Mill; Millstone

In the East these are usually small, every family having its own mill. A woman, or sometimes two sit at the mill, turning the upper stone, casting in the grain occasionally through a hole in it Larger mills are also referred to, the stone being turned by an ass. Num 11:8; Mat 18:6; Mar 9:42; Rev 18:21-22.

MILL, MILLSTONE.—1. Three methods of preparing flour were in use in Palestine in Bible times, associated with the mortar and pestle (see Mortar And Pestle), the rubbing-stone, and the quern or handmill. The most primitive apparatus was the rubbing-stone or corn-rubber, which consisted really of two stones. The one on which the corn was ground was a substantial slab, often 2¹/2 feet long, and about a foot wide, slightly concave and curving upwards, like a saddle, at both ends (illust. in Macalister, Bible Sidelights, etc., fig. 28). The other, the “rubbing-stone proper, was a narrow stone from 12 to 18 inches long, pointed at both ends and also slightly curved, one side being plain and the other convex. In manipulating the rubber, the woman grasped it by both ends and ground the grains of wheat or barley with the convex side. Cf. Macalister’s description in PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1903, p. 118, with Schumacher’s photograph reproduced by Benzinger, Heb. Arch. 2 (1907) 63, and the Egyptian statuette in Erman’s Ancient Egypt, 190. Vincent in his Canaan d’après l’exptoration récente (405, fig. 282) shows a corn-rubber of flint from the palæolithic age!

2. The more familiar apparatus for the same purpose was the handmill or quern. As in so many instances (see, e.g., Lamp), the recent excavations enable us to trace two distinct stages in the evolution of the Palestinian handmill. The Gezer specimens described in detail in PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1903, 119, belong to the earlier type, which is distinguished from the later form by the absence of a handle for rotating the upper stone. The quern-stones ‘are always small, rarely being as much as a foot across.’ The lower stone, the ‘nether millstone’ of Job 41:24, was always more massive than the ‘upper millstone’ (Deu 24:6), and was apparently fitted with ‘a narrow spindle’ sunk into the stone. The upper stone was pierced right through, and by this hole the mill was fed. According to Mr. Macalister, ‘the upper stone was grasped with both hands (the fingers clasping the edge, the thumbs being between the spindle and the stone), and worked through about one-third of a rotation, backward and forward.’ For varieties of this type, see PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1903, p. 119 f.

In the later and more effective type of handmill, which was that in use in NT times, the stones were larger, although the lower stone was still considerably wider than the upper (Baba bathra, ii. 1). As in the querns of the present day, the latter was fitted with a wooden handle (yâd in the Mishna) in the shape of an upright peg inserted near the outer edge. The mill was fed, as before, through a funnel-shaped cavity pierced through the upper stone, which was rotated by the handle through a complete circle. Sometimes, as appears from Mat 24:41, two women worked the mill, seated opposite each other, and each turning the upper stone through half a revolution, as may still be seen in the East.

By the first century of our era a larger and different form of mill had been introduced, apparently, to judge by the names of the various parts in the Mishna (see art. ‘Mill’ in EBi [Note: Encyclopædia Biblica.] iii. 3093), under Græco-Roman influence. In the larger specimens of this type, the upper millstone, in the shape of two hollow cones, as described in detail, loc. cit., was turned by an ass, and is the ‘great millstone’ of Mat 18:6 RV [Note: Revised Version.] (lit. as RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘a millstone turned by an ass’).

3. The work of the mill belonged at all times to the special province of the women of the household (Mat 24:41). In large establishments, it fell to the slaves, male (Jdg 16:21) and female (Exo 11:5), particularly the latter, hence the figure for the slavery of captivity in Isa 47:2.

The finer varieties of meal, the ‘fine flour’ of OT, were got by repeated grinding, or by sifting with sieves, or by a combination of both processes.

How indispensable the handmill was considered for the daily life of the family may be seen from the provision of the Deuteronomic legislation forbidding the creditor to take in pledge the household mill (so rightly RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), or even the upper millstone, ‘for he taketh a man’s life to pledge’ (Deu 24:6).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

mil, mil´stōn (רחה, rēḥeh; μύλος, múlos, μυλών, mulṓn): The two most primitive methods of grinding grain were (1) by pounding it in a mortar, and (2) by rubbing it between two stones. In Num 11:8 both methods are mentioned as used for rendering the manna more fit for cooking. Numerous examples of both mill and mortar have been found in ancient excavations. Bliss and Macalister in their excavations at Gezer and other places have found specimens of what is called the saddle-quern or mill, which consists of two stones. The “nether” stone, always made of hard lava or basalt from the district of the Hauran, was a large heavy slab varying in length from 1 1/2 ft. to 2 3/4 ft., and in width from 10 inches to 1 1/3 ft. Its upper surface was hollowed out slightly, which made it look a little like a saddle and may have suggested the name of “riding millstone” applied by the Hebrews to the upper stone which rested on it (Jdg 9:53). The “upper stone” or “rider” was much smaller, 4 inches to 8 in. long and 2 3/4 inches to 6 inches wide, and of varying shapes. This could be seized with the two hands and rubbed back and forth over the nether stone much the same as clothes are scrubbed on a wash-board. Such a stone could be used as a weapon (Jdg 9:53; 2Sa 11:21), or given as a pledge (Deu 24:6).

Macalister goes so far as to say that “the rotary handquern in the form used in modern Palestine and in remote European regions, such as the Hebrides, is quite unknown throughout the whole history, even down to the time of Christ” (Excavations at Gezer). The same writer, however, describes some mills belonging to the 3rd and 4th Sere periods which are much like the present rotary quern, except smaller (4 inches to 6 inches in diameter), and with no provision for a turning handle. Schumacher describes these as paint grinders. The only perforated upper millstones found in the excavations at Gezer belong to the early Arabic period.

If the above assertions are substantiated then we must alter somewhat the familiar picture of the two women at the mill (Mat 24:41), commonly illustrated by photographs of the mills still used in modern Palestine These latter consist of two stone discs each 18 inches to 20 inches in diameter, usually made of Hauran basalt. The upper one is perforated in the center to allow it to rotate on a wooden peg fixed in the nether stone, and near the circumference of the upper stone is fixed a wooden handle for turning it. The grain to be ground is fed into the central hole on the upper stone and gradually works down between the stones. As the grain is reduced to flour, it flies out from between the stones on to a cloth or skin placed underneath the mill. To make the flour fine it is reground and sifted. Larger stones 4 ft. to 5 ft. in diameter, working on the principle of the handmill, are still used for grinding sesame seed. These are turned by asses or mules. Another form of mill, which is possibly referred to in Mat 18:6; Mar 9:42; Rev 18:21, Rev 18:22, consisted of a conical nether stone on which “rode” a second stone like a hollowed-out capstan. The upper stone was probably turned with handspikes in much the same way as an old-fashioned ship’s capstan was turned. The material to be ground was fed into the upper cone which formed the hopper and from which it was delivered to the grinding surfaces between the “rider” and the nether stone. This form of mill must have been known in late Biblical times, because many examples of the upper stone dating from the Greek-Roman period have been found. One may be seen in the museum of the Syrian Protestant College at Beirut. Another large one lies among the ruins at Petra, etc. In Mat 18:6; Mar 9:42, the mill is described as a μύλος ὀνικός, múlos onikós, literally, a mill turned by an ass, hence, a great millstone. It is not at all unlikely that the writers have confused the meaning of ὄνος, ónos (חמר, ḥămōr), a term commonly applied to the upper millstone of a handmill, thinking it referred instead to the animal which turned the mill. This explanation would make Christ’s words of condemnation more applicable. The upper millstone of a handmill would be more than sufficient to sink the condemned, and the punishment would be more easily carried out. A few years from now handmills will have disappeared from the Syrian households, for the more modern gristmills turned by water or other motor power are rapidly replacing them. See CRAFTS, II, 8.

Figuratively: (1) Of firmness and undaunted courage (Job 41:24). “The heart of hot-blooded animals is liable to sudden contractions and expansions, producing rapid alternations of sensations; not so the heart of the great saurians” (Canon Cook, at the place). (2) To “grind the face of the poor” (Isa 3:15) is cruelly to oppress and afflict them. (3) The ceasing of the sound of the millstone was a sign of desolation (Jer 25:10; Rev 18:22).