Bible Dictionaries
Sickle

Holman Bible Dictionary

A curved blade of flint or metal used to cut stalks of grain. Sickles varied in size and handle length, but usually had a short wooden handle which required the user to bend near the ground to harvest the crop. They are among the oldest tools known by humans, dating to 8,500 B.C. Biblical texts often used the sickle symbolically to speak of coming judgment. Revelation 14:1 uses the analogy of Christ reaping the harvest of humankind at the great judgment. See Agriculture .