Hebrew word · H618

אָסָם

ba'asameikha

storehouse

Storehouse, granary, store-room for harvested produce. BDB and HALOT give 'storehouse, barn.' It occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible, here and in Deut 28:8.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

storehouse, barn

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 Proverbs 3:10

Range of meaning

Storehouse, granary, store-room for harvested produce. BDB and HALOT give 'storehouse, barn.' It occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible, here and in Deut 28:8.

Against the English

Most English versions say 'barns.' A modern reader may picture a wooden farm building for hay and livestock. An Israelite household kept its grain in plastered pits, stone-lined silos, storerooms in the house, or large storage jars. 'Storehouses' or 'granaries' is more exact, though the point (the place where the year's food is kept) comes through either way.

How it drifted

'Barn' first meant a storehouse for barley and grain (Old English bere-ærn, 'barley-house'), so the KJV choice was exact in its day. The word later widened to mean a general farm building.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 28:8: 'The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your storehouses (ba'asameykha).' This is part of the covenant blessings for a faithful Israel. Archaeology of Iron Age Israel shows large public silos (for example the great stepped silo at Megiddo) as well as household storage pits and jars (see King & Stager, Borowski).

From the study of Deuteronomy 28:8

Range of meaning

A storehouse or granary: a place where harvested produce was kept. It appears in the Bible only here and in Proverbs 3:10 ('your barns will be filled with plenty').

Against the English

BSB, WEB and NIV have 'barns'. KJV and YLT have 'storehouses'. 'Barn' makes a modern reader picture a large wooden farm building for animals and hay. The Hebrew word means storage for grain and produce.

How it drifted

English 'barn' originally meant a barley-house, a grain store, which is close to the Hebrew. Modern rural images (animal shelters, hay lofts) have since moved the word away from that.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Iron Age Israel grain was stored in household pits, large storage jars and storerooms, and in larger towns in public storehouses. Archaeologists have found pillared storehouse buildings and grain silos at sites such as Beersheba and Megiddo.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 28:8 בַּאֲסָמֶ֕יךָ in barns your

    The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.

    Here: 'In your storehouses': the places where harvested grain was kept. It is a rare word, found elsewhere only in Proverbs 3:10. The blessing reaches past the field to what is safely stored up.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 3:10 אֲסָמֶ֣יךָ storehouses your

    then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

    Here: A rare word for the household's grain stores, used only here and in Deuteronomy 28:8. In practice these were storage pits, silos, storerooms or banks of jars. The plural and 'your' picture one family's whole reserve for the year.

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