925. In the Holy Land, barley was mainly used to feed animals because its protein content was less than wheat. It was also the chief grain of the poor people and so it became a symbol of poverty. Barley was such a staple grain of the Hebrews that it furnished them with units of measurement-three barley grains laid end to end were equal to an inch, about twenty-four to a "span," and forty-eight to a "cubit" (about seventeen inches).
926. The tall papyrus reed or bulrush was one of the most abundant plants to grow along the banks of the Nile. At the top of its fifteen-foot stem is a plume of wispy stalks that resemble feathers. Papyrus furnished the world's first material for making paper. In fact our word paper is derived from it. The stem was pressed flat under heavy weights until it dried. It was then cut into sheets of suitable size, which were polished with ivory to make a smooth writing surface. Sometimes sheets were glued or sewn together to make long rolls of paper, usually about thirty feet long. One roll has been discovered that is 130 feet in length! Each end of the roll was attached to a handle to make winding easier.
927. In Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, the younger of two sons squandered his half of the inheritance. He then became so poor that he would fill his belly with the husks that the swine ate (Luke 15:16). Husks came from the pods of the carob tree, also commonly called the locust, which were fed to farm animals.
928. The carob tree grows beans in a pod that resemble our green peas. Today in the Near East the pods provide fodder for animals and food for very poor people, although in Jesus' time humans did not eat them unless they were famished as the prodigal son.
929. Some think that the "locust" (Matt 3:4) John the Baptist ate in the wilderness was not the insect but rather the pod from the carob tree. For this reason the carob is sometimes called "Saint John's bread tree."
