2314 שׁבט (šbṭ). Assumed root of the following.
2314a שֵׁבֶט (šēbeṭ) rod, staff.
2314b שַׁרְבִּיט (šarbîṭ) dart, spear.
שֵׁבֶט (šēbeṭ). Rod, staff, scepter, tribe. This noun commonly denotes a rod. It was used for beating cumin (Isa 28:27), as a weapon (II Sam 23:21), and as a shepherd’s implement either to muster or count sheep (Lev 27:32; Ezk 20:37), or to protect them (Ps 23:4; Mic 7:14). In Ps 23:4 it is used metaphorically of the Lord’s protection of his servant as he walks in paths of righteousness.
The rod was also used as an instrument for either remedial or penal punishment. As a corrective instrument it was used for a slave (Ex 21:20), a fool (Prov 10:13; 26:3), and a son (Prov 13:24; 22:15; 23:13–14; 29:15). In Prov it is the symbol of discipline, and failure to use the preventive discipline of verbal rebuke and the corrective discipline of physical punishment will end in the child’s death. Metaphorically, the Lord used Assyria as his instrument to correct Israel (Isa 10:15) and the nations to correct his wayward king (II Sam 7:14). It is also used metaphorically of penal affliction of Israel’s ruler by the enemy (Mic 5:1 [H 4:14]) but the Lord’s righteous King will smite the wicked with the “rod” of his word of judgment (Isa 11:4).
In II Sam 18:14 it refers to the shaft of a spear or dart.
Then, too, the word denotes a sceptre, the mark of authority. The association of smiting and ruling is evident. Significantly, in Akkadian the verbal cognate shabāṭu means to “slay, smite,” and the noun shihṭu (= Heb šēbeṭ) means “rod, sceptre.” Thus it is the symbol of ruler-ship. Whereas the prophets predicted that the sceptre of Israel’s enemies will be removed (Amos 1:5; Zech 10:1 l), Jacob predicted that “the sceptre shall not depart from Judah … until Shiloh come … ” (Gen 49:1), and the psalmist predicted that the rule of Israel’s ideal king would endure forever (Ps 45:7). These promises find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. The close association of “smiting” and “ruling” is most obvious in the psalmist’s prophecy that the Lord’s King will smash the wicked, rebellious world with an iron rod (Ps 2:9, though possibly Ps 2:9 refers to shepherding or ruling the nations with a scepter of iron—cf. Ps 2:9 NIV and Rev 19:15; cf. Ps 125:3; Isa 14:5).
Finally, the word denotes “tribe.” This meaning is probably derived by association with its use to express ruler-ship. In Num 4 it denotes the subdivisions of the tribe, but elsewhere it refers to the tribes of Israel either individually (Deut 23:1; passim) or collectively (Num 36:3, passim). Israel’s factious tribes (cf. Judg 20, 21; II Sam 19:9 [H 10]; I Kgs 11:31ff.) will at last be united in the Kingdom (Ezk 37:19). The word, however, is never used to refer to tribes of other nations.
The synonym maṭṭeh denotes “rod, tribe” but not “sceptre.”
Waltke, Bruce K. “2314 שׁבט.” Ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1999 : 897. Print.
2314a שֵׁבֶט (šēbeṭ) rod, staff.
2314b שַׁרְבִּיט (šarbîṭ) dart, spear.
שֵׁבֶט (šēbeṭ). Rod, staff, scepter, tribe. This noun commonly denotes a rod. It was used for beating cumin (Isa 28:27), as a weapon (II Sam 23:21), and as a shepherd’s implement either to muster or count sheep (Lev 27:32; Ezk 20:37), or to protect them (Ps 23:4; Mic 7:14). In Ps 23:4 it is used metaphorically of the Lord’s protection of his servant as he walks in paths of righteousness.
The rod was also used as an instrument for either remedial or penal punishment. As a corrective instrument it was used for a slave (Ex 21:20), a fool (Prov 10:13; 26:3), and a son (Prov 13:24; 22:15; 23:13–14; 29:15). In Prov it is the symbol of discipline, and failure to use the preventive discipline of verbal rebuke and the corrective discipline of physical punishment will end in the child’s death. Metaphorically, the Lord used Assyria as his instrument to correct Israel (Isa 10:15) and the nations to correct his wayward king (II Sam 7:14). It is also used metaphorically of penal affliction of Israel’s ruler by the enemy (Mic 5:1 [H 4:14]) but the Lord’s righteous King will smite the wicked with the “rod” of his word of judgment (Isa 11:4).
In II Sam 18:14 it refers to the shaft of a spear or dart.
Then, too, the word denotes a sceptre, the mark of authority. The association of smiting and ruling is evident. Significantly, in Akkadian the verbal cognate shabāṭu means to “slay, smite,” and the noun shihṭu (= Heb šēbeṭ) means “rod, sceptre.” Thus it is the symbol of ruler-ship. Whereas the prophets predicted that the sceptre of Israel’s enemies will be removed (Amos 1:5; Zech 10:1 l), Jacob predicted that “the sceptre shall not depart from Judah … until Shiloh come … ” (Gen 49:1), and the psalmist predicted that the rule of Israel’s ideal king would endure forever (Ps 45:7). These promises find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. The close association of “smiting” and “ruling” is most obvious in the psalmist’s prophecy that the Lord’s King will smash the wicked, rebellious world with an iron rod (Ps 2:9, though possibly Ps 2:9 refers to shepherding or ruling the nations with a scepter of iron—cf. Ps 2:9 NIV and Rev 19:15; cf. Ps 125:3; Isa 14:5).
Finally, the word denotes “tribe.” This meaning is probably derived by association with its use to express ruler-ship. In Num 4 it denotes the subdivisions of the tribe, but elsewhere it refers to the tribes of Israel either individually (Deut 23:1; passim) or collectively (Num 36:3, passim). Israel’s factious tribes (cf. Judg 20, 21; II Sam 19:9 [H 10]; I Kgs 11:31ff.) will at last be united in the Kingdom (Ezk 37:19). The word, however, is never used to refer to tribes of other nations.
The synonym maṭṭeh denotes “rod, tribe” but not “sceptre.”
Waltke, Bruce K. “2314 שׁבט.” Ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1999 : 897. Print.
Comments