Topical Bible: Threshing: The Place For: Sometimes Beside the Wine-Press for Concealment

◄ Threshing: The Place For: Sometimes Beside the Wine-Press for Concealment ►

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Threshing, an essential agricultural process in biblical times, involved separating grain from the chaff. This activity was typically conducted on a threshing floor, a flat, open space where the harvested grain could be spread out and threshed, often by oxen or with tools like flails. However, there are instances in Scripture where threshing took place beside a wine-press, primarily for reasons of concealment.

One notable example of threshing beside a wine-press is found in the account of Gideon. In Judges 6:11, we read, "Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites" . This passage highlights the dire circumstances faced by the Israelites during the time of the Judges. The Midianites, a nomadic people, oppressed Israel by raiding their crops and livestock, leaving the Israelites in a state of poverty and fear.

Threshing wheat in a wine-press was an unusual practice, as wine-presses were typically used for crushing grapes. However, Gideon's actions were driven by necessity and the need for secrecy. The wine-press, often a sunken area or a pit, provided a hidden location where Gideon could thresh his wheat without attracting the attention of the Midianite raiders. This act of concealment underscores the oppressive environment and the resourcefulness required to survive under such conditions.

The choice of a wine-press for threshing also symbolizes the broader theme of deliverance and divine intervention. In the narrative, the angel of the LORD appears to Gideon at this very location, commissioning him to lead Israel against the Midianites. The juxtaposition of threshing and the wine-press serves as a backdrop for God's call to Gideon, transforming a place of fear and concealment into a site of divine encounter and empowerment.

Threshing beside a wine-press, therefore, is not merely a practical decision but also a narrative device that illustrates the themes of survival, divine providence, and the unexpected ways in which God can work through ordinary circumstances to bring about deliverance for His people.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Judges 6:11
And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

The Prophet Amos.
... mountain, which make it peculiarly suitable for concealment. ... of spiritual things,
that opposites, placed beside each other ... be ignorant of any safer place in the ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophet amos.htm

The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
... Genesis 35:8), and consequently place it between ... raided the villages, and pushed,
sometimes, their skirmishing ... was beating out wheat in his winepress to hide ...
/.../chapter iiithe hebrews and the.htm