J. Hastin<;s.
BREAD (anS lehem, i/rrot). — i. A word used in the Bible in several senses —
1. As food In general, of animals, as Job 24^ and Is 663s ; or of man, an Gn Slv, where the word is flrvt used. See also Gn -4713, Job 3^P) ct^ In the sense of solid food as op(>i>sed to drink, Ps lOli^. In the sense uf the bare necessary sust^mance of life it is used in Is 3310, Ex 23^, and in the Ixird's Prayer (?). See also I K 17".
2. The kind of food which comes forth from the earth, venetivhle food, as in Job 23'', Is SO*", and bb^**, contrasted with Ulitar or tU-sh in 1 K 17«.
3. Lehfin is nHe<l as the name of the miraculous food where. with the lHraelit*-8 were fed in the wilderness. Ex 10*- 22, eallc<l in. terrot;iiti\eIy ' niunna' or * what"? ' brfa<i of heaven,' in I'h lOfiW. In Nu 21* this bread is ca11e<l kilkel, 'mean or insi^jnillcant.*
4. The Htjiple food of a nation iscalleil the ' stafT of li.'(l.v2fl*, Ezk 4l«), or the stay (support) of b. (Is. 3'). Ilenc:e (amine is the breaking: of the Htaff of b. , and is typitlcd by the sellini; of bread by wei;:iit, Lv 26*', Ezk 41'*. l.Anils which are pro<lnctive of b.-stufTH are called I.ands of b., as Eirypt (Gn 41") antl habvlon (Is 301^, whose fertility In proilucintf corn is mentiontftl by Herodotus, I. 193. Abundance of food Is called 'fulness of b., •o often a snare to mankind, as It was to Sodom (K/k inv),
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BREAD
BREAD
ffach an kbnndance il promised to Asher aa fatneM of b. (On 49^). Personal poverty la aescribed as want of b. (Is 511*, La 1*1, 4*). 8ucb poverty may be a punisbment, as in tbe curse pronounced on the descendants of Joab (2 S 3'^) and Eli (1 8 2^, or on the wicked in seneral (Job 27**), but may be due to misfortune, not crime (Ec 9**). The Psalmist, however, never found the children of the rij^hteous in this plieht (Ps 87^). The poor are described as ' wandering for b.' (Job 15«). Abstinence from b. may be the token of a vow, as in the case of David (2 S 33^) ; and the asceticism of John the Baptist is expressed by Christ by the phrase ' neither eating b. nor drinking wine ' (Lk 7*3).
3. The hastily prepared food offered to a stranger or wayfarer In token of welcome and hospitality is called b., as in On li^^ 18^. So Joseph bade his servants * set on b.' for his brethren (Gn 43^1) ; and the ^I'itch of Endor thus entertained Saul (1 S 2S^. For want of this hospitality, the Succothites were punished by Qideon (Jg 8^^), and the Ammonites and Moabites were excluded from the congreg. of Isr. (Dt 23*, Neh 132). Such hospitality was customary among the Bedawin (Is 21^*), as all travellers' have testified from Sinuhat (RP vi. 131) to Doughty (Arabia Deserta, 1888). Our Lord bade His apostles not to take breed with them, but to partake of hospitality on their missionary Journeys (Lk 93). On such occasions the host breaks the b. for his guests ; so Christ did for the multitude whom He fed by miracle (Mt 14^^ etc.), and for His disciples at the Last Supper (Lk 22^9 etc.). So St. Paul acted as host to his ■hipmates ouring the storm (Ac 273-''). Breaking of b. became the earlv name of the communion feast of the primitive Church (Ac 2*2. « 207, lOo 1016 1123). The breaking has special rele- vancy to the common form of the Jenish bread.
6. B. was the most convenient form in which to give food to the poor ; hence giving (literally breaking) b. to the hungry is a common expression for the dispensing of charity (Pr 229, Is 68?, Etk 18'1«). To withhold this was a crime (Job 22?). In the
Iudgment chapter of the Egj-p. Bk. of the Dead (cxxv. 1. 33) it I said of the righteous man that he has ^ven b. to the hungry ; and this claim is occasionally found in funeral inscriptions (RP ii. 14X In Ps 132'6 God promises to satisfy the poor of His people with bread.
7. B. made from com, being dry and portable, was the best food for a Journey. With it Hagar was victualled for her return to E^vpt (Gn 21^*), and Saul when in search of the lost nsses
2. 8 9*). The Gibeonites imposed on Joshua by showing that their read had become dry and crumbled. Nikkud signifies a ommb, and the nikkudim were crumbs rather than mould- points. LXX, however, renders It iv^amwr, as also Theod. and Klmchi (Jos 9»).
8. B. was used to aid In eating soft food, so Jacob gave Esau b. with his pottage (Gn 253*), and Kebeicah prepared b. for Itaac's savoury meat (Gn 2717). The •^mfjuti given by our Lord to Judas was probably a sop of bread.
ii. The materials of which bread was made were barley, wheat, spelt, millet, and lentiles. (See articles under these titles. )
The best bread was made of wheat, rn^n (Gn 30"), which when ground was called nr;;> or meal (Jg 6'',
1 S !»♦, 1 K 4*^ 17"- "). In Egypt wheat was called hi or ha ; when growing it was called ketti, and when cut and winnowed khakha. Several kinds were grown, the common (Triticum vulgare) and the many-eared (T. compositum), which sometimes has seven ears on a stalk (Gn 41'). Two kinds are distinguished by Jewish authors, the light- coloured and the dark (Peah 2'"" ; see also Tris- tram, Land of Israel, 584). The word for an ear of com, nSs?", in the Ephraimite dialect was pro- nounced nbboleth (Jg 12*) ; in rabbinical writings thibboleth sho'al is used for jEgilops or wUd oats, and shiphon for another kind of oats, which are not mentioned in the Bible. When full but not quite ripe, these ears were often roasted or boiled, the 'parched com' of the Bible (Lv 23", 1 S 17",