Reference: Reed
American
Sometimes a stalk or rod of any plant, as of the hyssop, Mt 27:48; Joh 19:29. Usually, however, the word reed denotes a reed or cane growing in marshy grounds, Job 40:21; Isa 19:6; slender and fragile, and hence taken as an emblem of weakness, 1Ki 18:21; Isa 36:6; Eze 29:6; and of instability, Mt 11:7. "A bruised reed," Isa 42:3; Mt 12:20, is an emblem of a soul crushed and ready to sink in despair under a sense of its guilty and lost condition. Such a soul the Saviour will graciously sustain and strengthen. The reed of spice, or good reed, (English version, "sweet calamus," Ex 30:23, sweet cane" Jer 6:20,) also called simply reed, (English version, "calamus" or "sweet cane,") Isa 43:24; Song 4:14; Eze 27:19, is the sweet flag of India, calamus odoratus. Reeds were anciently used as pens and as measuring-rods, Eze 40:5; 42:16. The Hebrew "reed" is supposed to have been about ten feet long.
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And thou, take best spices of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon the half two hundred and fifty, and of sweet myrtle two hundred and fifty,
Then Elijah drew near to all the people, and said, How long do ye halt between two opinions? if Jehovah be God, follow him; and if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Spikenard and saffron; Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
and the rivers shall stink, and the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and drain away: the reeds and sedges shall wither.
Behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand, and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment according to truth.
Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to toil with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
To what purpose should there come to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing unto me.
Vedan and Javan of Uzal traded in thy markets: wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were in thy traffic.
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring-reed of six cubits, each of one cubit and a hand breadth. And he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
He measured the east side with the measuring-reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring-reed round about.
But as they went away, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed moved about by the wind?
a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, until he bring forth judgment unto victory;
And immediately one of them running and getting a sponge, having filled it with vinegar and fixed it on a reed, gave him to drink.
There was a vessel therefore there full of vinegar, and having filled a sponge with vinegar, and putting hyssop round it, they put it up to his mouth.
Easton
(1.) "Paper reeds" (Isa 19:7; R.V., "reeds"). Heb 'aroth, properly green herbage growing in marshy places.
(2.) Heb kaneh (1Ki 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa 19:6), whence the Gr. kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a reed of any kind.
The reed of Egypt and Palestine is the Arundo donax, which grows to the height of 12 feet, its stalk jointed like the bamboo, "with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly flat under a gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It is used to illustrate weakness (2Ki 18:21; Eze 29:6), also fickleness or instability (Mt 11:7; comp. Eph 4:14).
A "bruised reed" (Isa 42:3; Mt 12:20) is an emblem of a believer weak in grace. A reed was put into our Lord's hands in derision (Mt 27:29); and "they took the reed and smote him on the head" (30). The "reed" on which they put the sponge filled with vinegar (Mt 27:48) was, according to John (Joh 19:29), a hyssop stalk, which must have been of some length, or perhaps a bunch of hyssop twigs fastened to a rod with the sponge. (See Cane.)
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And Jehovah will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their Asherahs, provoking Jehovah to anger.
Now behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.
and the rivers shall stink, and the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and drain away: the reeds and sedges shall wither. The meadows by the Nile, on the banks of the Nile, and everything sown by the Nile, shall be dried up, be driven away, and be no more.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment according to truth.
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
But as they went away, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed moved about by the wind?
a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, until he bring forth judgment unto victory;
and having woven a crown out of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and, bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
And immediately one of them running and getting a sponge, having filled it with vinegar and fixed it on a reed, gave him to drink.
There was a vessel therefore there full of vinegar, and having filled a sponge with vinegar, and putting hyssop round it, they put it up to his mouth.
in order that we may be no longer babes, tossed and carried about by every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of men, in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematized error;
Fausets
agmon. Used to form a rope: Job 41:2, "canst thou put a rush rope ('agmon) into his nose?" in Job 41:20 'agmon is a "caldron" from agam, "to flow." "Branch ("the high") and rush ("the low")" (Isa 9:14; 58:5), "bow down ... head as a bulrush," imply that the head of the 'agmown was pendulous. Some aquatic, reed like, plant, the Arundodonax, or phragmitis, used as a walking stick, but apt to break and pierce the hand leaning on it (2Ki 18:21; Eze 29:6-7). The gomee, of the sedge kind (Cyperaceae), the papyrus or paper reeds of which Moses' ark was formed (Ex 2:3). Used to form boats on the Nile, also garments, shoes, baskets, and paper (Isa 18:2); Job 8:11 "can the papyrus plant grow without mire?" so the godless thrive only in outward prosperity, which soon ends, for they are without God "the fountain of life" (Ps 36:9). Rapid growth at first, like the papyrus; then sudden destruction.
The papyrus is not now found in Egypt; but it has for ages been on the margin of Lake Huleh or Merom and Lake Tiberius and in Syria. Paper was formed by cutting the interior of the stalks into thin slices lengthwise, after removing the rind, and laying them side by side in succession on a flat board; similar ones were laid over them at right angles, and the whole was cemented together by a glue, and pressed and dried. The Egyptians stewed and ate the lower part of the papyrus (Herodotus ii. 92). It grows from three to six feet high; Tristram (Land of Israel, 436) says 16 feet, and the triangular stems three inches in diameter, N. of Lake Tiberias. There are no leaves; the flowers are small spikelets at the tip of the threadlike branchlets which together form a bushy crown on each stem.
Aroth (Isa 19:7) not "paper reeds," but grassy pastures on the banks of the Nile; literally, places bare of wood, from 'aarah "to make bore" (Gesenius). KJV is from 'or the delicate "membrane"; the antithesis to "everything sown by the brooks" is, the aroth were not sown but growing of themselves. In mentioning "the reeds and flags" it is likely the papyrus would not be omitted; however, a different word in the chap. before (Isa 18:2, gomee) expresses the "papyrus". Kaneh "a reed" in general; a measuring reed, six cubits long (Eze 40:5; 41:8; compare Re 11:1; 21:15). The "sweet reed from a far country" is possibly the Andropogon calamus aromaticus of central India; keneh bosem (Ex 30:23 "sweet calamus") or hatob (Jer 6:20); or it may be rather the lemon grass (Andropogon schoenanthus) of India (Isa 43:24; Song 4:14; Eze 27:19).
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And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of reeds, and plastered it with resin and with pitch, and put the child in it, and laid it in the sedge on the bank of the river.
And thou, take best spices of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon the half two hundred and fifty, and of sweet myrtle two hundred and fifty,
Now behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.
Doth the papyrus shoot up without mire? doth the reed-grass grow without water?
Wilt thou put a rush-rope into his nose, and pierce his jaw with a spike?
Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a boiling pot and cauldron.
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Spikenard and saffron; Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day:
that sendest ambassadors over the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, swift messengers, to a nation scattered and ravaged, to a people terrible from their existence and thenceforth; to a nation of continued waiting and of treading down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
that sendest ambassadors over the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, swift messengers, to a nation scattered and ravaged, to a people terrible from their existence and thenceforth; to a nation of continued waiting and of treading down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
The meadows by the Nile, on the banks of the Nile, and everything sown by the Nile, shall be dried up, be driven away, and be no more.
Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to toil with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
Is such the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul, that he should bow down his head as a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to Jehovah?
To what purpose should there come to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing unto me.
Vedan and Javan of Uzal traded in thy markets: wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were in thy traffic.
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst give way and rend all their shoulder; and when they leaned upon thee, thou didst break, and didst make all their loins to tremble.
And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring-reed of six cubits, each of one cubit and a hand breadth. And he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
And I saw that the house had an elevation round about: the foundations of the side-chambers, a full reed, six cubits to the joint.
And there was given to me a reed like a staff, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it.
And he that spoke with me had a golden reed as a measure, that he might measure the city, and its gates, and its wall.
Hastings
1. q
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And behold, seven ears, thin and parched with the east wind, sprung up after them.
And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, full and good.
And thou shalt make a lamp-stand of pure gold; of beaten work shall the lamp-stand be made: its base and its shaft, its cups, its knobs, and its flowers shall be of the same. And six branches shall come out of the sides thereof three branches of the lamp-stand out of one side thereof, and three branches of the lamp-stand out of the other side thereof;
And Jehovah will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their Asherahs, provoking Jehovah to anger.
Now behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.
Doth the papyrus shoot up without mire? doth the reed-grass grow without water?
They pass by like skiffs of reed; as an eagle that swoops upon the prey.
Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone!
Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the assembly of the strong, with the calves of the peoples: every one submitteth himself with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples that delight in war.
Spikenard and saffron; Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
The meadows by the Nile, on the banks of the Nile, and everything sown by the Nile, shall be dried up, be driven away, and be no more.
Behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand, and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.
And now engage, I pray thee, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment according to truth.
Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to toil with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance; they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
To what purpose should there come to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing unto me.
and the passages are seized, and the reedy places are burnt with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
Vedan and Javan of Uzal traded in thy markets: wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were in thy traffic.
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst give way and rend all their shoulder; and when they leaned upon thee, thou didst break, and didst make all their loins to tremble.
And he brought me thither, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a flax-cord in his hand, and a measuring-reed; and he stood in the gate.
And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring-reed of six cubits, each of one cubit and a hand breadth. And he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
And there was given to me a reed like a staff, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it.
Morish
See WEIGHTS and MEASURES.
Smith
Reed.
Under this name may be noticed the following Hebrew words:
1. Agmon occurs in
(Authorized Version "rush"). There can be no doubt that it denotes some aquatic reed-like plant, probably the Phragmitis communis, which, if it does not occur in Palestine and Egypt, is represented by a very closely-allied species, viz., the Arundo isiaca of Delisle. The drooping panicle of this plant will answer well to the "bowing down the head" of which Isaiah speaks.
2. Gnome, translated "rush" and "bulrush" by the Authorized Version, without doubt denotes the celebrated paper-reed of the ancients, Papyrus antiquorum, which formerly was common in some parts of Egypt. The papyrus reed is not now found in Egypt; it grows however, in Syria. Dr. Hooker saw it on the banks of Lake Tiberias, a few miles north of the town. The papyrus plant has an angular stem from 3 to 6 feet high, though occasionally it grows to the height of 14 feet it has no leaves; the flowers are in very small spikelets, which grow on the thread-like flowering branchlets which form a bushy crown to each stem; (It was used for making paper, shoes, sails, ropes, mattresses, etc. The Greek name is Biblos, from which came our word Bible--book--because books were made of the papyrus paper. This paper was always expensive among the Greeks, being worth a dollar a sheet. --ED.)
3. Kaneh, a reed of any kind. Thus there are in general four kinds of reeds named in the Bible: (1) The water reed; No, 1 above. (2) A stronger reed, Arundo donax, the true reed of Egypt and Palestine, which grows 8 or 10 feet high, and is thicker than a man's thumb. It has a jointed stalk like the bamboo, and is very abundant on the Nile. (3) The writing reed, Arundo scriptoria, was used for making pens. (4) The papyrus; No. 2.
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Look on every one that is proud, bring him low, and tread down the wicked in their place:
Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly.
And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day:
Watsons
REED, ?????, Job 40:21; 41:2,20; Isa 9:14; 19:15; 58:5; ???????, Mt 11:7; a plant growing in fenny and watery places; very weak and slender, and bending with the least breath of wind, Mt 11:7; Lu 7:24. Thus it is threatened, "The Lord shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of the good land which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their idol groves, provoking him to anger," 1Ki 14:15. The slenderness and fragility of the reed is mentioned in 2Ki 18:21; Isa 36:6; and is referred to in Mt 12:20, where the remark, illustrating the gentleness of our Saviour, is quoted from the prophecy of Isa 42:3. The Hebrew word in these places is ???, as also in Job 40:21; Isa 19:6; 35:7; Eze 29:6. See BULRUSH.
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And Jehovah will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their Asherahs, provoking Jehovah to anger.
Now behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.
Wilt thou put a rush-rope into his nose, and pierce his jaw with a spike?
Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a boiling pot and cauldron.
And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day:
and the rivers shall stink, and the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and drain away: the reeds and sedges shall wither.
Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.
And the mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of wild dogs, where they lay down, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
Behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand, and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment according to truth.
Is such the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul, that he should bow down his head as a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to Jehovah?
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
But as they went away, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed moved about by the wind?
But as they went away, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed moved about by the wind?
a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, until he bring forth judgment unto victory;
And the messengers of John having departed, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken by the wind?