flax: The word pishteh:, flax, Mr. Parkhurst thinks may be derived from pashat:, to strip, because the substance which we call flax is properly the filaments of the bark or rind of the vegetable, stripped off the stalks. From time immemorial, Egypt was celebrated for the production and manufacture of flax; and hence the linen and fine linen of Egypt, so often spoken of in scripture and ancient authors.
the barley: The Hebrew seorah:, barley, in Arabic shair:, and shairat:, is so called from its rough, bristly beard, with which the ears are covered and defended; from saâr:, to stand on end as the hair of the head. Hence seâr:, the hair of the head. So its Latin name hordeum: is from horreo:, to stand on end as the hair. Dr. Pococke has observed that there is a double seed time and harvest in Egypt; rice, India wheat, and a grain called the corn of Damascus, are sown and reaped at a very different time from wheat, barley, and flax. The first are sown in March, before the overflowing of the Nile, and reaped about October; whereas the wheat and barley are sown in November and December, as soon as the Nile has gone off, and reaped before May. Ruth 1:22, Ruth 2:23; Amos 4:9; Habakkuk 3:17