And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed bruised grain thereon; and nothing was known.

And a woman took, and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as it were to dry sodden barley: and so the thing was not known.

And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not known.

And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed bruised corn thereon; and nothing was known.

and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known.

And a woman put a cover over the hole, and put crushed grain on top of it, and no one had any knowledge of it.

And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed groats thereon; and nothing was known.

Then a woman took and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as if drying hulled barley. And so the matter was hidden.

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.

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.

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.

And the man's wife spread a covering (המּסך, the covering which she had close at hand) over the well (over the opening into the cistern), and scattered groats (ריפות, peeled barley: Proverbs 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).

Spread corn - Under pretence of drying it by the sun: which shews it was summer - time.