Mills, ovens, and baking in the Bible

32 passages of the Berean Standard Bible, line by line, from Nave’s Topical Bible.

Millstones and grinding

Millstones may not be taken as security for a debtDeut 24:6
The verses
Deut 24:6Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
In Egypt the lowest servant girl worked behind the hand millExod 11:5
The verses
Exod 11:5and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.
Manna was ground on a handmill or crushed in a mortarNum 11:8
The verses
Num 11:8The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil.
At Thebez a woman dropped an upper millstone on AbimelechJudg 9:53, 2 Sam 11:21
The verses
Judg 9:53But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
2 Sam 11:21Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If so, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”
Samson, blinded and shackled, ground grain in the prison at GazaJudg 16:21
The verses
Judg 16:21Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
Jesus speaks of two women grinding grain togetherMatt 24:41, Luke 17:35
The verses
Matt 24:41Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Luke 17:35Two women will be grinding grain together: one will be taken and the other left.”
Jesus: better to be drowned with a large millstone around the neckMatt 18:6
The verses
Matt 18:6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Jeremiah lists the sound of millstones with the voices of bride and groomJer 25:10
The verses
Jer 25:10Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
Lamentations: young men toil at millstonesLam 5:13
The verses
Lam 5:13Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.

Ovens and baking

Frogs would come into Egypt's ovens and kneading bowlsExod 8:3
The verses
Exod 8:3The Nile will teem with frogs, and they will come into your palace and up to your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls.
Grain offerings could be baked in an oven or cooked on a griddleLev 2:4, Lev 7:9
The verses
Lev 2:4Now if you bring an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must consist of fine flour, either unleavened cakes mixed with oil or unleavened wafers coated with oil.
Lev 7:9Likewise, every grain offering that is baked in an oven or cooked in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who presents it,
An oven touched by an unclean carcass had to be smashedLev 11:35
The verses
Lev 11:35Anything upon which one of their carcasses falls will be unclean. If it is an oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you.
A curse in the Law: ten women baking bread in one ovenLev 26:26
The verses
Lev 26:26When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
Sarah is to knead three seahs of fine flour and bake breadGen 18:6
The verses
Gen 18:6So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
Lot baked unleavened bread for his guestsGen 19:3
The verses
Gen 19:3But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Pharaoh's chief baker dreamed of three baskets of bread on his headGen 40:16–17
The verses
Gen 40:16–17When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head. In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
Leaving Egypt, Israel baked unleavened loaves from the dough they carriedExod 12:34, Exod 12:39
The verses
Exod 12:34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing.
Exod 12:39Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.
Before the Sabbath: 'Bake what you want to bake'Exod 16:23
The verses
Exod 16:23He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”
Twelve loaves were baked for the gold table before the LORDLev 24:5–6
The verses
Lev 24:5–6You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf, and set them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before the LORD.
Samuel: a king will take your daughters as cooks and bakers1 Sam 8:13
The verses
1 Sam 8:13And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.
The medium at Endor kneaded flour and baked unleavened bread for Saul1 Sam 28:24
The verses
1 Sam 28:24The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.
Tamar kneaded dough and baked cakes for Amnon2 Sam 13:8
The verses
2 Sam 13:8So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked them.
Elijah woke to a cake of bread baked over hot coals1 Kgs 19:6
The verses
1 Kgs 19:6And he looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
Isaiah: part of the wood bakes bread, and the rest becomes an idolIsa 44:15, Isa 44:19
The verses
Isa 44:15It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread; he even fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.
Isa 44:19And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
Jeremiah got a loaf a day from the street of the bakersJer 37:21
The verses
Jer 37:21So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Jerusalem's wall had a Tower of the OvensNeh 3:11, Neh 12:38
The verses
Neh 3:11Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Ovens.
Neh 12:38The second thanksgiving choir proceeded to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,

Sources

From Nave’s Topical Bible (Orville J. Nave, 1896; public domain): subjects chosen, lines shortened and put into modern words, lines of interpretation left out; each verse checked.

Berean Standard Bible · Public domain