Hammer

Hammer -

(1.) Hebrew: pattish, used by gold-beaters (Isa. 41:7) and by quarry-men (Jer. 23:29). Metaphorically of Babylon (Jer. 50:23) or Nebuchadnezzar.

(2.) Hebrew: makabah, a stone-cutter's mallet (1 Kings 6:7), or of any workman (Judg. 4:21; Isa. 44:12).

(3.) Hebrew: halmuth, a poetical word for a workman's hammer, found only in Judg. 5:26, where it denotes the mallet with which the pins of the tent of the nomad are driven into the ground.

(4.) Hebrew: mappets, rendered "battle-axe" in Jer. 51:20. This was properly a "mace," which is thus described by Rawlinson: "The Assyrian mace was a short, thin weapon, and must either have been made of a very tough wood or (and this is more probable) of metal. It had an ornamented head, which was sometimes very beautifully modelled, and generally a strap or string at the lower end by which it could be grasped with greater firmness."

Previous topic: Hammelech

Next topic: Hammoleketh

Return to Bible Dictionary Main Index

Additional essential Bible study tools:

Bible software

Young's Analytical
Concordance to the Bible

The New Strong's
Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

inWORD Bible software

Where to Find it in the Bible