Millstones, mill

The mill was two flat stones between which grain was ground into flour by scraping the top stone against the bottom one. In Old Testament times the normal mill was relatively small and operated by hand. The grain was placed on the stationary bottom stone, and the top stone was pressed down on top of the grain and scraped back and forth to grind the grain into flour. The work of grinding was normally done by women in the early hours of the morning before sunrise. It was hard work and took a lot of time. It is estimated that to produce enough flour to make bread for a family of five, a woman would have needed to grind for over three hours each day. The sound of grinding in the early hours by the light of an oil lamp symbolized stability and security. Jeremiah 25:10 describes the tragedy that is to come upon the people of Judah when Jeremiah quotes God as saying “I will remove from them … the sound of the millstone and the light of the lamp.”

The same type of mill continued in use in New Testament times, but round millstones also came into use. With this type of mill, the upper stone and the lower stone were essentially the same size, and the upper stone was rotated on the lower stone. Grain was poured into this type of mill through a hole in the center of the upper stone, and the flour gradually emerged from around the edges of the two stones. Some of these mills were relatively small and operated by hand. Others, however, were quite large, and animals were used to rotate the upper stone.

In many parts of the world, grain is ground in one way or another. Quite frequently mills are of the same general structure as those used in ancient times, in which two relatively large, flat stones were placed one on top of the other, and the grain was ground between the two stones. In some parts of the world, a mortar and pestle are used for the grinding or pounding of grain.

Pictures

In the Bible

The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used

Also in Household

Sources

Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema