Bible Dictionary
Barn
A barn was a storehouse for grain, often a dry underground pit or cistern in biblical lands. Jesus used the image of barns when teaching about storing crops and trusting God.
Definition
A barn was a storehouse or granary for grain. In the East, grain was commonly preserved in a dry underground pit or cistern, though buildings could also serve as barns or storehouses.
Biblical Usage
Jesus used barns in teaching about stored crops and God’s care for the birds. The barn or storehouse could also serve figuratively for heaven in the supplied material.
Historical Background
Grain was stored after threshing and winnowing. Carefully prepared pits or caves protected it for years and helped conceal it from robbers and tax-gatherers. In Roman times, a storehouse could also be a building.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A storehouse (Deut. 28:8; Job 39:12; Hag. 2:19) for grain, which was usually under ground, although also sometimes above ground (Luke 12:18).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>barn (meghurah, "a granary," "fear," Hag 2:19; acam, "a storehouse," Pr 3:10; mammeghurah, "a repository," Joe 1:17; apotheke, Mt 6:26; 13:30; Lu 12:18,24): A place for the storing of grain, usually a dry cistern in the ground, covered over with a thick layer of earth. "Grain is not stored in the East until it is threshed and winnowed. The apotheke in Roman times was probably a building of some kind. But the immemorial usage of the East has been to conceal the grain, in carefully prepared pits or caves, which, being perfectly dry, will preserve it for years. It thus escaped, as far as possible, the attentions of the tax-gatherer as well as of the robber--not always easily distinguished in the East; compare Jer 41:8" (Temple Dictionary, 215).</p><p>Figurative of heaven (Mt 13:30).</p><p>See AGRICULTURE; GARNER.</p><p>M. O. Evans</p>