Barn
Barn (אָסִם, asam', Pr 3:10; "store-house," De 28:8; ἀποθήκη, "barn" or "garner"), a magazine or place of deposit for grain, which, among the Orientals, was frequently under-ground. SEE CAVE. The phraseology in Lu 12:18, shows that the Jews at that time had granaries above-ground, but it does not follow that they had altogether relinquished the older and still common custom of depositing grain in subterranean store-houses, in which it was more secure, and, as some think, preserved in better condition, than in the other. Those who are exposed to danger and alarm would naturally prefer the subterraneous granary, which may, on occasions of emergency, be abandoned by the proprietor with tolerable confidence that when he is enabled to return he shall find his treasured grain untouched, the entrance being so carefully concealed that it is sometimes discovered with difficulty even by the owner himself. This plan may in general be said to be resorted to by the peasantry throughout the East, granaries above-ground being confined to towns and their vicinities, a distinction which may also have prevailed among the Jews. SEE GRANARY.
The Heb. word גֹּרֶן, go'ren, rendered "barn" in Job 39:12; 2Ki 6:27, signifies rather a threshing-floor, as it is elsewhere translated. In Hag 2:19; Joe 1:17, the original terms are מגוּרָה , megurah', and , מִמּגֻרָה, mammegurah', a granary. SEE AGRICULTURE.
