About Hand-Mill
A mill is made up of two circular stones (called millstones) used to grind grain into flour. Ancient art and Middle Eastern sites show millstone grain grinding. These date to the Neolithic period (around 8300–4500 BC). The earliest mills were handmills. The technology improved over time. But, the basic principle remained the same. A lower stone held the grain. An upper stone, moved across the lower stone, ground the grain into flour. In Hebrew, the word for "mill" refers to these two essential parts.
The earliest type of mill was the saddle quern. It consisted of a rough base stone, which was slightly concave, and a convex rubbing stone. The base stone ranged from 45.7 to 76.2 centimeters (18 to 30 inches) across, with one end thicker than the other. In Hebrew, it was called the “underneath portion” or "lower millstone" (Job 41:24). The upper stone, known as the “rider portion” or "upper millstone" (Judges 9:53; 2 Samuel 11:21), was between 15.2 to 38.1 centimeters (6 and 15 inches) long. It was flat on one side and slightly rounded on the other, making it easy to hold in the hand. To grind the grain, people would push the upper stone back and forth over the grain on the lower stone. Only a small amount of grain could be ground at one time using this method (Genesis 18:6).
All Scripture References (14)
Exodus (1)
and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.
Numbers (1)
The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil.
Deuteronomy (1)
Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
Judges (1)
But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
2 Samuel (1)
Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”
Job (1)
One scale is so near to another that no air can pass between them.
Isaiah (1)
Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
Jeremiah (1)
Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
Lamentations (1)
Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
Matthew (2)
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Mark (1)
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
Luke (1)
It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
Revelation (1)
And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.