They took the young men to grind
In the mill, which was laborious service; and which persons were sometimes put to, by way of punishment; and was the punishment of servants; see ( Judges 16:21 ) . Some render it, "the young men bore the grist" F24; carried the corn, the meal ground, from place to place. The Targum is,
``the young men carried the millstones;''and so Jarchi, they put millstones upon their shoulders, and burdens so as to weary them. Ben Melech, from their Rabbins, relates, that there were no millstones in Babylon; wherefore the Chaldeans put them upon the young men of Israel, to carry them thither. The Vulgate Latin version is,
``they abused the young men in an unchaste manner;''suggesting something obscene intended by grinding; see ( Job 31:10 ) ; but the context will not admit of such a sense: and the children fell under the wood;