Search
Staff
STAFF. In the OT a number of terms are so tr. in all VSS, the most common being Heb. בַּד, H963, “a portion,” “part” and by extension a “staff,” “stave” and so it appears in the directions for the construction of the various articles for the Tabernacle in Exodus and Numbers, et al.
Another word so tr. is Heb. מִשְׁעֶ֫נֶת, H5475, which means particularly a “support,” “crutch” as for the aged or infirm. A form of this term appears in
There are a number of less common terms, most of which are minor orthographic or morphologic variations of those mentioned. In the NT, two words are so tr.; the one appears only in the narrative of the passion and signifies a weapon like the Eng. quarterstaff. It is the common Gr. term for wood, ξυλον. The other Gr. word, ῥαβδος, means “staff” of a hiker or wanderer (
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
See also SCEPTRE.