the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Rod
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or ROD . The rods, sticks, staves, and clubs carried or otherwise used by the Hebrews were probably as varied in size and shape as those in use among the inhabitants of Palestine at the present day, of which a minute description, with illustrations, is given by Baldensperger in PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1905, 35 ff. No hard-and-fast distinction can be made out between the matteh , the shçbet , and the maqqçl all three rendered in EV [Note: English Version.] by ‘rod’ or ‘staff.’ The context must generally decide which of the two is the better rendering. For example, the twigs which Jacob peeled in the device recorded in Genesis 30:37 ff. are true rods; but in Genesis 32:10 the same word ( maqqçl ) is properly rendered ‘ staff .’ On the other hand, Moses’ ‘rod’ (so EV [Note: English Version.] ) is rather his shepherd’s ‘staff’ ( Exodus 4:2 etc.).
For the rod as an instrument of punishment, shçbet is more frequently employed than matteh , as Proverbs 10:13; Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 26:3 , although both are not seldom employed in parallel lines ( Isaiah 10:24; Isaiah 30:31 f. etc.). The former also denotes the shepherd’s club (described and figured in Hastings’ DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] iv. 291 a , PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1905, 36), as in Psalms 23:4 , Leviticus 27:32 etc. (EV [Note: English Version.] ‘rod’). See also Sceptre.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Rod'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/r/rod.html. 1909.
