Mortar

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(1) Hollow vessel of wood or stone, in which corn was ground with a pestle (Num. 11:8⁸And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. (Numbers 11:8); Prov. 27:22²²Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. (Proverbs 27:22)). (2) Various cementing substances used in building, as bitumen, clay, and ordinary mixture of sand and lime (Gen. 11:3³And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. (Genesis 11:3); Ex. 1:14¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor. (Exodus 1:14); Lev. 14:42⁴²And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house. (Leviticus 14:42); Isa. 41:25²⁵I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. (Isaiah 41:25)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

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Stone Mortar and Pestle

The monuments of Egypt show that anciently, as now, stone mortars with stone pestles were used for pounding hard seeds. The manna was ground in mills or beaten in a mortar (Num. 11:8⁸And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. (Numbers 11:8)). Though by this means the seeds were pounded very small, yet even such treatment would not cure a fool of his folly: it shows the incorrigible nature of him who despises wisdom and instruction (Prov. 27:22²²Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. (Proverbs 27:22)).

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Proverbs 27:22²²Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. (Proverbs 27:22). Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

Mortars, for cracking grain by pounding with a pestle, are often used in the East. They are made of metal, earthenware, wood, or stone, the last being the most common material. The pestle is usually about five feet long. Sometimes two pestles are used at the same time for one mortar, the two persons holding them striking alternate blows, like blacksmiths at an anvil. The ancient Israelites used the mortar for heating their manna (Num. 11:8⁸And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. (Numbers 11:8)).

There is no evidence that the Hebrews ever administered punishment literally in the way indicated in the text, but it has been done among other nations. Beating to death in a mortar is a State punishment which is sometimes inflicted in Turkey and in India.

Mortar

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Concise Bible Dictionary:

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

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