Storehouse
Storehouse
(אוֹצָר, otsar, 1Ch 27:25; Ps 33:7; Mal 3:10, a treasury, as elsewhere usually rendered; אֲסָם, asam, a receptacle for provisions, De 28:8; "barn," Pr 3:10; the modern matmurat, usually underground in the East; מִאֲבוּס, maabus, Jer 1:19, a granary; מַסבּנָה, miskenah, a magazine, Ex 1:11; 2 Kings 32:28; elsewhere "store city; " ταμεῖον, Lu 12:24; Ecclesiastes 29:12, elsewhere "closet"). According to Ge 41:48-49, Joseph built storehouses in Egypt, in which he laid up the superabundance of corn against the years of dearth. From the monuments we learn that such storehouses were common. The form of one of those ancient granaries is exhibited in a painting of the tomb of Rotei at Beni-Hassan. It consists of a double range of structures resembling ovens, built of brick, with an opening at the top and a shutter in the side. A flight of stairs gives access to the top of these receptacles, into which the grain, measured and noted, is poured till they are full. The mode of emptying them was to open the shutter in the side. SEE GRANARY.
