Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 17:19
And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
19. a covering ] The covering, either the usual cover of the cistern, or, as the general use of the word suggests, the curtain which hung in the doorway. See Exo 26:36 (E. V. hanging).
ground corn ] Bruised or husked wheat, which she spread out as if to dry. The mode of its preparation is referred to in Pro 27:22, the only other passage in which the word occurs.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A covering – Hebrew the covering, perhaps the hanging or awning at the door of the house, as the word seems to mean when spoken of the tabernacle.
Ground corn – Or peeled barley, which she spread out as if for the purpose of drying it in the sun.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Spread ground corn thereon, under pretence of drying it by the sun; which shows it was summer time.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth,…. This woman, very probably, was the man’s wife of the house, as Abarbinel notes; who took a cloth, and spread it over the well’s mouth, that it could not be seen or known that there was a well there:
and spread ground corn thereon: just taken out of the mill, before it was sifted, while in the bran; or corn unhusked, or just threshed out, in order to be dried in the sun, and then parched; or wheat bruised for that purpose: Josephus says q they were locks of wool she spread:
and the thing was not known; that the young men were in the well.
q Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And the man’s wife spread a covering ( , the covering which she had close at hand) over the well (over the opening into the cistern), and scattered groats ( , peeled barley: Pro 27:22) upon it, so that nothing was noticed. The Vulgate explanation is a very good one: “ quasi siccans ptisanas ” (as if drying peeled barley).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(19) Ground Corn.This word occurs elsewhere only in Pro. 27:22, and means wheat or barley beaten or ground so as to remove the hull; in this condition it was spread out to dry.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Sa 17:19. And spread ground corn thereon See the note on 2Sa 17:28.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Sa 17:19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
Ver. 19. And spread ground corn thereon. ] Grana tusa et commolita; meal grist, under pretence it needed drying, being moist; or airing, being musty.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
spread a covering: Jos 2:4-6, 5-24
the thing: Exo 1:19
Reciprocal: Jos 2:6 – hid them
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
17:19 And {h} the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
(h) Thus God sends help to his, in their greatest dangers.