John Gill Commentary Exodus 9:31

"And the flax and the barley were smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom." — Exodus 9:31 (ASV)

And the flax and the barley was smitten With the hail, thunder, and lightning, and were beat down, bruised, broken, and blasted, and destroyed;

Of the former there were great quantities produced in Egypt, which was famous for linen, much was made there, and there were many that worked in fine flax, see (Isaiah 19:9).

And the latter were used not only to feed their cattle, but to make a drink of, as we do, ale and strong beer; and so the Egyptians use it to this day, as Dr. Shaw ^F16 says, both to feed their cattle, and after it is dried and parched, to make a fermented, intoxicating liquor, called "bonzah"; probably the same with the barley wine of the ancients, and a species of the "sicar", or strong drink of the Scriptures:

for the barley [was] in the ear, and the flax [was] bolled ; or in the stalk, quite grown up, and so the ears of the one were beat off, and the stalks of the other battered with the hail, and broken and destroyed.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F16: Travels, tom. 2. c. 2. sect. 5. p. 407. Ed. 2.