Hebrew word · H1637

גֹּ֫רֶן

goren

threshing floor

Threshing floor: a flat stretch of beaten earth or bedrock, usually on high, open, windy ground, where harvested grain was trampled by oxen or crushed with threshing sledges and then winnowed.

Appears 36 times in 36 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) threshing-floor

2) (TWOT) barn, barn floor, corn floor, void place

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Micah 4:12

Range of meaning

Threshing floor: a flat stretch of beaten earth or bedrock, usually on high, open, windy ground, where harvested grain was trampled by oxen or crushed with threshing sledges and then winnowed. Threshing floors also served as public places, for legal hearings (Ruth 3–4 region; 1 Kgs 22:10, kings sitting 'at the threshing floor' by Samaria's gate) and for mourning (Gen 50:10).

Against the English

KJV's 'floor' is the older English usage and could mislead today. Modern versions all say 'threshing floor'. The bigger loss is the violence of the image, which few modern readers have watched: grain is beaten and trampled until husk and straw are broken off.

Used elsewhere in the period

Threshing is a stock image of crushing judgment: Isaiah 21:10; 41:15–16 (Israel as a new threshing sledge that pulverizes mountains); Jeremiah 51:33 ('Babylon is like a threshing floor'); Amos 1:3 (Damascus 'threshed Gilead with iron sledges'); Hosea 13:3. Assyrian royal inscriptions likewise boast of crushing enemies like grain.

From the study of 2 Samuel 24:16

Range of meaning

A threshing floor: a flat, hard surface of beaten earth or bedrock, often on a hilltop, where sheaves were threshed and then winnowed in the wind.

Against the English

KJV 'threshingplace'; all others 'threshing floor'. The translations are accurate. What a modern reader misses is what a threshing floor meant.

Used elsewhere in the period

Threshing floors served as places for public gatherings, decisions and contact with the divine. The kings of Israel and Judah hold court at the threshing floor by the gate of Samaria (1 Kgs 22:10). In the Ugaritic Aqhat epic, King Danel judges cases at the threshing floor. Gideon's fleece sign takes place on one (Judg 6:37). Mourning rites are held at one (Gen 50:10–11).

From the study of 2 Chronicles 3:1

Range of meaning

A threshing floor: a flat, open space, usually on high ground exposed to the wind, where harvested grain was trampled by animals or threshing sledges and then winnowed. By extension it means the threshed grain itself, and in figures of speech a place of judgment, separating grain from chaff (Isa 21:10; Jer 51:33; Hos 13:3).

Against the English

'Threshing floor' is accurate. A modern reader may not realize that such floors were public, prominent spaces that often had legal or sacred uses.

Used elsewhere in the period

Threshing floors appear as places of mourning (Gen 50:10–11), of divine signs (Judg 6:37), of legal and family business (Ruth 3), of gatherings of kings (1 Kgs 22:10), and of sudden divine judgment (2 Sam 6:6–7). In the Ugaritic Aqhat epic, Danel sits judging at the threshing floor by the city gate.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 50:10 גֹּ֣רֶן [the] threshing floor of

    When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wailed loudly, and Joseph mourned for his father seven days.

    Here: An open-air, flat, often raised patch of packed earth or rock where grain was threshed and winnowed. It was a natural public ground with room for a large crowd to gather and camp.

  2. Genesis 50:11 בְּגֹ֙רֶן֙ at [the] threshing floor of

    When the Canaanites of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn ceremony of mourning by the Egyptians.” Thus the place across the Jordan is called Abel-mizraim.

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 15:20 גֹּ֔רֶן [the] threshing floor

    From the first of your dough, you are to lift up a cake as a contribution; offer it just like an offering from the threshing floor.

  2. Numbers 18:27 הַגֹּ֔רֶן the threshing floor

    Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.

  3. Numbers 18:30 גֹּ֖רֶן a threshing floor

    Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress.

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 15:14 וּמִֽגָּרְנְךָ֖ and from threshing floor your

    You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

  2. Deuteronomy 16:13 מִֽגָּרְנְךָ֖ from threshing floor your

    You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 6:37 בַּגֹּ֑רֶן on the threshing floor

    then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

    Here: "On the threshing floor": the open, hard-packed or bedrock surface outside the village where grain was beaten and winnowed. It is bare and exposed, so any difference in dew between fleece and ground would be easy to see.

Ruth · 4

  1. Ruth 3:2 גֹּ֥רֶן [the] threshing floor of

    Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor.

  2. Ruth 3:3 הַגֹּ֑רֶן the threshing floor

    Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

  3. Ruth 3:6 הַגֹּ֑רֶן the threshing floor

    So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.

  4. Ruth 3:14 הַגֹּֽרֶן׃ the threshing floor

    So she lay down at his feet until morning, but she got up before anyone else could recognize her. Then Boaz said, “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 23:1 הַגֳּרָנֽוֹת׃ the threshing floors

    Now it was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and looting the threshing floors.”

2 Samuel · 5

  1. 2 Samuel 6:6 גֹּ֣רֶן [the] threshing floor of

    When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.

  2. 2 Samuel 24:16 גֹּ֖רֶן [the] threshing floor of

    But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

    Here: An open, flat, hard-packed area, usually on high ground to catch the wind, where grain was threshed and winnowed. This one will become David's altar site (v.18–25) and later the Temple site (2 Chr 3:1).

  3. 2 Samuel 24:18 בְּגֹ֖רֶן on [the] threshing floor of

    And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

    Here: 'On the threshing floor of…' An open, flat, hard surface where grain was threshed and winnowed, usually on high ground open to the wind. It is the exact spot where the destroying angel had stopped (v.16).

  4. 2 Samuel 24:21 הַגֹּ֗רֶן the threshing floor

    “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. “To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”

  5. 2 Samuel 24:24 הַגֹּ֙רֶן֙ the threshing floor

    “No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 22:10 בְּגֹ֔רֶן at [the] threshing floor

    Dressed in royal attire, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 6:27 הַגֹּ֖רֶן the threshing floor

    He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”

1 Chronicles · 6

  1. 1 Chronicles 13:9 גֹּ֣רֶן [the] threshing floor of

    When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark, because the oxen had stumbled.

  2. 1 Chronicles 21:15 גֹּ֖רֶן [the] threshing floor of

    Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

    Here: A flat, open, usually high patch of ground where grain was beaten out and winnowed in the wind. This one becomes the site of David's altar and later of Solomon's temple (1 Chr 22:1; 2 Chr 3:1).

  3. 1 Chronicles 21:18 בְּגֹ֖רֶן on [the] threshing floor of

    Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

  4. 1 Chronicles 21:21 הַגֹּ֔רֶן the threshing floor

    David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked out and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed facedown before David.

  5. 1 Chronicles 21:22 הַגֹּ֔רֶן the threshing floor

    Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”

  6. 1 Chronicles 21:28 בְּגֹ֖רֶן on [the] threshing floor of

    At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there.

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 בְּגֹ֖רֶן on [the] threshing floor of

    Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

    Here: A flat, exposed stretch of rock or packed earth where grain was threshed and winnowed. This one became the altar site where a plague was stopped (1 Chr 21).

  2. 2 Chronicles 18:9 בְּגֹ֔רֶן at [the] threshing floor

    Dressed in royal attire, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.

Job · 1

  1. Job 39:12 וְֽגָרְנְךָ֥ and threshing floor your

    Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 21:10 גָּרְנִ֑י threshing floor my

    O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 51:33 כְּגֹ֖רֶן [will be] like a threshing floor

    For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”

    Here: A flat, hard, open-air surface where grain was beaten out of its husks. The proud world capital is compared to a patch of packed ground that gets walked over and beaten.

Hosea · 3

  1. Hosea 9:1 גָּרְנ֥וֹת threshing floors of

    Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.

    Here: The open, hard-packed area where harvested grain was threshed and winnowed. It was the scene of harvest celebration and the place where the year's wealth was piled up.

  2. Hosea 9:2 גֹּ֥רֶן threshing floor

    The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them.

  3. Hosea 13:3 מִגֹּ֔רֶן from a threshing floor

    Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.

    Here: 'From a threshing floor.' This was an open, hard-packed area, usually on high exposed ground so the wind could carry off the chaff when grain was tossed into the air.

Joel · 1

  1. Joel 2:24 הַגֳּרָנ֖וֹת the threshing floors

    The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 4:12 גֹּֽרְנָה׃ [the] threshing floor towards

    But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

    Here: 'To the threshing floor.' The ending -āh marks direction. This is the hard, flat open space where animals trampled grain to break it apart. The next verse goes on with the picture: Zion herself becomes the threshing animal.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.