Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Exodus 9:31 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 31. 31And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The 9:31 wording “And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response.
Read It With
- Exodus 9:13–35
Read Exodus 9:31 with 9:13–35. The 9:31 wording “And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response. The whole unit shows: The hail speech explains preserved life and proclaimed name, permits Egyptians who fear the warning to shelter servants and animals, devastates exposed life and crops, and ends with Pharaoh's temporary confession and renewed sin.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Exodus 9:8–12 establishes the preceding movement: Furnace soot becomes boils on people and animals, the magicians cannot stand before Moses, and the LORD hardens Pharaoh's heart as foretold. This unit escalates that movement: The hail speech explains preserved life and proclaimed name, permits Egyptians who fear the warning to shelter servants and animals, devastates exposed life and crops, and ends with Pharaoh's temporary confession and renewed sin. At 9:31, the wording “And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled” makes this verse's contribution precise. The 9:31 wording “And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response.
What Remains True
Because Exodus 9:31 contributes “And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled” to “Hail, Warning, Partial Fear, and Renewed Refusal,” its proportionate enduring truth is: The narrative contests imperial refusal and displays divine power, while its escalating harm and hardening language require moral seriousness rather than triumphalism.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Exodus 9:31, the line “And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled” serves this contextual meaning: The hail speech explains preserved life and proclaimed name, permits Egyptians who fear the warning to shelter servants and animals, devastates exposed life and crops, and ends with Pharaoh's temporary confession and renewed sin. The bounded action is: A proportionate application of “Hail, Warning, Partial Fear, and Renewed Refusal” is this: When opposing abusive power, protect noncombatants, refuse collective blame, and measure success by liberation without hiding collateral suffering.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Exodus 9:13–35 — Hail, Warning, Partial Fear, and Renewed RefusalSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Exodus 9:13–35, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 9:13–35
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 9:13–35
Open source ↗