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Ezekiel: “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in
Jerusalem: and they shall eat [rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in
despair]” (Ezek. 4:16; cf. 14:13).
A derived sense of
is “tribe,” which is used as many as 183 times. The
“tribes” of Israel are each designated as
&
“And these are the countries which the
children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the
son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed
for inheritance to them” (Josh. 14:1). It is possible that the
(“staff”), as a symbol
of authority, first applied to the tribal leader and thereafter by extension to the whole
“tribe.”
The several meanings of
are reflected in the Septuagint:
$
(“tribe; nation;
people”) and
(“rod; staff; scepter”).
(
+
, 7626), “tribe; rod.” In modern Hebrew this word mainly denotes
“tribe” as a technical term. In Akkadian the related verb
$
signifies “to smite,” and
the noun
$
means “rod” or “scepter.” A synonym of the Hebrew
is
,
also “rod” or “tribe,” and what is applicable to
is also relevant to
!
The “rod” as a tool is used by the shepherd (Lev. 27:32) and the teacher (2 Sam.
7:14). It is a symbol of authority in the hands of a ruler, whether it is the scepter (Amos
1:5, 8) or an instrument of warfare and oppression: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of
iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps. 2:9; cf. Zech. 10:11). The
symbolic element comes to expression in a description of the messianic rule: “But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:
and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth …” (Isa. 11:4).
The word
is most frequently used (143 times) to denote a “tribe,” a division in
a nation. It is the preferred term for the twelve “tribes” of Israel (Gen. 49:16; Exod.
28:21). Jeremiah referred to all of Israel as the “tribe”: “The portion of Jacob is not like
them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of
hosts is his name” (51:19).
The Septuagint translations are:
$
(“tribe; nation; people”);
(“rod; staff”);
and
(“scepter; tribe”).
B. Verb.
(
+
, 5186), “to stretch out, spread out, extend.” This root occurs in biblical,
mishnaic, and modern Hebrew and in Arabic with the same meaning. One occurrence of
is in Exod. 9:22: “Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven.…”
TO TURN
A. Verbs.
(
!
, 2015), “to turn, overturn, change, transform, turn back.” A common
word throughout the various periods of Hebrew, this term occurs in other Semitic
languages, including ancient Akkadian. It is found almost 100 times in biblical Hebrew.
Used for the first time in the biblical text in Gen. 3:24, the Hebrew verb form there