references: Gen.41.5 Lev. 2.14 Lev. 23.14 Deut.23.25 Ruth 2.4 2kings4.42 Job24.24 Isaiah17.5 Matthew 12.1Mark2.23 and Luke 6.1
Let me provide an interlinear translation of each of these references
Gen 41.5b
vayishan vayyachalom sheniyth vhiyneh shba' shivliym*
He fell asleep and he dreamed a second time and indeed seven ears*
'oloth bqaneh ehchad briyot vtobot
came up on reed one fat and good
The words of interest here are "shibbol," translated as "ear," and "qaneh," translated here as "reed"
The primary meaning of "shibbol" is "flowing stream." It is translated as "ear" when referring to grain, as in growing in a cluster. I guess imagine a river with tributaries? I can certainly see how grain would grow like that ... not the little seed bit, but the thicker stalk part.
"Qaneh" means stalk or reed, and can be used in other ways, but I imagine like a pussy willow (though I think that is a new-world plant, too .... but that's the image I get in my head)
Lev 2.14
vim - taqriyb minchat bikuriym laYHVH abiyb
If you bring offering first fruits for the Lord fresh barley
qaluy baesh geresh karmel taqriym et minchat bikureyka
burnt in fire crushed garden you bring the offering first fruits
Neither the word "ear" nor "corn" were in my translations. The grain here is clearly barley, a specific grain that is not corn as us Americans know it. I suppose brits might refer to barley as a kind of corn, though I'm not sure.
Deut 23.25
kiy tabo bqamat reka vkatapt mliylot byadeka
when you come into grain your neighbor's you pluck the head with your hand
vchermesh lo taniyp 'al qamat reka
but the sickle not you wield at grain your neighbor's
"Qamat" here refers to mature grain. Again, I don't see "ear" or "corn." Maliyah is a head of grain. Not sure why it's a different word from shibbol. I suspect if I were a Hebrew farmer I would get all the variations, but a city girl like me doesn't see them.
BTW, Love this verse: remember when Jesus and his disciples picked some grain, and the Pharisees complained that he was "working on the sabbath" ... Here it's clear that picking is not the same as harvesting. The Pharisees certainly were aware of this verse, and knew that hand-picking grain is not prohibited on the sabbath, but they were looking for nits to pick. Or maybe barley
Ruth 2.4
I don't see any reference to grain here. "Qatzar" means "to reap." No ears here.
2 Kings 4.42
viysh ba miba'al - shalisha vayabe lish haelohiym
A man came from Ba'al-Shalisha and brought for the man of God
lechem bikuriym eshriym - lechem shoriym vkarmel
bread first fruits twenty bread barleys of the crop
btziqlono vayomer ten la'am vyokelu
in his sack and he said give to the people and they will eat
"Sehorah" is another generic term for grain -- it refers to the meaty part of the grain, whichever grain it is.
Job 24.24
romu m'at veynenu
They are made high a little and nothing
vchumku kakol yiqaptzun
and they are brought low like all locked up
ukrosh shibolet yimalu
like the head ears they are cut
You remember "shibolet" from the Joseph reference.
Isaiah 17.5
vhayah ke'esop qatzir qamah
it will be like gathering reaping grain
uzro'o shibliym yiqtzir
his arm ears he harvests
vhayah kimlaqet shibliym b'emeq rpa'iym
and it will be like he gleaning ears in the valley Raphaim
"Qatzar," again, is our mature grain.
I am not as much a Greek scholar as a Hebrew scholar, so I can do the New Testament verses for you, but it would take me some more time.
