Threshing

THRESHING (Heb. dûsh, to trample out, hāvat, to beat out or off, dārakh, to tread, Gr. aloaō, to tread down). Threshing was done in one of two ways: (1) by beating the sheaves with a rod or flail or (2) by trampling them under the feet of oxen that pulled a wooden sled around the threshing floor (Isa.28.27). Threshing was done out-of-doors on a hard surface of the ground. The word also had a figurative use (Isa.21.10; Isa.41.15; Mic.4.12-Mic.4.13; 1Cor.9.10). See also Agriculture; Farming.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

Dush means literally, "to trample out." In Jer 51:33, darakh, is used of threshing. Fitches and cummin were beaten off with a rod. The distinction between beating and threshing is made in Isa 28:27. Gideon, in order to avoid being seen by the Midianites, beat out his wheat in a wine press instead of threshing it on the threshing-floor (Jud 6:11). For a general description of the threshing operations see Agriculture.

James A. Patch