Why in Mark 2:23 does it say Jesus went through corn fields when corn did not grow in the middle east?

Question

Maize (Corn) is a cereal grain that was domesticated in Mesoamerica and then spread throughout the American continents. It spread to the rest of the world after European contact with the Americas in the late 15th century and early 16th.
The Bible says: In Mark 002:023 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. This took place under the time of the Roman emperior Tiberius 14-37 A.D..

Answer 1

"Corn" is the English word for any edible grain.

When Englishmen settled in North America they did not have wheat, oats or barley (which are all types of corn) and only had maize (another type of corn). Having only one type of corn the term corn and the only available type of it became synonymous.

You're not the first to confuse the "old" and the "new" uses of the word corn. One of my teachers was German. She was a teenager in Germany (US Occupied) after the war. The supply of grain for bread was running low and the German authrities asked the American authorities for "more corn". They ate yellow bread for weeks!

Answer 2

Back then, the word corn was used to mean any kind of grain, unless otherwise specified - like rye.

By "back then" I mean, when it was translated into English, not necessarily when it was written.

As you say, the grain we now know as corn, called Maize by the Native Americans, originated in Mesoamerica. However, the term for it "corn" was an English/European term meaning grain.

In all actuality, the grain plucked in Mk 2:23 was most likely wheat.

Answer 3

And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields (Mar 2:23)

And that would be wheat fields; they called the little kernel the corn of the wheat.

on the Sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went [through], to pluck the ears of corn (Mar 2:23).

Now, during the months of May, early June and all, as the wheat is getting ripe, you take and pick off that little top part, the corn of the wheat.

From John 12:24-26 (KJV)

12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Answer 4

Mark 2:23 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society



Lord of the Sabbath
23One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.

Answer 5

Corn was the general term for “a seed of one of the cereals, as of wheat, rye, barley, etc.” in use by British English speaking people of King James' day and does not have the same meaning that the term does to US English speaking people who think of it as maize and not as one of a group of plants that bears seed on an ear.

Answer 6

Corn: "the seeds of a cereal grass and especially of the important cereal crop of a particular region (as wheat in Britain, oats in Scotland and Ireland, and Indian corn in the New World and Australia)"

Answer 7

Others answered your question. This is a good example of why we need to re-translate books written long ago. Languages change, as does the meaning of words. Using the King James Version today is OK if you want to read nice prose, but it is the least accurate of translations and using a more recent translation would have saved you having to ask this question.

Answer 8

Corn is a term for wheat or any cereal in English, not just Maize, which we call sweetcorn.

Answer 9

Because the bible is a fictional story that was written after corn was domesticated.

Answer 10

because people have changed the bible and taken out chapters of it and changed names and details to suit their political agendas throughout history. Unfortunately, people who take the bible literally haven't been fortunate enough to be educated about history or choose ignorance.