Bible Dictionaries
Wheat

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

WHEAT ( chittâh , Genesis 30:14 , Exodus 34:22 etc.; sitos , Matthew 3:12; Matthew 13:25; Matthew 13:29-30 , Luke 3:17; Luke 16:7; Luke 22:31 etc.). The wheat of Palestine is mostly of the bearded varieties; it is not only eaten as bread, but also boiled, unground, to make the peasant’s dish burghul , which is in turn pounded with meat in a mortar (cf. Proverbs 27:22 ) to make the festive delicacy kibbeh . Wheat is grown all over the valleys and plains of W. Palestine, though to a less extent than barley, but it is cultivated in the largest quantities in the Nuqra or plain of the Hauran, one of the finest grain-growing countries in the world. The wheat harvest occurs from April to June; its time was looked upon as one of the divisions of the year ( Exodus 34:22 , Judges 15:1 , 1 Samuel 12:17 ). The expressions ‘fat of wheat’ ( Psalms 81:16 mg., 147:14 mg.) and ‘the fat of kidneys of wheat’ ( Deuteronomy 32:14 ) refer to the finest flour of wheat.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Bibliography Information
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Wheat'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hdb/​w/wheat.html. 1909.