
Pans
People who were poor often used heated flat stones or the inner walls of their ovens as baking surfaces. Most people used iron griddles, plates, or pans (Leviticus 2:5; 6:21; 7:9; Numbers 11:8; 1 Chronicles 9:31; 23:29; 2 Chronicles 35:13; Ezekiel 4:3). These pans were usually flat and had handles that could be as long as 1.5 meters (five feet). The dough was placed on the griddle to be baked.
Ovens
Some ovens had a separate chamber for the fire, but most did not. Wood, dried grass, or dung heated the oven (Leviticus 2:4; 7:9; 11:35; 26:26; Ezekiel 4:12, 15; Hosea 7:4–7; Matthew 6:30. Once the fire heated the oven and the coals and walls retained the heat, the bread was placed inside. Thin, hard unleavened cakes or small leavened cakes were baked in just a few minutes (Matthew 14:17; Mark 6:38; Luke 9:13). Larger loaves were about 30 centimeters (one foot) in diameter. When baked, these loaves would rise to over 7.6 centimeters (three inches) thick. A typical large loaf would weigh more than 0.9 kilograms (two pounds), and needed about 45 minutes to bake completely (1 Samuel 17:17; 2 Samuel 16:1).
Bread as a Symbol
Bread was very important for life and survival in Bible times. Because of this, the Bible uses bread to teach spiritual truths. In the Old Testament, the priests had to place special loaves of bread on a table in the holy place in the tabernacle and later in the temple (Exodus 25:30). This bread was called the "Bread of the Presence."
Both the Old Testament law and Jesus teach that "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3). All four Gospels tell stories of Jesus multiplying bread to feed large crowds of people (Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14). Jesus explained that the true “bread of life” was not manna that God sent from heaven to the Israelites in the wilderness. Instead, Jesus himself is the true bread of life who gives eternal life (John 6:28–35).
Before his death, Jesus took bread and shared it with his disciples along with wine. He presented the bread as a symbol of his body and the wine as a symbol of his blood. This was because his death would be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. By eating this bread and drinking this wine, the disciples accepted Jesus's sacrifice for their sins (Matthew 26:26–29). In Revelation 2:17, Jesus makes this mysterious promise: "To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna."