groats

Everyday

1. Hulled grain, such as oats, crushed and cooked as porridge. (old use) tree →
2. An old English coin worth four pence. (old use) tree →

In the lessons

in tales, groats are grain for food or old coins paid as money

Examples

• She made groats for breakfast. tree →
• Jan carried a bag of groats home. tree →
• Long ago, a groat was a coin worth four pence. tree →

Note

if groats are coins, each groat is worth 4 pence, so multiply the number of groats by 4; if they are grain, nothing for maths

In Jewish tradition

It names crushed new grain from the fresh ear, given as the first-fruit offering. In the Prophets and Writings it is plain crushed grain: a woman strews it over a well's mouth to hide David's messengers, and a proverb speaks of a fool pounded in a mortar among groats.

Interpretation. This is the meal offering of the first fruits, brought with oil and frankincense. Part of it is burned as a reminder, and the priests eat the rest. The proverb is read as teaching that a stubborn fool does not change even under harsh treatment.

Examples

• And if thou bring a meal-offering of first-fruits unto the LORD, thou shalt bring for the meal-offering of thy first-fruits corn in the ear parched with fire, even groats of the fresh ear. (Torah LEV.2.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the priest shall make the memorial-part of it smoke, even of the groats thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD. (Torah LEV.2.16, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed groats thereon; and nothing was known. (Prophets 2SA.17.19, JPS 1917) tree →
• Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle among groats, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. (Writings PRO.27.22, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

if groats are coins, each groat is worth 4 pence, so multiply the number of groats by 4; if they are grain, nothing for maths