Difference between revisions of "Staff"

<p> [[Staff]] n. plu. G., a bar, a rod. The primary sense is to thrust, to shoot. See Stab. </p> 1. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking hence, a support that which props or upholds. [[Bread]] is the proverbially called the staff of life. <p> The boy was the very staff of my age. </p> <p> [[Thy]] rod and thy staff, they comfort me. &nbsp;Psalms 23 . </p> 2. A stick or club used as a weapon. <p> With forks and staves the felon they pursue. </p> 3. A long piece of wood a stick the long handle of an instrument a pole or stick, used for many purposes. 4. The five lines and the spaces on which music is written. 5. An ensign of authority a badge of office as a constables staff. 6. The round of a ladder. 7. A pole erected in a ship to hoist and display a flag called a flag-staff. There is also a jack-staff, and an ensign-staff. 8. In military affairs, an establishment of officers in various departments, attached to an army. The staff includes officers not of the line, as adjutants, quarter-masters, chaplain, surgeon, &c. The staff is the medium of communication from the commander in chief to every department of an army. 9. A stanza a series of verses so disposed that when it is concluded, the same order begins again. <p> Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for a heroic poem, as being all too lyrical. </p> 10. [[Stave]] and staves, plu. of staff. See Stave.

<p> <strong> STAFF </strong> . See Rod, Sceptre. </p>

<p> (usually '''''מִטֶּה''''' , '''''מִקֵּל''''' , or '''''שֶׁבֶט''''' ; '''''Άβδος''''' ; all designating a [[Stick]] ) ''.'' The use of rods and staffs was as various with the ancient [[Israelites]] as with us. Men and animals were goaded with them (&nbsp;Exodus 21:20 [comp. [[Sirach]] 33, 27]; &nbsp;Numbers 22:27; &nbsp;1 Samuel 17:43; &nbsp;2 Samuel 7:14; &nbsp;Proverbs 10:13; &nbsp;Proverbs 13:24; &nbsp;Isaiah 9:3), (See [[Bastinado]]); fruit was beaten with them from the trees (&nbsp;Judges 6:11; &nbsp;Ruth 2:17; &nbsp;Isaiah 28:27), especially olives (q.v.). Old and infirm people carried them as supports or for defense (&nbsp;Exodus 21:19; &nbsp;Zechariah 8:4 [see the monograph of Canz, ''De Pedo Servatoris,'' Tub. 1750]), also travelers (&nbsp;Genesis 32:10; &nbsp;Exodus 12:11; &nbsp;2 Kings 4:29; &nbsp;Matthew 10:10; &nbsp;Mark 6:8). (See [[Walk]]). A baton, like a ring, was often a sign of rank (&nbsp;Genesis 38:18; &nbsp;Genesis 38:25; comp. Herod. 1, 19; Bonomi, Nineveh, p. 197); sometimes inscribed with the owner's name (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 2, 347); and especially a badge of office (&nbsp;Exodus 4:2 sq.; exe 7:9 sq.; &nbsp;Numbers 20:8; &nbsp;Numbers 21:18; &nbsp;Judges 5:14; &nbsp;1 Samuel 14:27; &nbsp;Psalms 110:2; &nbsp;Micah 7:14). (See [[Scepter]]). The shepherd carried a staff, which he used not only as a support in climbing hills, but for the purpose of beating bushes and low brushwood in which the flocks strayed, and where, snakes and other reptiles abounded. It may also have been used for correcting the shepherd dogs and keeping them in subjection (Van Lennep, Bible Lands, p. 188). (See Shepherd). </p> <p> In &nbsp;Hebrews 11:21 it is cited as an example of faith that the dying Jacob "worshipped [leaning] upon the top of his staff" ( '''''Προσεκύνησεν''''' '''''Ἐπὶ''''' '''''Τὸ''''' '''''Ἄκρον''''' '''''Τῆς''''' '''''Άβδου''''' '''''Αὑτοῦ''''' ), a statement which Romanists have sometimes appealed to as sanctioning the worship of images, on the pretense that the patriarch's staff bore a carved head (after the Vulg. ''Adoravit Fastigium Baculi Sui'' ) ''.'' These words are simply quoted from the Sept. at &nbsp;Genesis 47:31, where the Greek translator has mistaken '''''מַטָּה''''' , ''Bed,'' for '''''מִטֶּה''''' , ''Staff,'' as is obvious from the parallel passage (49:33). The phrase merely indicates a reverential posture such as David assumed (&nbsp;1 Kings 1:47). See Zeibich, ''De Jacobo [[Ad]] Caput Scipionis Adorante'' (Ger. 1783). (See [[Jacob]]). </p>

<p> ''''' staf ''''' : Many Hebrew terms are represented by this word. The "staves" of the ark translate the word בּד , <i> ''''' badh ''''' </i> , literally, "a part," hence, branch, bar, etc. (&nbsp; Exodus 25:13 , &nbsp;Exodus 25:14 , &nbsp;Exodus 25:15 , &nbsp;Exodus 25:27 , &nbsp;Exodus 25:28 , etc.). Other words, as <i> ''''' maṭṭeh ''''' </i> , <i> ''''' maḳḳēl ''''' </i> , <i> ''''' shēbhet ''''' </i> , used of the staff in the hand, the shepherd's staff, figuratively , "staff of bread" ( <i> ''''' maṭṭeh ''''' </i> , &nbsp;Ezekiel 4:16; &nbsp;Ezekiel 5:16; &nbsp;Ezekiel 14:13 ), as indispensable for support of life, are dealt with under [[Rod]] (which see). The New [[Testament]] word is ῥάβδος , <i> ''''' rhábdos ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Matthew 10:10 parallel &nbsp; Luke 9:3; &nbsp;Hebrews 11:21 ). See also [[Sceptre]] . </p>