Rod and Staff
Psalm 23:4
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; Pr. 26:3), and a son (Prov 13:24; Pr. 22:15; Pr. 23:13–14; Pr. 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).
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.
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