Meaning of "magazine" from 1845

My wife and I were reading Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, translated into English in 1845 by Henry Beveridge, and we came across this phrase in the first book, chapter 5, section 4:

"a magazine stored with treasures of inestimable value"

Obviously, the context implies that a magazine is some kind of container, or perhaps a location, in which things are stored. Our questions are: What kinds of things were normally stored in a magazine? Who would have owned one? Was it a small container or a large warehouse? We tried to find some information online, but we couldn't.

Anybody have any ideas?

Solution 1:

it probably has the long-lost meaning of "warehouse" or a military storehouse:

1580s, "place for storing goods, especially military ammunition," from M.Fr. magasin "warehouse, depot, store," from It. magazzino, from Arabic makhazin, pl. of makhzan "storehouse" (cf. Sp. almacén "warehouse, magazine"), from khazana "to store up." The original sense is almost obsolete; meaning "periodical journal" dates from the publication of the first one, "Gentleman's Magazine," in 1731, from earlier use of the word for a printed list of military stores and information, or in a figurative sense, from the publication being a "storehouse" of information.

I think John Calvin had this usage in mind if you actually look at the full quote:

"But herein appears the shameful ingratitude of men. Though they have in their own persons a factory where innumerable operations of God are carried on, and a magazine stored with treasures of inestimable value, instead of bursting forth in his praise, as they are bound to do, they, on the contrary, are the more inflated and swelled with pride."

To clarify as requested by OP - the Institutes was written originally in Latin and translated into English by Beveridge. The full quote above seemingly lends itself to the use of "magazine" in it's old usage as we can safely eliminate the use of a gun magazine or a journal.

Solution 2:

As reported from the NOAD, magazine can also mean

• [A] a chamber for holding a supply of cartridges to be fed automatically to the breech of a gun
• [B] a store for arms, ammunition, explosives, and provisions for use in military operations

As per the origin, the dictionary reports that it's from French magasin, from Italian magazzino, from Arabic maḵzin, maḵzan ("storehouse"), from ḵazana ("store up").
It has also the following note:

The term originally meant store and was often used from the mid 17th century in the title of books providing information useful to particular groups of people. Sense [A], a contemporary specialization of the original meaning, gave rise to sense [B] in the middle 18th century.

Solution 3:

The Latin word used in that particular passage is taberna, which has no military connotation at all. It means inn, shop, booth, cubicle, hut. I don't think magazine is a very exact translation; in its sense of storage room, it usually has a military connotation. The great dictionary by Lewis & Short gives the following on taberna:

tăberna, ae, f. [root ta (tan); Gr. tei/nw, perf. te/taka; cf.: tabula, tenus]

Hut, shed, booth, stall, shop constructed of boards.

I. Hence, in gen., any slight structure used for a dwelling, a hut or cottage (very rare): "tabernae appellatio declarat omne utile ad habitandum aedificium, non ex eo, quod tabulis cluditur", Dig. 50, 16, 183: "pauperum tabernae", Hor. C. 1, 4, 13; so, "obscurae", id. A. P. 229.—Of stalls in the circus: qui in circo totas tabernas tribulium causā compararunt, Cic. Mur. 35, 73.—

II. In partic.

A. Of a merchant, mechanic, taverner, etc., a booth, shop, workshop, stall, inn, tavern (class.): "instructam ei medicinae exercendae causā tabernam dedit", Cic. Clu. 63, 178; cf.: "instructam tabernam sic accipiemus, quae et rebus et hominibus ad negotiationem paratis constat", Dig. 50, 16, 185: taberna libraria, i. e. a bookseller's shop, Cic. Phil. 2, 9, 21; "so simply taberna", Hor. S. 1, 4, 71; Mart. 1, 118, 10: "vinaria", Varr. L. L. 8, 55 Müll.; cf. Hor. Ep. 1, 14, 24: "cretaria, unguentaria, Varr. l. l.: casearia", Dig. 8, 5, 8, 5: "argentaria", ib. 18, 1, 32; Liv. 26, 11, 7: "purpuraria", Dig. 32, 1, 91: "sutrina", Tac. A. 15, 34; cf.: "ut Alfenus vafer omni Abjecto instrumento artis clausaque taberna Sutor erat", Hor. S. 1, 3, 131: Liparea, Vulcan's shop, Juv. 13, 45: "deversoria", an inn, tavern, Plaut. Men. 2, 3, 81; id. Truc. 3, 2, 29; Varr. R. R. 1, 2, 23: "cauponia", Dig. 33, 7, 13; cf.: "cum in eandem tabernam devertissent", Cic. Inv. 2, 4, 14: "occlusis tabernis", id. Cat. 4, 8, 17: "concursare circum tabernas", id. ib.: "occludere tabernas", id. Ac. 2, 47, 144: "salax", Cat. 37, 1; cf. Prop. 4 (5), 8, 19: "prope Cloacinae ad tabernas", Liv. 3, 48, 5: "tabernam exercere", Dig. 33, 7, 15; Suet. Aug. 4: "tabernam vel officinam conductam habuit", Dig. 5, 1, 19. —

B. Tres Tabernae, the Three Taverns, a place on the Appian Way, near Ulubrae and Forum Appii, Cic. Att. 1, 13, 1; 2, 10; 2, 12, 2; 2, 13, 1; Vulg. Act. 28, 15. —

C. A passage, archway in the circus, Cic. Mur. 35, 73. —

D. Poet.: "quae colis Durrachium Adriae tabernam", the market, Cat. 36, 15.

Solution 4:

"Magazine", around the time, can mean weapons cache. I would propose spiritual weapons could be the 'treasure' alluded to.

The term certainly comes from its older meaning of some sort of storage.