Cellar

CELLAR. A place for storage of wine (1Chr.27.27, kjv, rsv) or oil (1Chr.27.28 kjv). The root idea is not that of a room under a house, but that of a place of storage; thus NIV renders “vat” in 27:27, and in 27:28 prefers “supplies of olive oil.”

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

sel’-er, sel’-ar (krupte; ’otsar): Krupte is found only in Lu 11:33, and is rendered "cellar" in the Revised Version (British and American); the King James Version has "secret place." In this passage it doubtless means a cellar beneath a house. Etymologically the Greek word means "a covered place," and in classical Greek its usage includes vaults and crypts as well as cellars. It seems evident that it was only the larger houses in Palestine in which cellars were used with any frequency. It is shown by the excavations that in rebuilding a town which was in ruins the old houses were sometimes utilized as cellars for the new. ’otsar, is rendered cellar only in 1Ch 27:27 f. It is an erroneous rendering, the correct meaning being stores, or supplies, of wine and oil.