Besom

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Besom (lit. ‘sweeper’) occurs only fig.   Isaiah 14:23 , ‘I will sweep it [Babylon] with the sweeper of destruction.’ One such besom of twigs the writer remembers having seen in the museum of Egyptian antiquities in Cairo.

A. R. S. Kennedy.

King James Dictionary

BE'SOM, n. s as z. A broom a brush of twigs for sweeping.

I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of Hosts.  Isaiah 14

BE'SOM, To sweep, as with a besom.

Rolls back all Greece,and besoms wide the plain.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) A brush of twigs for sweeping; a broom; anything which sweeps away or destroys.

(2): (v. t.) To sweep, as with a besom.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A broom or brush for sweeping. Before "the besom of destruction," the hosts of God's enemies are like the dust of the floor,  Isaiah 14:23 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Be'som. A Brush Or Broom Of Twigs For Sweeping.  Isaiah 14:23.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Anglo-Saxon name for a broom made of twigs.  Isaiah 14:23 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Isaiah 14:23

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Isaiah 14:23

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( מִטְאֲטֵ ‹ , Matate, a Sweeper ) , occurs only in the phrase "besom of destruction," i.e. desolating Broom, with which Babylonia is threatened ( Isaiah 14:23); a metaphor frequent still in the East for utter ruin (Roberts, Orient. Illustr. in loc.).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bē´zum  : Occurs only once in Scripture: "I will sweep it with the besom of destruction" ( Isaiah 14:23 ). Refers to what was in store for Babylon. The Hebrew word maṭ'ăṭē' , rendered "besom," is close of kin to the one ( tı̄'ṭē'thı̄hā ) rendered "sweep." In early English "besom" was synonymous with "broom," and is still so used in some parts of England.