Rush

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A moving forward with rapidity and force or eagerness; a violent motion or course; as, a rush of troops; a rush of winds; a rush of water.

(2): ( n.) A name given to many aquatic or marsh-growing endogenous plants with soft, slender stems, as the species of Juncus and Scirpus.

(3): ( v. i.) To move forward with impetuosity, violence, and tumultuous rapidity or haste; as, armies rush to battle; waters rush down a precipice.

(4): ( v. i.) To enter into something with undue haste and eagerness, or without due deliberation and preparation; as, to rush business or speculation.

(5): ( n.) Great activity with pressure; as, a rush of business.

(6): ( n.) The merest trifle; a straw.

(7): ( v. t.) To recite (a lesson) or pass (an examination) without an error.

(8): ( v. t.) To push or urge forward with impetuosity or violence; to hurry forward.

(9): ( n.) A perfect recitation.

(10): ( n.) A rusher; as, the center rush, whose place is in the center of the rush line; the end rush.

(11): ( n.) The act of running with the ball.

King James Dictionary

RUSH, n. Heb. usually rendered sea-weed, and applied to the Arabic gulf,  Deuteronomy 1:1;  Numbers 21:14 . This correspondence deserves notice, as illustrating certain passages in the Scriptures.

1. A plant of the genus Juncus of many species. The pith of the rush is used in some places for wicks to lamps and rush lights. 2. Any thing proverbially worthless or of trivial value.

John Bull's friendship is not worth a rush.

RUSH,

1. To move or drive forward with impetuosity, violence and tumultuous rapidity as, armies rush to battle waters rush down a precipice winds rush through the forest. We ought never to rush into company, much less into a religious assembly. 2. To enter with undue eagerness, or without due deliberation and preparation as, to rush into business or speculation to rush into the ministry.

RUSH, To push forward with violence. Not used.

RUSH, n. A driving forward with eagerness and haste a violent motion or course as a rush of troops a rush of winds.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Translated bulrush in  Isaiah 58:5 , flag in  Job 40:21 , and hook in  Job 41:2; a plant growing in marshy ground or by watercourses, and used for chair-bottoms, baskets, mats, ropes, etc. The pith of a similar plant in Europe is used as the wick of a candle or rush-light. In  Isaiah 9:14;  19:15 , a rush is put for the lowest of the people.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

גמא ,  Exodus 2:3;  Job 8:11;  Isaiah 18:2;  Isaiah 35:7; a plant crowing in the water at the sides of rivers, and in marshy grounds.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Job 8:11Bulrush  Isaiah 9:14 19:15

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is the rendering in the A.V. of two Heb. words, both of which are occasionally translated "bulrush" (q.v.).

1 . Agmon ( אָגַמוֹן ; Sept. Κρίκος , Ἄνθραξ , Μικρός , Τέλος ; Vulg. Circulus , Fervens , Referenans ) occurs in Job 40:26 (A.V. 41:2), "Canst thou put Agmon " (A.V. "hook") into the nose of the crocodile? again, in 40:12 (A.V. 41:20), "Out of his nostrils goeth smoke as out of a seething pot or agmosen" (A.V. "caldron"). In  Isaiah 9:14, it is said Jehovah "will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and Agmon " (A.V. "rush"). The Agmon is mentioned also as an Egyptian plant, in a sentence similar to the last, in  Isaiah 19:15 (A.V. "rush"); while from  Isaiah 58:5 (A.V. "bulrush") we learn that the Agmon had a pendulous panicle. The term is allied closely to the Heb. Agam ( אָגָ ם ), which, like the corresponding Arabic Ajam , denotes a marshy pool or reed bed (see  Jeremiah 51:32, for this latter signification). Again is also considered to be derived from the same root as גּמֵא , Gome , the papyrus (see No. 2 below). Some have even concluded that both names indicate the same thing, and have translated them by Juncus , or rush. The expression "Canst thou put Agmon " into the crocodile's nose? has been variously explained. The most probable interpretation is that which supposes allusion is made to the mode of passing a reed or a rush through the gills of fish in order to carry them home; but see the commentaries and notes of Rosenm Ü ller, Schultens, Lee, Cary, Mason Good, etc. The Agmon of  Job 41:20 seems to be derived from an Arabic root signifying to "be burning;" hence the Fervens of the Vulg. Rushes were used anciently for cords ( Job 41:2) and for other purposes; nevertheless, they are proverbially without value. Figuratively the term is used of the least important class of people ( Isaiah 9:14;  Isaiah 19:15;  Isaiah 58:5;  Jeremiah 51:32).

There is some doubt as to the specific identity of the agmon, some believing that the word denotes "a rush" as well as a "reed" (see Rosenm Ü ller [Bibl. Bot. p. 184] and Winer [Realw Ö rterb. 2, 484]). Celsius (Hierob. 1, 465 sq.) has argued in favor of the Arundo phragmites (now Phragmites communis). That the agmon denotes some specific plant is probable from the passages where it occurs, as well as from the fact that kaneh ( קָנֶה ) is the generic term for reeds in generalh Lobo, in his Voyage D ' Abyssinie , says the Red Sea was seen to be literally Red only in places where the Gonemon was abundant. What this herb is does not elsewhere appear. Forskal applies the name of Ghobeibe to a species of arundo, which he considered closely allied to A. Phragmites. M. Bove, in his Voyage Botanique En Egypte , observed, especially on the borders of the Nile, quantities of Saccharum Aegyptiacum and of Arundo Egyptiaca , which is, perhaps, only a variety of A. Donax , the cultivated Spanish or Cyprus reed, or, as it is usually called in the south of Europe, Canna ana Cana. In the neighborhood of Cairo he found Poa Cynosuroides (the kusha, or cusa, or sacred grass of the Hindus), which, he says, serves "aux habitans pour faire des cordes, chauffer leurs fours, et cuire des briques et poteries. Le Saccharum Cylindricum est employs aux memes usages." The Egyptian species of arundo is probably the A. Isiaca of Delile, which is closely allied to A. Phragmites , and its uses may be supposed to be very similar to those of the latter. This species is often raised to the rank of a genus under the name of phragmites, so named from being employed for making partitions, etc. It is about six feet high, with annual stems, and is abundant about the banks of pools and rivers and in marshes. The panicle of flowers is very large, much subdivided, a little drooping and waving in the wind. The plant is used for thatching, making screens, garden fences, etc.; when split it is made into string, mats, and matches. It is the Gemeines Rohr of the Germans, and the Canna or Cana Palustre of the Italians and Spaniards. Any of the species of reed here enumerated will suit the different passages in which the word Agmon occurs; but several species of saccharum, growing to a great size in moist situations and reed like in appearance, will also fulfil all the conditions required — as affording shelter for the behemoth or hippopotamus, being convertible into ropes, forming a contrast with their hollow stems to the solidity and strength of the branches of trees, and when dry easily set on fire; and when in flower their light and feathery inflorescence may be bent down by the slightest wind that blows. (See Reed).

2. Gome ( גֹּמֶא ; Sept. Πάπειρος , Βίβλινος , Ἔλος ; Vulg. Scirpeus , Scurpus , Papyrus , Juncus ) is found four times in the Bible. Moses was hidden in a vessel made of the papyrus ( Exodus 2:3; A.V. "bulrushes"). Transit boats were made out of the same material by the Ethiopians ( Isaiah 18:2; A.V. "bulrushes"). The gome (A.V. "rush") is mentioned together with kaneh, the usual generic term for "a reed." in  Isaiah 35:7, and in  Job 8:11, where it is asked, "Can the Gome (A.V. "rush") grow without mire?" The name Gome , according to Celsius ( Hierob. 2, 138), is derived from גמא , "absorbere, bibere, quia in aqua nascitur, et aquam semper imbibit" (comp. Lucan, Phars. 4, 136). Though other plants are adduced by translators and commentators as the gome of Scripture, yet it is evident that only the papyrus can be meant, and that it is well suited to all the passages. Being in some respects so obvious, it could not escape the notice of all translators. Hence, in the Arabic version and in the Annals of Eutychius, the word burdi, the modern Arab name of the papyrus, is given as the synonym of gome in  Exodus 2:3. In Arabic authors on materia medica we find the papyrus mentioned under the three heads of Fafir , Burdi , and Chartas. Fafir is said to be the Egyptian name of a kind of burdi (bur reed) of which paper (charta) is made; and of burdi, the word fafururs (evidently a corruption of papyrus) is given as the Greek synonym. (See Paper Reed).

(1.) The papyrus is now well known; it belongs to the tribe of Sedges , or Cyperaceoe , and is not a rush or bulrush, as in the A.V. It may be seen growing to the height of six or eight feet, even in tubs in the hot houses of England, and is described by the ancients as growing in the shallow parts of the Nile. The root is fleshy, thick, and spreading; the stems triangular, eight or ten feet in height, of which two or so are usually under water, thick below, but tapering towards the apex, and destitute of leaves. The base leaves are broad, straight, and sword shaped, but much shorter than the stem. This last is terminated by an involucel of about eight leaves, sword shaped and acute much shorter than the many-rayed umbel which they support. The secondary umbels are composed of only three or four short rays, with an involucel of three awl-shaped leaflets. The flowers are in a short spike at the extremity of each ray. Cassiodorus, as quoted by Carpenter, graphically described it as it appears on the banks of the Nile: "There rises to the view this forest without branches, this thicket without leaves, this harvest of the waters, this ornament of the marshes." It is found in stagnant pools as well as in running streams, in which latter case, according to Bruce, one of its angles is always opposed to the current of the stream.

The papyrus was well known to the ancients as a plant of the waters of Egypt: "Papyrsum nascitur in palustribus AEgypti, aut quiescentibus Nili aquis, ubi evagatae stagnant" (Pliny, 13, 11). Theophrastus, at a much earlier period, described it as growing not in the deep parts, but where the water was of the depth of two cubits or even less. It was found in almost every part of Egypt inundated by the Nile, in the Delta — especially in the Sebennytic nome — and in the neighborhood of Memphis, etc. By some it was thought peculiar to Egypt; hence the Nile is called by Ovid "amnis papyrifer." So a modern author, Prosper Alpinus (De Plant. AEgypti, c. 36): "Papyrus, quam berd AEgyptii nominant, est planta fluminis Nili." By others it was thought to be a native, also, of India, of the Euphrates near Babylon, of Syria, and of Sicily. The genus cyperus, indeed, to which it is usually referred, abounds in a great variety of large aquatic species, which it is difficult for the generality of observers to distinguish from one another; but there is no reason why it should not grow in the waters of hot countries, as, for instance, near Babylon or in India. In fact, modern botanists having divided the genus cyperus into several genera, one of them is called papyrus and the original species P. Nilotica. Of this genus papyrus there are several species in the waters of India (Wight, Contributions to the Botany of India, "Cyperees, "p. 88).

The papyrus reed is not now found in Egypt; it grows, however, in Syria. Dr. Hooker saw it on the banks of Lake Tiberias, a few miles

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Fig. 305—Papyrus

The Hebrew word gome, translated 'rush' and 'bulrush' in our Authorized Version should be rendered papyrus.

This plant is now well known: it belongs to the tribe of sedges, and is not a rush or bulrush, as in the Authorized Version. It may be seen growing to the height of six or eight feet, even in tubs, in the hothouses of this country, and is described by the ancients as growing in the shallow parts of the Nile. The root is fleshy, thick, and spreading; the stems triangular, eight or ten feet in height, of which two or so are usually under water, thick below but tapering towards the apex, and destitute of leaves; those of the base broad, straight, and sword-shaped, but much shorter than the stem. Cassiodorus, as quoted by Carpenter, graphically described it as it appears on the banks of the Nile, 'There rises to the view this forest without branches, this thicket without leaves, this harvest of the waters, this ornament of the marshes.'

The papyrus was well known to the ancients as a plant of the waters of Egypt. It was found in almost every part of Egypt inundated by the Nile, in the Delta, especially in the Sebennytic nome, and in the neighborhood of Memphis, etc. By some it was thought peculiar to Egypt; by others it was thought to be a native also of India, of the Euphrates near Babylon, of Syria, and of Sicily; and there is no reason why it should not grow in the waters of hot countries, as, for instance, near Babylon or in India.

A brief description of the uses of this plant, as given in the works of the ancients, is thus summed up by Parkinson in his Herbal, p. 1207: 'The plant, say the ancients, is sweete, and used by the Egyptians, before that bread of corne was known unto them, for their food, and in their time was chawed, and the sweetnesse sucked forth, the rest being spit out; the roote serveth them not only for fewell to burne, but to make many sorts of vessels to use, for it yielded much matter for the purpose. The stalke is profitable to many uses, as to make ships, and of the barke to weave, and make sailes, mats, carpets, some kinds of garments, and ropes also.' The construction of papyrus boats is mentioned by Theophrastus; and Plutarch says, 'Isis circumnavigated the marshes in a papyrus wherry for the purpose of collecting the pieces of Osiris's body.' From Heliodorus's account it appears that the Ethiopians made use of similar boats; for he relates that the Ethiopians passed in reed wherries over the Astaboras; and he adds that these reed wherries were swift sailing, being made of a light material, and not capable of carrying more than two or three men. Bruce relates that a similar kind of boat was made in Abyssinia even in his time, having a keel of acacia wood, to which the papyrus plants, first sewed together, are fastened, being gathered up before and behind, and the ends of the plants thus tied together. Representations of some Egyptian boats are given in the Pictorial Bible (ii. p. 135); where the editor remarks that when a boat is described as being of reeds or rushes or papyrus (as in Egypt), a covering of skin or bitumen is to be understood. That the papyrus was employed for making paper is also well known, and Wilkinson mentions that from ancient paper being found at Thebes and elsewhere, it is evident that this application of it was much anterior to the time of Alexander the Great.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(1) ( גּמא , gōme'  ; πάπυρος , pápuros , "bulrushes," margin "papyrus" (  Exodus 2:3 ); "rush," margin "papyrus" ( Job 8:11 ); "papyrus," the King James Version "rush" ( Isaiah 18:2 ); "rushes" ( Isaiah 35:7 )): This is almost certainly the famous papyrus, Cyperus papyrus (Natural Order, Cyperaceae ), known in Arabic as babir (whence comes our word "paper"). This plant, the finest of the sedges, flourishes plentifully in Upper Egypt; in Palestine there is a great mass of it growing in the marsh to the North of Lake Huleh, and it also occurs on the Lake of Galilee and the Jordan. Light boats of plaited papyrus have been used on the Nile from ancient times and are mentioned by many writers (compare  Exodus 2:3;  Isaiah 18:2 ).

(2) ( אגמון , 'aghmōn , "rope," margin "Hebrew 'a rope of rushes,' " the King James Version "hook" (  Job 41:2 ): "(burning) rushes," the King James Version "caldron" ( Job 41:20 ); "rush," the King James Version "bulrush" ( Isaiah 58:5 ); "rush" in  Isaiah 9:14;  Isaiah 19:15 , used of the humble and lowly folk as contrasted with the "palm branch," the highest class): The word 'aghmōn comes from אגם , 'ăgham , meaning a marsh (see Pools ), being transferred from the place of the things growing there. The word doubtless includes not only the rushes - of which there are several kinds in Palestine - but also members of the sedge family, the Cyperaceae. See also Reed .