BREAD
881
BREAD
9, 13), or in times of scarcity (Ruth iii, 15, compared ' withi, 1; 2 Kings iv, 38, 42 ; Rev. vi, 6 ; Joseph. War, v, 10, 2) : as it was the food of horses (1 Kings iv, 28), it was considered a symbol of what was mean and in- significant (Judg. vii, 13; comp. Joseph. Ant. v, G, 4, [
f.UlL,aV Kpi9u'))V, VTT IVTtXtictQ CtpdpWTTOtC, llfiptOTOV \
Liv. xxvii, 13), as well as of what was of a mere ani- mal character, and hence ordered for the ottering of ! jealousy (Num. v, 15 ; comp. Hos. iii, 2 ; Philo, ii, 307). "Spelt" (n^S3, htsse'meth; oXvpa, lia; A.\ V. rye, fitches, spelt) was also used both in Egypt (Exod. ix, 32) and Palestine (Isa. xxviii, 25; Ezek. iv, 9; 1 Kings xix, 6; Sept. tyicpvfiag 6XvpiT>]t:) : Herodotus indeed states (ii. 36) that in the former country bread j was made exclusively of olyra, which, as in the Sept., | he identifies with zea; but in this he was mistaken, as wheat was also used (Exod. ix, 32 ; comp. Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. ii, 397). Occasionally the grains above men- \ tioned were mixed, and other ingredients, such as beans, lentils, and millet, were added (Ezek. iv, 9 ; comp. 2 Sam. xvii, 28) ; the bread so produced is call- ed "barley oakes" (Ezek. iv, 12; A. V. "«s barley cakes"), inasmuch as barley was the main ingredient. The amount of meal required for a single baking was an ephah or three measures (Gen. xviii, G; Judg. vi, 19 ; 1 Sam. i, 24 ; Matt, xiii, 33), which appears to have been suited to the size of the ordinary oven. Grain is ground daily in the East. See Mill.
2. Preparation. — After the wheaten flour is taken from the hand-mill, it is made into a dough or paste in a small wooden trough. See Kneading-trough. The process of making bread was as follows : the flour was first mixed with water, or perhaps milk (Burck- hardt's Notes on the Bedouins, i, 58) ; it was then knead- ed (ltJ^V) with the hands (in Egypt with the feet also; Herod, ii, 3G ; Wilkinson, ii, 386) in a small 'wooden bowl or "kneading-trough" (HTX'ip, mishe'reth, a term which ma}', however, rather refer to the leathern bag in which the Bedouins earn- their provisions, and which serves both as a wallet and a table ; Nicbuhr's Voyage, i, 171 ; Harmer, iv, 366 sq. ; the Sept. inclines to this view, giving iyKaTaXti/ifiaTa [A. V. "store"] in Deut. xxviii, 5, 17; the expression in Exod. xii, 34, however, "bound up in their clothes," favors the idea of a wooden bowl), until it became dough (pip, batsek' ; oraig, Exod. xii, 34, 39; 2 Sam. xiii, 8; Jer. vii, 18; Hos. vii, 4; the term "dough" is improperly given in the A. V. for niD"1"!", grits, in Num. xv, 20, 21 ; Neh. x, 37 ; Ezek. xliv, 30). When the kneading was completed, leaven ("iXb, seo/; Zofirf) was gener- ally added ; but when the time for preparation was short, it was omitted, and unleavened cakes, hastily baked, were eaten, as is still the prevalent custom among the Bedouins (Gen. xviii, 6; xix, 3; Exod. xii, 39; Judg. vi, 19; 1 Sam. xxviii, 24). See Leaven. Such cakes were termed HISS, matstsoth' (Sept. u^v/xci), a word of doubtful sense, variously supposed to convey the ideas ofthiimess (Fiirst, Lex. s. v.), sweetness (Gesen. Tliesaur. p. 815), or purity (Knobel, Comm. in Exod. xii, 20), while leavened bread was called "^n, chamets" (lit. sharpened or soured; Exod. xii, 39; Hos. vii, 4). Unleavened cakes were ordered to be eaten at the Passover to commemorate the hastiness of the depart- ure (Exod. xii, 15; xiii, 3, 7; Deut. xvi, 3), as well as on other sacred occasions (Lev. ii, 11 ; vi, 16 ; Num. vi, 15). The leavened mass was allowed to stand for some time (Matt, xiii, 33 ; Luke xiii, 21), sometimes for a whole night ("their baker sleepeth all the night," Hos. vii, 6), exposed to a moderate heat in order to forward the fermentation ("he ceaseth from s^Vhwy;" [l^rp ; A. V. "raising"] the fire " until it be leaven- ed," Hos. vii, 41. The dough was then divided into round cakes (DPI? W*133, lit. circles of bread; dproi ; A. V. "loaves;" Exod. xxix, 23; Judir. viii, 5; 1
K K K
Sam. x, 3; Prov. vi, 26; in Judg. vii, 13, fe^S, roll; fiayic.), not unlike flat stones in shape and appearance (Matt, vii, 9 ; comp. iv, 3), about a span in diameter and a finger's breadth in thickness (comp. Lane's Mod- ern Egyptians, i, 164) : three of these were required for the meal of a single person (Luke xi, 5), and conse- quently one was barely sufficient to sustain life (1 Sam. ii, 36, A. V. "morsel;" Jer. xxxvii, 21, A. V. "piece"), whence the expression Trnb Dtlb, "bread of afflic- tion" (1 Kings xxii, 27 ; Isa. xxx, 20), referring not to the quality (pane plebeio, Grotius), but to the quan- tity ; two hundred would suffice for a party for a rea- sonable time (1 Sam. xxv, 18 ; 2 Sam. xvi, 1). The cakes were sometimes punctured, and hence called i"l£H, ehallah' (icoXXvpic. ; Exod. xxix, 2, 23; Lev. ii, 4; viii, 26 ; xxiv, 5 ; Num. xv, 20 ; 2 Sam. vi, 19), and mixed with oil. Similar eakes, sprinkled with seeds, were made in Egypt (Wilkinson, ii, 386). Sometimes they were rolled out into wafers (p^p"!, rakik' ; Xayavov ; Exod. xxix, 2, 23; Lev. ii, 4; Num. vi, 15-19), and merely coated with oil. Oil was occasionally added to the ordinary cake (1 Kings xvii, 12). A more delicate kind of cake is described in 2 Sam. xiii, 6, 8, 10 ; the dough (A. V. "flour") is kneaded a second time, and probably fried in fat, as seems to be implied in the name ni^"1^?, lebiboth' ', q. d. dough-nuts (from -^b, to be fat, kindred with 3^b, heart; compare our expres- sion hearty food; Sept. KoXXvpidec.; Vulg. sorbitiunculce). (See below.)