Threshing floor in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

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What is a Threshing Floor?
        THRESH'ING FLOOR
        The ancient threshing places were selected on the highest summits, open on every side to the wind. Hence the point of rock over which the temple stood had been used for this purpose by Oman. 1 Chr 21:15-28. Though called "floors," they were nothing but flats of ground from 50 to 100 feet in diameter, annually levelled and rolled, so as to be as hard as a floor. Often there was, as is still frequently the case, but one such place for a village, and each husbandman, in a fixed order, must take his turn for using it.


        The sheaves were thrown together in a loose heap, and the grain beaten out by a machine or by the feet of oxen. Deut 25:4.


        The threshing-machine was formed of a heavy square frame with rollers, each of which was encircled by three or four iron rings or wheels serrated like the teeth of a saw. Isa 41:15-16. The machine was drawn by a pair of oxen, the driver sitting on a cross-piece fastened into the frame; and as the heavy rollers passed over it the grain was crushed out on- every side, and the straw, by being torn, was rendered suitable for fodder. Sometimes this frame was so constructed as to resemble a cart, Isa 28:27-28, and furnishes a striking figure of violence and destruction. Am 1:3; Hab 3:12. As the grain accumulated it was formed into a great heap in the centre of the floor, around which the oxen were driven. It was customary for the owner to sleep near by to protect the grain from thieves. Ruth 3:2-14.


        Tender cereals were beaten out with a stick. Isa 28:27. After the grain was threshed and winnowed (see Fan), the chaff was collected on a neighboring hill and burned. Isa 5:24; Matt 3:12. The fruits of the harvest were then doubtless sometimes stored in caves, as is now a common Syrian custom. Here grain is safe partly by superstition, and partly by a stifling gas which it generates in such close places (Underground Jerusalem, p. 481). Tristram says: "When winnowed and sifted the wheat is stored in underground pits. These 'silos,' or granaries, are hollow chambers about 8 feet deep, carefully cemented to exclude the damp, and with a circular opening about 15 inches in diameter, which could easily be concealed. In such receptacles the corn will keep good for several years. Many such may still be seen in different parts of the country. I have found them on Mount Carmel, often close to an ancient wine-press, and about many of the deserted cities of Southern Judah. Such a storehouse as those on Mount Carmel is probably alluded to in Jer 41:8. "Generally, owing to the insecure state of the country, these storehouses are made under the house, especially under the most retired portion, the apartments of the women." 2 Sam 4:6; 2 Sam 17:18-19. In the latter passage the well is probably the storehouse under the women's chamber.


        In the interesting passage, Isa 41:15-16, "a new sharp threshing-instrument having teeth" is mentioned. One of these instruments is thus described by a traveller in Syria in 1837: "The threshing-instrument is a board about 3 feet wide, 6 or 8 feet long, and 3 inches thick. On the lower side many holes are made, from 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter, in which are fastened pieces of stone, flint, or iron. These project, it may be, from a half to three-quarters of an inch from the face of the board, and serve as teeth to tear the beards of the grain in pieces. Oxen are fastened to the forward end of the board and driven round the floor, drawing it after them. The driver of the oxen usually stands or sits on the instrument. This is the common threshing-instrument in these countries. I saw it everywhere, and I have seen no other. The oxen are usually without muzzles, and are often, as they pass around, taking up from time to time a few straws and feeding on them. I do not recollect of seeing the horse used in any instance on the barn-floor - the oxen very often." See Agriculture.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'threshing floor' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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