9:31 (Now the 1 flax and the barley were struck 2 by the hail, 3 for the barley had ripened 4 and the flax 5 was in bud. 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt 6 were not struck, for they are later crops.) 7
4:9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, 8 put them in a single container, and make food 9 from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side – 390 days 10 – you will eat it.
1 tn A disjunctive vav introduces the two verses that provide parenthetical information to the reader. Gesenius notes that the boldness of such clauses is often indicated by the repetition of nouns at the beginning (see GKC 452 §141.d). Some have concluded that because they have been put here rather than back after v. 25 or 26, they form part of Moses’ speech to Pharaoh, explaining that the crops that were necessary for humans were spared, but those for other things were destroyed. This would also mean that Moses was saying there is more that God can destroy (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 279).
2 tn The unusual forms נֻכָּתָה (nukkatah) in v. 31 and נֻכּוּ (nukku) in v. 32 are probably to be taken as old Qal passives. There are no attested Piel uses of the root.
3 tn The words “by the hail” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied from context.
4 tn Heb “was in the ear” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “had headed.”
5 sn Flax was used for making linen, and the area around Tanis was ideal for producing flax. Barley was used for bread for the poor people, as well as beer and animal feed.
6 tn The word כֻּסֶּמֶת (kussemet) is translated “spelt”; the word occurs only here and in Isa 28:25 and Ezek 4:9. Spelt is a grain closely allied to wheat. Other suggestions have been brought forward from the study of Egyptian crops (see a brief summary in W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363-64).
7 tn Heb “for they are late.”
8 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
9 tn Heb “bread.”
10 tc The LXX reads “190 days.”