And the flax and the barley were smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.
The account of the seventh plague pauses for a farmer's note: which crops the hail destroyed, and which it missed. It looks like a small detail. Commentators read it as a date-stamp on the whole story, and as a window into how God measures His judgments.
The verse turns on the growing season. Barley and flax were already far along; wheat was still underground. The same pattern held in Canaan — in the weeks that would later open Israel's year.
Barley ripened early, well ahead of wheat, in Canaan as in Egypt (Ex. 9:31-32). In the sheltered valleys of Bethlehem, barley would usually be ripe and ready for the reaper in the first weeks of Nisan (March–April), the month that was made the first month of the sacred year for the new-born nation of Israel (see Ex. 12:2).
Because crops ripen on a fixed calendar, the state of the fields tells us when the storm fell. "In the ear" means the barley had already headed; the older word "bolled" for the flax means it was in flower.
Verses 31 and 32 give clear information. It shows us that the time of year must have been late February or early March. In Egypt at that season the barley is in the ear and the flax in blossom (or, bolled), while the wheat and the rye are not yet in the stalk.
Commentators differ on the exact month, but not on the method. Another writer sets it a few weeks earlier and points out how close the deliverance now was.
Because the flax and barley crops are named, we can fix the date of this plague. It was late in January or early in February. The end was near. There were only four weeks more, and Israel would be free.
Of everything the hail flattened, the flax was the costliest loss. Yet the blow changed nothing in the king.
Under this seventh plague Egypt must have lost nearly all its glory and been brought very low. Most of its livestock was destroyed, its trees broken, its barley and flax ruined — and the flax was a very valuable crop. But as soon as the punishment stopped, Pharaoh went back to his stubborn defiance, and so did his servants. All this should press home on our hearts that what is born of the flesh is still flesh, no matter how it is treated, and that the mind of the flesh is enmity against God.
The hail took the crops that were ripe and left the ones still under the ground. So the loss, huge as it was, had a limit.
Yet mercy was shown. The flax and the barley were struck — those crops, we conclude, were spoiled for that year — but the wheat and the rye were unharmed, because they had not yet come up. So there would still be food for the year from these crops. This note about the crops shows the season when the hail came — the early spring — for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled, that is, in bloom.
The wheat's escape was a reprieve, not an exemption. When Pharaoh kept refusing, the next plague targeted the very crops the hail had missed.
Even in those days people knew locusts as a serious plague, and the warning made plain how much worse this one would be: it would destroy all that was left in the land. The wheat and rye escaped before, but they would not escape this. The trees of the field had been broken by the hail, yet they were still in leaf; now they would be stripped bare. Only one way of escape was named: Pharaoh must humble himself before the Lord and let Israel go.
- Ripeness — the hail took the barley and flax because they had already headed and flowered. The wheat lived because it had not yet come up.
- Clock — those crop stages date the storm to the early part of the year. Writers place it between late January and early March. Israel's freedom was only weeks away.
- Cost — Egypt lost its livestock, its trees, its barley and its valuable flax, and its glory with them. Yet Pharaoh hardened again the moment the sky cleared.
- Restraint — the later crops stood untouched, so food would still come that year. The judgment fell hard, but not to the last grain.
- Limit — the locusts came to finish what the hail spared. One way out remained: humble yourself before the Lord and let the people go.
But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten; for they were not come out into ear.
After the hail flattened Egypt, the account stops for a farmer's note: the later grain was still underground, so the storm missed it. That small detail tells us when the plague fell and how far God let it go.
The two ruined crops and the two spared ones work like a calendar. One writer reads the timing from the state of the fields:
Verses 31 and 32 give clear information. It shows us that the time of year must have been late February or early March. That is when the barley in Egypt is in the ear and the flax in blossom, while the wheat and the rye are not yet in the stalk.
Another writer places it a few weeks earlier. Commentators differ on the month, but both read the season from the crops — and that season shows how close the end was:
The account names the flax and barley crops, so we can fix the date of this judgment. It was late in January or early in February. The end was near. There were only four weeks more, and Israel would be free.
One writer points to details like this when answering critics who denied that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible:
A number of words used here have their roots in the Egyptian language, not Hebrew. There are also references to Egyptian customs and geographical details that only people familiar with Egypt would know, and they come in without one word of explanation... The unbelieving "Higher Critics" insisted that Moses never wrote the Pentateuch. They said it was the work of Ezra, or of someone else about his time — a "pious fraud"... But Ezra, or anyone else coming from Babylon, would never have had this close knowledge of Egyptian words and customs from a thousand years before. And if he had obtained that knowledge by some miracle, he would have had to add explanations to make it clear to the readers of his day.
The storm struck every plant and broke every tree. Even so, it stopped short of starving the country. (Older translations call the second spared grain "rye"; the ESV calls it "emmer".)
The land had never known such a storm before, and nothing since has equalled it. Yet mercy showed itself. The hail struck the flax and the barley — those crops, we conclude, were spoiled for that year. But the wheat and the rye came through unharmed, because they had not sprung up. So these crops would give food for the year.
Hail is not a foreign weapon. It is the rain a farmer prays for, arriving in a form that destroys him:
If the earth away from God is turned into a scene of corruption and ruin, heaven will frown on it too. In the plague of hail we see the result of this despising of God. Hail is rain chilled into ice. The very mercies of heaven, when despised, become pitiless judgment.
The spared wheat was not a promise. It was a stay of execution, and the next plague would finish what the hail began:
Even in those days people knew locusts as a serious plague. The warning made plain that what was coming would be worse still: it would destroy all that was left in the land. The wheat and rye escaped before, but they would not escape this. The hail had broken the trees of the field, yet they were still in leaf; now they would be stripped bare. Only one way of escape was open: Pharaoh must humble himself before the Lord and let Israel go.
Egypt lost its wealth and still kept a harvest to live on. The king's answer to both was the same:
Under this seventh plague Egypt must have lost nearly all its glory and sunk very low. Most of its livestock destroyed, its trees broken, barley and flax ruined — and flax in particular was a very valuable crop. But as soon as the punishment stopped, Pharaoh went back to his stubborn defiance, and so did his servants. How all this should drive home into our hearts that what is born of the flesh is still flesh, whatever treatment it goes through.
- Spared — the wheat and later grain survived only because they were still under the soil. The blow fell on what was already above ground.
- Dated — the state of the flax and barley pins the storm to early spring, only weeks before Israel went free. Writers differ over the exact month.
- Measured — Egypt had never seen ruin like it, yet mercy left a crop to feed the country through the year.
- Warned — hail is rain turned to ice, heaven's own gift becoming judgment on those who despise it.
- Wasted — the locusts would take what the hail left, because Pharaoh refused the one way out: letting the people go.