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Summary
- Wheat heads the crops of the “good land” in Deuteronomy 8:8, and the Psalms say God fills his people “with the finest of the wheat” (Psalm 147:14).
- Jesus spoke of his own death as a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies, and so “bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24).
- In the parable of the wheat and the tares, the wheat is “the children of the kingdom”, left to grow beside the weeds until the harvest (Matthew 13:38).
- The tares are most often identified as darnel, a grass that looks like wheat when young and ripens with it.
- The Feast of Weeks marked “the firstfruits of wheat harvest” (Exodus 34:22) with two loaves of fine flour, and its Greek name is Pentecost.
- Barley ripened before wheat and cost less: Revelation 6:6 prices three measures of barley at one of wheat.
- The Catholic Church requires wheat bread for the Eucharist (canon 924) and the Orthodox Church uses leavened wheat bread; the Bible gives no general meaning to dreaming of wheat.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Holy Bible, King James Version (public domain), quoted from BibleGateway: Genesis 18:2, 6; 37:7; 41:5–7, 16, 25, 57; 42:6; Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 2:1–7; 23:10–11, 16–17; Deuteronomy 8:8–10; Judges 6:11; 7:13–14; Ruth 1:22; 2:17, 23; 1 Kings 17:12–16; Psalms 1:4; 81:16; 147:14; Jeremiah 23:28; Matthew 3:12; 13:25, 29–30, 33, 38–39, 43; 20:2; 26:26; Luke 3:17; 22:31–32, 34, 62; John 6:9; 12:21, 23–25, 32–33; 21:17; Acts 2:1; 1 Corinthians 10:17; 15:35–38; Revelation 6:5–6.
- Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 924 and 926, The Holy See: vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann879-958_en.html
- The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church (Catechism of St Philaret of Moscow, 1830), question 328, trans. R. W. Blackmore: pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm
- The Didache, chapter 9, trans. M. B. Riddle, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (1886), via New Advent: newadvent.org/fathers/0714.htm
- Tom Nash, “How Old Is the Didache?”, Catholic Answers, 24 March 2023: catholic.com/qa/how-old-is-the-didache
- Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Romans, chapter 4, trans. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885), via New Advent: newadvent.org/fathers/0107.htm
- John B. O’Connor, “St. Ignatius of Antioch”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7 (1910), via New Advent: newadvent.org/cathen/07644a.htm
- Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 62 (to Caecilius), section 13, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886), via New Advent: newadvent.org/fathers/050662.htm
- Early Church Texts, “Cyprian on the Eucharist – Letter 63”, Latin from Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 4, with the editions’ numbering: earlychurchtexts.com/main/cyprian/cyprian_eucharist_letter_63.shtml
- John Chapman, “St. Cyprian of Carthage”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4 (1908), via New Advent: newadvent.org/cathen/04583b.htm
- Mishnah Menachot, chapter 10, William Davidson English edition, via Sefaria: sefaria.org/Mishnah_Menachot.10
- Charles Souvay, “Pentecost (Jewish Feast)”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 11 (1911), via New Advent: newadvent.org/cathen/11661a.htm
- Lytton John Musselman, “Zawan and Tares in the Bible”, Old Dominion University (citing Michael Zohary, Plants of the Bible, 1982): ww2.odu.edu/~lmusselm/plant/bible/tares.php
- M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1897), entry “Corn”, via Bible Study Tools: biblestudytools.com/dictionary/corn
- M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1897), entry “Fan”, via Bible Study Tools: biblestudytools.com/dictionary/fan
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