Mattock

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MATTOCK. The mattock of   Isaiah 7:25 is rather the hoe with which land inaccessible to the plough was hoed noun and verb being the same here, cf.   Isaiah 5:6 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘hoed’ for AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘digged.’ For descriptions and illustrations of the triangular hoe and the mattock, or pick, of modern Palestine, see PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1901, p. 110 f., and Hastings’ DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] iii. 306. The passage   1 Samuel 13:20 f. is very corrupt, and in   1 Samuel 13:20 at least’ mattock’ should probably be ‘goad.’ The same applies to   2 Chronicles 34:6 , where AVm [Note: Authorized Version margin.] suggests ‘mauls,’ and RV [Note: Revised Version.] has ‘ruins.’

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Heb. herebh, marg. of text ( 2 Chronicles 34:6 ). Authorized Version, "with their mattocks," marg. "mauls." The Revised Version renders "in their ruins," marg. "with their axes." The Hebrew text is probably corrupt.

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

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Mattock'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/m/mattock.html. 1897.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. chereb, probably sword or tool.  2 Chronicles 34:6; the margin reads 'mauls,'

2. machareshah, ploughshare, coulter.  1 Samuel 13:20,21 .

3. mader, probably a hoe or spade.  Isaiah 7:25 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Mattock.  Isaiah 7:25. The Tool Used In Arabia For Loosening The Ground, described by Neibuhr, answers generally to our mattock or grubbing-axe, that is, a single-headed pickaxe. The ancient Egyptian hoe was of wood, and answered for hoe, spade and pick.

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) An implement for digging and grubbing. The head has two long steel blades, one like an adz and the other like a narrow ax or the point of a pickax.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 Isaiah 7:25. A single headed pickax or hoe, for loosening the ground.

King James Dictionary

MAT'TOCK, n. A tool to grub up weeds or roots a grubbing hoe.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

an old English name for an agricultural implement like a pickaxe with a wide point, for grubbing up and digging out roots and stones, is the rendering adopted in the Auth. Vers. for three Hebrew words. מִעְדֵּר (Mader', an instrument for Dressing or pruning a vineyard; occurs only in  Isaiah 7:25) denotes a Weeding-Hook or hoe; מִחֲרֵשָׁה (Machareshah',  1 Samuel 13:20) and מִחֲרֶשֶׁת (Machare'Sheth, "share,"  1 Samuel 13:20) are the names of two agricultural cutting instruments (for they needed sharpening by a smith), one of which is perhaps an ordinary hoe and the other a pick-axe (from הָרִשׁ, to Scrape; but the plur. of one is מַחֲרֵשׁוֹת; Machareshoth', "mattocks,"  1 Samuel 13:21). (See Plough). חֶרֶב (Che'Reb,  2 Chronicles 34:6; elsewhere usually a "sword") signifies any sharp instrument, as a knife, dagger, chisel; and possibly a Spade in the passage in question (marg. "maul"). The tool used in Arabia for loosening the ground, described by Niebuhr (Descr. De L'Arabie, p. 137), answers generally to our mattock or grubbing-axe (London, Encyclop. of Gardening, p. 617; Hasselquist, Trav. p. 100), i.e. a single-headed pickaxe, the sarculus simplex, as opposed to bicornis, of Palladius (De Re Rust. 1:43). The ancient Egyptian hoe was of wood, a and answered for hoe, spade, and mattock. The blade was inserted in or through the handle and the two were attached about the center by a twisted rope, See Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 2:16, 18, abridgm.; comp, Her. 2:14. (See Agriculture).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mat´ok  : The translation of 3 Hebrew words: (1) מחרשה , maḥărēshāh , probably "a pick-axe" (  1 Samuel 13:20 ,  1 Samuel 13:21; compare  1 Samuel 13:21 margin); (2) חרב , ḥerebh , "sword," "ax," "tool" ( 2 Chronicles 34:6 the King James Version, "with their mattocks," the King James Version margin "mauls," the Revised Version (British and American) "in their ruins," the Revised Version margin "with their axes"); (3) מעדּר , ma‛dēr , "a hoe," "rake," "chopping instrument" ( Isaiah 7:25 ). Vines were usually grown on terraces on the hills of Palestine, and then the mattock was in constant use. The usual mattock is a pick with one end broad, the other pointed.