Matthew 24:41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill.
See also Luke 17:35.
The ordinary hand-mill of the East consists of two circular stones from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter and about six inches deep. The lower, or “nether,” is sometimes, though not always, of heavier and harder stone than the upper. See Job 41:24. The upper, or “rider,” is slightly concave, and covers like the lid of a vessel the lower, which is convex. From the center of the lower stone there rises a pivot, on which the upper stone revolves. Near the edge of the upper stone is the perpendicular stick or handle by which it is turned, and at the center is a hole for the pivot, and also for the grain to fall through upon the stone below. The lower stone has a projection on a part of the edge two or three inches long, slanting downward, and hollowed so as to carry off the meal.
The work of grinding meal is usually performed by the women, and is very laborious. Sometimes one works alone, but usually two work together, sitting on the ground with the millstones between them, and both taking hold of the handle and moving it entirely around, to and from them. The usual time for grinding is at early dawn, or else at the evening in preparation for the following day. The stones, as they crush the grain, send forth a grating sound, which, though not very musical in itself; is melodious enough to a hungry traveler. Reference is made to this noise in Ecclesiastes 12:4; Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:22. In addition to this, the women often sing while grinding.
The women who ground were, among the families of wealth, either slaves or the lowest servants. Thus, in Exodus 11:5, we read of “the maid-servant that is behind the mill.” In this passage the expression “behind the mill” can be readily understood by what is said above of the position of the servants when grinding. The prophet Isaiah represents the “virgin daughter of Babylon” as compelled to sit on the ground like a servant to grind meal See Isaiah 47:1-2. We also have more vividly brought before us the indignity which the Philistines put on Samson when they compelled him to “grind in the prison house.” See note on Judges 16:21 (#235).
The millstones were considered so important and necessary a part of household furniture that the Mosaic law would not allow them to be pawned. “No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge; for he taketh a man’s life to pledge” (Deut. 24:6).