Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical times, the oven was an essential household item used for baking bread and other foodstuffs. The oven is mentioned several times throughout the Bible, reflecting its importance in daily life and its symbolic significance in various contexts.
Types and Uses of OvensThe ovens of ancient Israel were typically simple structures. They could be either a hole in the ground lined with clay or a more permanent clay or brick structure. These ovens were heated by burning wood or dried grass, and once the desired temperature was reached, the ashes were removed, and the dough was placed inside to bake.
In
Leviticus 2:4, the oven is mentioned in the context of grain offerings: "When you present an offering of grain baked in the oven, it must consist of fine flour, unleavened loaves mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil." This indicates that ovens were used not only for daily sustenance but also in religious rituals.
Symbolic and Metaphorical UsesThe oven is also used metaphorically in the Bible to convey various messages. In
Hosea 7:4-7, the prophet compares the people's passion and corruption to the heat of an oven: "They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough until it rises. On the day of our king, the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers. For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire."
This passage uses the imagery of an oven to describe the intensity and destructive nature of sin, illustrating how unchecked desires can lead to moral decay.
Daily Life and ProvisionThe oven is also a symbol of God's provision and the sustenance He provides. In
Matthew 6:30, Jesus uses the imagery of the oven to teach about God's care and provision: "If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" Here, the oven (or furnace) is used to emphasize the transient nature of earthly things and the enduring care of God for His people.
Cultural and Historical ContextUnderstanding the role of the oven in biblical times provides insight into the daily life and culture of ancient Israel. Bread was a staple food, and the process of baking was a daily task, often carried out by women. The communal nature of baking, where neighbors might share an oven, highlights the social aspects of life in biblical communities.
In summary, the oven in the Bible serves as a practical tool for daily life, a symbol of God's provision, and a metaphor for spiritual truths. Its presence in Scripture underscores the connection between the physical and spiritual realms, illustrating how everyday objects can carry deeper meanings in the biblical narrative.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
OvenThe eastern oven is of two kinds --fixed and portable. The former is found only in towns, where regular bakers are employed. (Hosea 7:4) The latter ia adapted to the nomad state, it consists of a large jar made of clay, about three feet high and widening toward the bottom, with a hole for the extraction of the ashes. Each household possessed such an article, (Exodus 8:3) and it was only in times of extreme dearth that the same oven sufficed for several families. (Leviticus 26:26) It was heated with dry twigs and grass, (Matthew 6:30) and the loaves were placed both inside and outside of it.
ATS Bible Dictionary
OvenSeeBREAD.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Hebrews tannur, (
Hosea 7:4). In towns there appear to have been public ovens. There was a street in Jerusalem (
Jeremiah 37:21) called "bakers' street" (the only case in which the name of a street in Jerusalem is preserved). The words "tower of the furnaces" (
Nehemiah 3:11;
12:38) is more properly "tower of the ovens" (Hebrews tannurim). These resemble the ovens in use among ourselves.
There were other private ovens of different kinds. Some were like large jars made of earthenware or copper, which were heated inside with wood (1 Kings 17:12;Isaiah 44:15;Jeremiah 7:18) or grass (Matthew 6:30), and when the fire had burned out, small pieces of dough were placed inside or spread in thin layers on the outside, and were thus baked. (seeFURNACE.)
Pits were also formed for the same purposes, and lined with cement. These were used after the same manner.
Heated stones, or sand heated by a fire heaped over it, and also flat irons pans, all served as ovens for the preparation of bread. (SeeGenesis 18:6;1 Kings 19:6.)
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
(
n.) A place arched over with brick or stonework, and used for baking, heating, or drying; hence, any structure, whether fixed or portable, which may be heated for baking, drying, etc.; esp., now, a chamber in a stove, used for baking or roasting.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
OVENuv'-'-n.
SeeBREAD;FURNACE.
Greek
2823. klibanos -- anoven... an
oven. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: klibanos Phonetic Spelling:
(klib'-an-os) Short Definition: an
oven, furnace Definition: an
oven...2575. kaminos -- furnace
... furnace. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: kaminos Phonetic Spelling:
(kam'-ee-nos) Short Definition: a furnace Definition: a furnace,oven, kiln....
Strong's Hebrew
8574. tannur -- (portable) stove, firepot... 8573, 8574. tannur. 8575 . (portable) stove, firepot. Transliteration: tannur
Phonetic Spelling: (tan-noor') Short Definition:
oven.
... furnace,
oven.
...Library
The Room was Like andOven
... Chapter 10. Retirement in Paddington; Wesley Slandered; Premonitions;
A Dream The Room Was Like andOven. Sunday, 8."We were at...
On Gen. vii. 6
... dried. And Noah there and then bade his wife, and his sons' wives, diligently
attend to kneading dough and laying it in theoven....
The Sermon on the Mount.
... classes together under the name lily.] 30 But if God doth so clothe the grass of
the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into theoven, shall he not...
Give us this Day Our Daily Bread.
... Therefore you must open wide and extend your thoughts not only to theoven or the
flour-bin but to the distant field and the entire land, which bears and...
Expatriation
... The light came from a small annealingoven.... On the opposite side of the room was
a younger man, painting an image, preparatory to burning it in theoven....
Matt. vi. 28, 29
... circumstance of vileness, saying, "which to-day is." And He said not, "and to-morrow
is not," but what is much baser yet, "is cast into theoven." And He said...
The Leaven.
... Through these the heat in theoven obtains equal access to every portion of the
dough; and thus, though the loaf is of considerable thickness, it is not left...
Psalm CII.
... "And my bones are scorched up as it were in anoven." Both my bones, and
my strength, not without tribulation, not without burning....
The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour (Nt Apocrypha)
... sprung up hatred between them; and as they did the house-work week about, and as
it was the turn of Mary the mother of Cleopas, she heated theoven to bake...
Sanctification
... For this we may take the following illustration: if we bake in oneoven three loaves
of barley-bread, of rye-bread, and of wheat, we shall find the same heat...
Thesaurus
Oven (22 Occurrences)... roasting. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
OVEN. uv'-'-n. See BREAD; FURNACE.
Multi-Version Concordance
Oven (22 Occurrences). Matthew
...Oven-fire (2 Occurrences)
Oven-fire.Oven,Oven-fire. Ovens . Multi-Version Concordance
Oven-fire (2 Occurrences). Proverbs 17:3 The heating-pot...
Bread (433 Occurrences)
... BREAD-MAKING 1. Grinding 2. Kneading 3. Baking (1) Hot Stones (2) Baking Pans 4.
Ovens (1) The Bowl-Oven (2) The Jar-Oven (3) The Pit-Oven 5. Forms of Baked...
Furnace (35 Occurrences)
... (4.) Hebrews alil, a crucible; only used in Psalm 12:6. (5.) Hebrews tannur,oven
for baking bread (Genesis 15:17; Isaiah 31:9; Nehemiah 3:11).... (seeOVEN.)....
Cooked (35 Occurrences)
... Exodus 12:8 And let your food that night be the flesh of the lamb, cooked with fire
in theoven, together with unleavened bread and bitter-tasting plants....
Roast (8 Occurrences)
... 1. (vt) To cook by exposure to radiant heat before a fire; as, to roast meat on
a spit, or in anoven open toward the fire and having reflecting surfaces within...
Baked (26 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 2:4 "'When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in theoven,
it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened...
Bake (13 Occurrences)
... Hence we read of "cakes baken on the coals" (1 Kings 19:6), and "baken in the
oven" (Leviticus 2:4). (see BREAD.). Noah Webster's Dictionary....
Baker (11 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) A portableoven in which baking is done. Multi-Version Concordance... Hosea
7:6 For they have made ready their heart like anoven, while they lie in wait....
Cooking (14 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 7:9 And every meal offering which is cooked in theoven and everything
made in a cooking pot or on a flat plate, is for the priest by whom it is...
Resources
How can I be a good Christian? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is a grain offering? | GotQuestions.orgWhat should we learn from the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? | GotQuestions.orgOven: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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