Threshing Floor
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Num. 15:20; Judg. 6:37)—a hard, level surface on which grain was threshed and winnowed, normally placed on high, dry ground where wind could carry away the chaff. Owners sometimes slept there to guard the harvest (Ruth 3:3). Some floors retained proper names, such as the threshing floor of Nacon and that of Araunah or Ornan. David purchased Araunah’s floor after the plague, built an altar there, and Solomon later built the Temple on that site (2 Sam. 24:16–25; 1 Chron. 21:18–22:1; 2 Chron. 3:1).