Barley
Typological treatment in the corpus
Barley is identified by Nee & Lee as a type of the resurrected Christ. The first grain to ripen in the harvest — used in the first-fruits offering (Lev. 23:10) — portrays Christ as the first to rise from the dead, inaugurating a new harvest of life.
Biblical Anchoring
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| Lev. 23:10 | Institution of the barley sheaf wave offering as the first-fruits offering |
| 1Cor. 15:20 | ”Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” — Paul’s explicit type-fulfillment claim |
| 1Cor. 15:23 | ”Each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” |
| Ruth 1:22 | Naomi returns at the beginning of the barley harvest — start of restoration |
Typological Treatment by Author
Watchman Nee & Witness Lee
Lee articulates the barley type sharply and concisely in The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 5:
“What does barley represent? The resurrected Christ! Wheat signifies His incarnation, death and burial, and following this, barley signifies His resurrection, the resurrected Christ.”1
The first-fruits principle of barley (the first ripened grain) Lee connects to the resurrection as a biblical-theological category:
“All Bible students acknowledge that the firstfruits of the harvest typify Christ as the firstfruits of the resurrection. From this we can prove that barley represents the resurrected Christ.”1
The resurrected Christ is not the endpoint but the beginning of a new, unbounded order:
“This resurrected Christ possesses a life which has passed through incarnation, crucifixion and burial, but He Himself is today the Resurrected One.”1
The barley type functions in Nee/Lee as the complement of the wheat type: together they portray the full arc of redemptive history from incarnation to resurrection, within which the believer can experience both aspects of Christ.
Related Types
- Connected: Wheat (complementary type: wheat = incarnated/dying Christ)
- Connected: Feast of Firstfruits (the barley sheaf is the central object of this feast)
- Connected: Third Creation Day (resurrection theme converges with the day-3 type)
- Connected: Canaan (barley as one of the products of the Canaan type)