Food & daily life
Millstone
A heavy stone used to grind grain into flour.
Also called · grinding stone · hand-mill stone
What it means
Household mills used paired stones, while larger mills could be turned with animal power.
Because grain grinding was essential for daily bread, the law protected millstones from being taken as security for debt.
How it appears in the Bible
Jesus uses a large millstone as a forceful image when warning against causing the vulnerable to stumble.
Translation note
Passages may distinguish a small hand-mill stone from a large animal-turned stone.