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H1250 · Hebrew · Old Testament
בָּר
bar
Noun, masculine
grain, wheat, pure, open field

Definition

Bar (בָּר) carries a rich range of meanings: grain (especially wheat or threshed corn), purity/cleanness, and open country or wilderness. The same consonantal form appears in different contextual meanings throughout the Old Testament. When describing grain, it emphasizes abundance and provision. When meaning 'pure,' it emphasizes moral cleanness. Both senses are theologically significant.

Usage & Theological Significance

Joseph stored up bar (grain) in Egypt to feed the world through famine — a powerful type of Christ, the bread of life who feeds the spiritually hungry. The 'pure heart' (bar lebab) of Psalm 24 and 73 describes the one who may ascend the LORD's holy hill. Psalm 2:12 commands kings to 'kiss the Son' — the Hebrew is 'kiss bar' — submit to the pure, anointed One.

Key Bible Verses

Genesis 41:49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain [bar] like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records.
Psalm 24:4 The one who has clean hands and a pure [bar] heart, who does not trust in an idol.
Psalm 2:12 Kiss his son [bar], or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction.
Proverbs 11:26 People curse the one who hoards grain [bar], but they pray God's blessing on the one who is willing to sell.
Amos 8:5 ...skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat [bar].

Word Study

The dual meaning of bar — grain and purity — creates a beautiful theological convergence: Christ is both the bread that sustains life and the pure, undefiled Son. Psalm 2:12's 'kiss the bar' (kiss the Son) joins submission to the pure Messiah with the provision imagery of grain. He who is the bread of life (John 6:35) is also the Son of absolute moral purity.

Related Words

External Resources

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