It seems odd to me that, in the middle of an incredibly long streak about destruction and death and judgment and pain, that the Narrative would interrupt itself to talk about flax and barley.
And not just for one verse, but two whole verses.
In Exodus 9:31-32, there’s a parenthetical statement about the state of Egyptian crops. According to that Text, the flax and barley were ruined, but the wheat and “spelt” (a species of wheat) were not. As if to explain this point, the Bible says that the reason for this difference was the barley was in the ear, the flax was “in bud,” but the wheat and spelt ripen late.
I’m not big on questioning why God gives us information. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, every Scripture has a purpose. But as I read this, I’m left wondering what the point of this information actually is.
Sometimes though, the point is completely different from what the rest of the Narrative is about. Although the bulk of Exodus 6-10 is about the plagues, Exodus 9:31-32 seems to be more geared towards the plausibility of the plagues happening in the first place.
Let me explain. According to everything I can read, flax usually blossoms near the end of January, while the barley comes into harvest in February. Wheat and spelt usually aren’t harvested until the end of March or early April.
These are approximations as far as my non-science research can show, but to me, the actual dates for harvest periods aren’t as important as the fact that this information is included in the first place. The only reason the Text would reveal something like this is if It’s trying to communicate exactness in the record.
In other words, God is trying really hard to impress upon us that what we’re reading is factual, not myth.
The Bible does this in a number of other places. Twice in the New Testament (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14), writers use the phrase “let the reader understand” to limit confusion and convey certainty. The dimensions of Noah’s Ark, the specifications for the Tabernacle, the exact number of days Jesus is in the grave—these comments go a long way in authenticating the reliability of the Bible.
I know it’s super easy to skip over passages like Exodus 9:31-32 and write them off as a passing comment, but the next time you see one, take a second look. Even if you don’t dive into the nuances of this type of detail, at the very least, we can gain a better appreciation for the specificity of God’s Word.
