Hammer

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Heb. mappets, rendered "battle-axe" in Jeremiah 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."

Copyright StatementThese dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. Entry for 'Hammer'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/h/hammer.html. 1897.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Besides its ordinary sense, used for any overwhelming power, earthly (Jeremiah 50:23, "the hammer of the whole earth," Babylon, as Martel, "little hammer," was a title of the Frank king) or spiritual (Jeremiah 23:29, "is not My word like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?".) Compare Nahum 2:1 margin

Holman Bible Dictionary

Judges 5:26

Hammers were used in cutting stone (1 Kings 6:7 ), working common and precious metals (Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 44:12 ), and for woodworking (Jeremiah 10:4 ). A hammer-like weapon was also used in battle (Jeremiah 51:20 “shatterer” NAS margin; Ezekiel 9:2 “shattering weapon”). See Arms And Armor .

The hammer was a symbol of power. God's word is pictured as a hammer (Jeremiah 23:29 ). Babylon is mocked as a hammer whose strength has failed (Jeremiah 50:23 ). See Tools .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

HAMMER . See Arts and Crafts, §§ 1 , 2 , 3 .

King James Dictionary

HAM'MER, n. An instrument for driving nails, beating metals, and the like. It consists of an iron head, fixed crosswise to a handle. Hammers are of various sizes a large hammer used by smiths is called a sledge.

HAM'MER, To beat with a hammer as, to hammer iron or steel.

1. To form or forge with a hammer to shape by beating. 2. To work in the mind to contrive by intellectual labor usually with out as, to hammer out a scheme.

HAM'MER, To work to be busy to labor in contrivance.

1. To be working or in agitation.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

1 Kings 6:7 (c) By this figure the Lord is informing us that the house of GOD is to be a divine institution, built in the quiet of His presence, and because of the still small voice teaching us. There is to be no dissension nor quarreling in regard to it. The Lord Himself makes each living stone a part of the building, and then He brings us together to form the local church made up of sinners already saved by grace. GOD's church is not a product of man's ideas.

Jeremiah 23:29 (a) The Word of GOD is thus represented. There are many kinds of hammers such as the hammer of the blacksmith, the goldsmith, the carpenter, the stone mason, et cetera. Some are for heavy, rough work, others are for fine delicate work; so the Scriptures are used for every kind of need or purpose in life.

Jeremiah 50:23 (a) This type is used to describe Babylon. GOD picked out the armies of Babylon to punish and to destroy the nations of the earth. He used Babylon to whip Israel and Judah. GOD has a perfect right to choose anyone He pleases, saved or unsaved, to carry out His purposes and His plans.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ham´ẽr  : The Hebrew מקּבת , maḳḳebheth , occurs in Judges 4:21 , where it refers to the mallet (probably wooden) used to drive tent-pins into the ground. The same word occurs in 1 Kings 6:7; Isaiah 44:12; Jeremiah 10:4 as applied to a workman's hammer. פטּישׁ , paṭṭı̄sh (compare Arabic, faṭı̄s ), occurs in Isaiah 41:7; Jeremiah 23:29; Jeremiah 50:23 . It was probably a blacksmith's hammer or heavy hammer used for breaking rock. There is doubt about the rendering of Judges 5:26 , where the word, הלמוּת , halmūth , occurs. From the context, the instrument mentioned was probably not a hammer. In Psalm 74:6 , כּילף , kēlāph , is better translated "axes," not "hammers." See Tools .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

an indispensable tool designated by several Heb. terms:

1. Patiish' (פִּטַּושׁ, connected etymologically with πατάσσω, to strike), which was used by the gold-beater (Isaiah 41:7, Sept. σφῦρα ) to overlay with silver and "smooth" the surface of the image, as well as by the quarryman (Jeremiah 23:29, Sept. πέλυζ ); metaphorically of Babylon as a destructive agent (Jeremiah 1, 23, Sept. σφῦρα). This seems to have been the heaviest instrument of the kind for hard blows.

2. Makkabah' (מִקָּבָח ), properly a tool for hollowing, hence a stonecutter's mallet (1 Kings 6:7), and generally any workman's hammer (Judges 4:21 [where the form is מִקֶּבֶת Smakke'beth]; Isaiah 44:12; Jeremiah 10:4). In Isaiah the Sept. uses τἐρετρον, a gimlet, in all the rest σφῦρα; Vulg. malleus. (See Maccabaeus).

3. Halmuth' (הִלַמוּת ); used only in Judges 5:26; Sept. σφῦρα, Vulg. mallei [q. d. הלמוֹת ]; and then with the addition of the word "workmen's" by way of explanation, as this is a poetical word, used instead of the preceding more prosaic term. The pins of the tent of the Bedouin are generally of wood, and are driven into the ground by a mallet, which is probably the "hammer" referred to in this passage (Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 149). Dr. Hackett observes (Amer. ed. of Smith's Dict. s.v.) that "it is spoken of as ‘ the hammer,' being the one kept for that purpose;" but the Hebrew term used in Judges 5, 26 (to which he refers) is without the art., which is employed, however, with that found in Judges 4:21. (See Nail).

4. A kind of hammer, named mappets' (מִפֵּוֹ ), Jeremiah 51:20 (A.V. "battle-axe"), or mephits' (מֵפַיוֹ ), Proverbs 25:18 (A.V. "maul"), was used as a weapon of war.

5. Only in the plur. (כֵּילִפּוֹת, keylappoth', Sept. λαξυτήρια Vulg. ascice), a poetic term equivalent to the preceding (Psalms 74:6). (See Handicraft).

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

German Orientalist and historian, born at Grätz; author of a "History of the Ottoman Empire" (1774-1856).