Ezekiel 4:9 ("millet") is the only reference to this important grain crop which is grown in the Middle East today not as a grain but for much branched heads used to make brooms. Sorghum is the only cereal crop in many parts of Africa and India where it is the most important source of food for millions of people. This grain resembles maize when growing as it is very tall and unbranched. The round white or red grains are boiled or ground to make a flat bread. There is no reference to sorghum being grown although the children of Israel would have encountered it in Egypt where it is an important crop even today.
The Hebrew word is dochan cognate with the modern dokhan which is used for pearl millet in many Arabic speaking countries. Palestinians have a special dish made with sorghum, Sorghum vulgare, which suggests that at one time this grain may have been more widely grown.
