Lexical Summary mulón: Millstone Original Word: μύλων Strong's Exhaustive Concordance mill. From mulos; a mill-house -- mill. see GREEK mulos HELPS Word-studies Cognate: 3459 mýlōn – a mill; a building (mill) used to operate a grinding mill-stone (it occurs only in Mt 24:41). See 3458 (mlos). The old-styled, Eastern hand-mill required two people. One person dropped a handful of grain on a lower stone, while the other rubbed another stone back-and-forth on it to grind the grain. [An ancient millstone (hand-mill) was generally turned by two women (see also 229 /alḗthō, and Ex 11:5). "There was a handle near the edge of the upper stone" (WP, 1, 194,95).] NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originvariant reading for mulos, q.v. Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 3459: μυλώνμυλών (not paroxytone; see Chandler § 596 cf. § 584), μύλωνος, ὁ, place where a mill runs; mill-house: Matthew 24:41 R G. (Euripides, Thucydides, Demosthenes, Aristotle, others.) Topical Lexicon Etymology and Linguistic Range The form μύλων (Strong’s Greek 3459) is a variant spelling of μύλος (3458). Though this precise inflection never appears in the Greek New Testament, the cognate root permeates both Testaments through the imagery of the mill and its stones. Ancient writers used the term for the paired stones—an immovable lower block and a rotating upper block—employed in crushing grain into flour. Historical and Cultural Background In biblical times every household needed a hand-mill. The upper stone, turned by women each dawn (Exodus 11:5; Matthew 24:41), produced daily bread, a symbol of ordinary life and God’s regular provision. Larger commercial mills, powered by donkeys (Matthew 18:6, literal Greek), processed bulk grain. A typical domestic millstone weighed 10–15 kilograms; the animal-driven versions could exceed hundreds of kilograms, explaining why the Greek text speaks of “a large millstone” when warning of judgment. Millstones in Mosaic Law and Wisdom Literature Deuteronomy 24:6 forbids taking “a pair of millstones, nor even the upper one, as security for a debt, because that would be taking a man’s livelihood as security.” Here the tool represents a family’s very life; to seize it is to endanger survival itself. Later poets use the same imagery when depicting the silencing of normal life under judgment: “The sound of the millstone will never ring out in you again” (Jeremiah 25:10). Ecclesiastes 12:3 pictures the feebleness of old age when “the grinders cease because they are few,” showing how the cessation of grinding equals the waning of strength. Symbol of Judgment and Sudden Destruction A millstone could become a deadly weapon. Judges 9:53 records a woman dropping an upper stone on Abimelech’s skull. This unexpected act of justice foreshadows prophetic scenes in which God topples the proud. The Apocalyptic echo appears in Revelation 18:21: “Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be seen again.’” The weight and finality of the stone dramatize irreversible ruin. Jesus’ Warning Against Causing Little Ones to Stumble In His most severe earthly warning, our Lord selects the heaviest domestic object His hearers knew: Matthew 18:6—“But 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.” The same wording appears in Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2. A stone that normally sustains life here becomes an instrument of execution, underscoring the gravity of spiritual harm done to the weak. The sea renders the body irretrievable, a picture of shame and final accountability before God. Prophetic and Apocalyptic Silence of the Mill Revelation 18:22 completes the picture: “The sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again, nor will any craftsman of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.” Millstone silence equals the extinguishing of everyday commerce, art, and sustenance—total desolation. Isaiah 47:2 earlier commanded Babylon, “Take millstones and grind flour,” portraying forced labor before ultimate collapse; Revelation shows the work abruptly ended forever. Pastoral and Ministry Implications 1. Value of Daily Provision: The indispensability of the millstone reminds believers to thank God for routine mercies and to guard the livelihoods of the vulnerable. Summary Though the specific form μύλων does not occur in the New Testament, its root image of the millstone threads through Scripture—from household provision to fearsome judgment. The millstone sustains life, warns the careless, and announces the downfall of the ungodly, all while pointing to the Lord who provides true bread and executes perfect justice. Forms and Transliterations μύλωνι μύλωνος μυξωτήρωνLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance μόχθον — 1 Occ.μουσικῶν — 1 Occ. μυελῶν — 1 Occ. μεμύημαι — 1 Occ. μύθοις — 3 Occ. μύθους — 2 Occ. μυκᾶται — 1 Occ. μυκτηρίζεται — 1 Occ. μυλικὸς — 1 Occ. μύλινον — 1 Occ. μύλος — 2 Occ. μύλου — 1 Occ. Μύρα — 1 Occ. μυριάδας — 1 Occ. μυριάδες — 3 Occ. μυριάδων — 3 Occ. μυριάσιν — 2 Occ. μυρίσαι — 1 Occ. μυρίων — 1 Occ. μυρίους — 2 Occ. |