Barley — a basic grain crop, cheaper than wheat and associated with the poor. In a stratified economy, barley was the bread of common people while wheat was for the wealthy.
Barley appears at key moments of divine provision for the marginalized. The boy's five barley loaves fed 5,000 (John 6:9) — God chose the poor man's bread to display abundance. In Ruth 2, gleaning barley in Boaz's field led to redemption. In Revelation 6:6, the inflated price of barley signals economic collapse. God consistently uses the humble — humble grain, humble people, humble means — to accomplish His greatest works.