Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

THRESHING FLOOR

The site where harvested grain (barley or wheat) is spread out to dry so the seed kernels can be separated from the chaff. This separation can be accomplished by beating the stalks of grain with a flail, but it most typically involves the use of a threshing sledge. This sledge, made of a heavy board or boards into which stones have been embedded, is dragged repeatedly by an ox or donkey across the grain, separating husk from seed.

Threshing floors seem to have been located at the edge or gate of a village or town (1 Kgs. 22:10 = 2 Chr. 18:9), and, perhaps because of this proximity, they can be sites of activities other than agricultural: e.g., Ruth’s seduction of Boaz (Ruth 3:1-18). These nonagricultural activities are often cultic in nature. In Gen. 50:10-11, when Joseph and his brothers return the bones of their father Jacob to Canaan, their mourning rituals are held at the threshing floor of Atad, somewhere on the east bank of the Jordan. According to Judg. 6:37 Gideon, desiring a sign that he will indeed serve as God’s deliverer in Israel’s war against Moab, receives the assurance he seeks at a threshing floor. 1 Kgs. 22:10 par. report that prophets prophesy before the kings of Israel and Judah at the threshing floor of Samaria. Most significant, though, are the traditions found in 2 Sam. 24 (= 1 Chr. 21), where David sees an angel of Yahweh at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (vv. 16-17) and subsequently buys the property and erects an altar there (vv. 18-25). 2 Chr. 3:1 associates this location with the site in Jerusalem where Solomon eventually built his great temple.

Susan Ackerman

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

THRESHING FLOOR

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)