Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical literature, the term "reed" is used to describe various types of tall, slender, grass-like plants that grow in marshy or aquatic environments. The Hebrew word "qaneh" and the Greek word "kalamos" are often translated as "reed" in the Bible. Reeds were common in the ancient Near East and held significant cultural and symbolic meanings.
Physical Characteristics and UsesReeds are characterized by their hollow stems and jointed nodes. They can grow to considerable heights and are typically found in wetlands, along riverbanks, and in shallow waters. In biblical times, reeds were used for a variety of practical purposes. They were employed in the construction of baskets, mats, and even simple writing instruments. The flexibility and abundance of reeds made them a valuable resource for everyday life.
Symbolic SignificanceReeds carry rich symbolic meanings in the Bible. They often represent fragility and weakness due to their slender and easily bendable nature. In
2 Kings 18:21, the prophet Isaiah uses the imagery of a broken reed to describe the unreliability of relying on Egypt for support: "Now look, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it."
In the New Testament, reeds are associated with the suffering and mockery of Jesus Christ. During His trial and crucifixion, a reed was placed in His hand as a mock scepter, symbolizing the false homage paid to Him as "King of the Jews" (
Matthew 27:29-30): "And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, knelt down before Him, and mocked Him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' Then they spat on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly."
Reeds in Prophecy and ParableReeds also appear in prophetic and parabolic contexts. In
Isaiah 42:3, the prophet speaks of the coming Messiah with the words, "A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice." This passage highlights the compassion and gentleness of the Messiah, who will not crush the weak or extinguish the faint-hearted.
In the parables of Jesus, reeds are used to illustrate spiritual truths. For instance, in
Matthew 11:7, Jesus refers to John the Baptist, asking the crowd, "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?" This rhetorical question emphasizes John's steadfastness and strength of character, contrasting with the image of a reed easily swayed by external forces.
Reeds in Worship and MeasurementReeds were also used in the construction of musical instruments, such as flutes, which played a role in worship and celebration. Additionally, reeds served as measuring tools in ancient times. Ezekiel's vision of the new temple includes a measuring reed, symbolizing precision and divine order (
Ezekiel 40:3-5): "He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway."
In summary, reeds in the Bible are multifaceted symbols representing fragility, humility, and divine justice. They serve as reminders of human weakness and the gentle strength of God, who supports and sustains His people.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
ReedUnder this name may be noticed the following Hebrew words:
- Agmon occurs in (Job 40:12,16;Isaiah 9:14) (Authorized Version "rush"). There can be no doubt that it denotes some aquatic reed-like plant, probably thePhragmitis communis , which, if it does not occur in Palestine and Egypt, is represented by a very closely-allied species, viz., theArundo isiaca of Delisle. The drooping panicle of this plant will answer well to the "bowing down the head" of which Isaiah speaks. (Isaiah 58:5)
- Gnome , translated "rush" and "bulrush" by the Authorized Version, without doubt denotes the celebrated paper-reed of the ancients,Papyrus antiquorum , which formerly was common in some parts of Egypt. 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 north of the town. The papyrus plant has an angular stem from 3 to 6 feet high, though occasionally it grows to the height of 14 feet it has no leaves; the flowers are in very small spikelets, which grow on the thread-like flowering branchlets which form a bushy crown to each stem; (It was used for making paper, shoes, sails, ropes, mattresses, etc. The Greek name isBiblos , from which came our word Bible--book--because books were made of the papyrus paper. This paper was always expensive among the Greeks, being worth a dollar a sheet. --ED.)
- Kaneh , a reed of any kind. Thus there are in general four kinds of reeds named in the Bible: (1) The water reed; No, 1 above. (2) A stronger reed,Arundo donax , the true reed of Egypt and Palestine, which grows 8 or 10 feet high, and is thicker than a man's thumb. It has a jointed stalk like the bamboo, and is very abundant on the Nile. (3) The writing reed,Arundo scriptoria , was used for making pens. (4) The papyrus; No. 2.
ATS Bible Dictionary
ReedSometimes a stalk or rod of any plant, as of the hyssop,Matthew 27:48John 19:29.
Usually, however, the word reed denotes a reed or cane growing in marshy grounds,Job 40:21Isaiah 19:6; slender and fragile, and hence taken as an emblem of weakness,1 Kings 18:21Isaiah 36:6Ezekiel 29:6; and of instability,Matthew 11:7. "A bruised reed,"Isaiah 42:3Matthew 12:20, is an emblem of a soul crushed and ready to sink in despair under a sense of its guilty and lost condition. Such a soul the Saviour will graciously sustain and strengthen. The reed of spice, or good reed, (English version, "sweet calamus,"Exodus 30:23, "sweet cane"Jeremiah 6:20) also called simply reed, (English version, "calamus" or "sweet cane,")Isaiah 43:24; So 4:14;Ezekiel 27:19, is the sweet flag of India, calamus odoratus. Reeds were anciently used as pens and as measuring-rods,Ezekiel 40:5 42:16. The Hebrew "reed" is supposed to have been about ten feet long.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(1.) "Paper reeds" (Isaiah 19:7; R.V., "reeds"). Hebrews `aroth, properly green herbage growing in marshy places.
(2.) Hebrews kaneh (1 Kings 14:15;Job 40:21;Isaiah 19:6), whence the Gr. kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a reed of any kind.
The reed of Egypt and Palestine is the Arundo donax, which grows to the height of 12 feet, its stalk jointed like the bamboo, "with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly flat under a gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It is used to illustrate weakness (2 Kings 18:21;Ezek. 29:6), also fickleness or instability (Matthew 11:7; Comp.Ephesians 4:14).
A "bruised reed" (Isaiah 42:3;Matthew 12:20) is an emblem of a believer weak in grace. A reed was put into our Lord's hands in derision (Matthew 27:29); and "they took the reed and smote him on the head" (30). The "reed" on which they put the sponge filled with vinegar (Matthew 27:48) was, according to John (19:29), a hyssop stalk, which must have been of some length, or perhaps a bunch of hyssop twigs fastened to a rod with the sponge. (seeCANE.)
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
a.) Red.
2. (v. & n.) Same as Rede.
3. (n.) The fourth stomach of a ruminant; rennet.
4. (n.) A name given to many tall and coarse grasses or grasslike plants, and their slender, often jointed, stems, such as the various kinds of bamboo, and especially the common reed of Europe and North America (Phragmites communis).
5. (n.) A musical instrument made of the hollow joint of some plant; a rustic or pastoral pipe.
6. (n.) An arrow, as made of a reed.
7. (n.) Straw prepared for thatching a roof.
8. (n.) A small piece of cane or wood attached to the mouthpiece of certain instruments, and set in vibration by the breath. In the clarinet it is a single fiat reed; in the oboe and bassoon it is double, forming a compressed tube.
9. (n.) One of the thin pieces of metal, the vibration of which produce the tones of a melodeon, accordeon, harmonium, or seraphine; also attached to certain sets or registers of pipes in an organ.
10. (n.) A frame having parallel flat stripe of metal or reed, between which the warp threads pass, set in the swinging lathe or batten of a loom for beating up the weft; a sley. See Batten.
11. (n.) A tube containing the train of powder for igniting the charge in blasting.
12. (n.) Same as Reeding.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
MEASURING REED(qeneh hamiddah; kalamos): Used inEzekiel 40:5;; 42:16:00; 45:01:00;Revelation 11:1;Revelation 21:15, 16. The length of the reed is given as 6 cubits, each cubit being a cubit and a palm, i.e. the large cubit of 7 palms, or about 10 ft. SeeCUBIT. Originally it was an actual reed used for measurements of considerable length, but came at last to be used for a measure of definite length, as indicated by the reference in Ezekiel (compare "pole" in English measures).
REED
red:
(1) achu, translated "reed-grass" (Genesis 41:2, 18Job 8:11 margin). SeeFLAG.
(2) 'ebheh, translated "swift," margin "reed" (Job 9:26). The "ships of reed" are the light skiffs made of plaited reeds used on the Nile; compare "vessels of papyrus" (Isaiah 18:2).
(3) 'aghammim, translated "reeds," margin "marshes," Hebrew "pools" (Jeremiah 51:32); elsewhere "pools" (Exodus 7:19;Exodus 8:5Isaiah 14:23, etc.). SeePOOL.
(4) `aroth; achi, translated "meadows," the King James Version "paper reeds" (Isaiah 19:7). SeeMEADOW.
(5) qaneh; kalamos (the English "cane" comes from Hebrew via Latin and Greek canna), "stalk" (Genesis 41:5, 22); "shaft" (Exodus 37:17, etc.); "reed," or "reeds" (1 Kings 14:152 Kings 18:21Isaiah 36:6;Isaiah 42:3Psalm 68:30, the King James Version "spearman"); "calamus" (Exodus 30:23Songs 4:14Ezekiel 27:19); "sweet cane," margin "calamus" (Isaiah 43:24Jeremiah 6:20); "bone" (Job 31:22); used of the cross-beam of a "balance" (Isaiah 46:6); "a measuring reed" (Ezekiel 40:3); "a staff of reed," i.e. a walking-stick (Isaiah 36:6Ezekiel 29:6); the "branches" of a candlestick (Exodus 37:18).
(6) kalamos, "a reed shaken with the wind" (Matthew 11:7Luke 7:24); "a bruised reed" (Matthew 12:20); they put "a reed in his right hand" (Matthew 27:29, 30); "They smote his head with a reed" (Mark 15:19); "put it on a reed" (Matthew 27:48Mark 15:36); "a measuring reed" (Revelation 11:1;Revelation 21:15, 16); "a pen" (3John 1:13).
It is clear that qaneh and its Greek equivalent kalamos mean many things. Some refer to different uses to which a reed is put, e.g. a cross-beam of a balance, a walking-stick, a measuring rod, and a pen (see above), but apart from this qaneh is a word used for at least two essentially different things:
(1) an ordinary reed, and
(2) some sweet-smelling substance.
(1) The most common reed in Palestine is the Arundo donax (Natural Order Gramineae), known in Arabic as qacabfarasi, "Persian reed." It grows in immense quantities in the Jordan valley along the river and its tributaries and at the oases near the Dead Sea, notably around `Ain Feshkhah at the northwest corner. It is a lofty reed, often 20 ft. high, of a beautiful fresh green in summer when all else is dead and dry, and of a fine appearance from a distance in the spring months when it is in full bloom and the beautiful silky panicles crown the top of every reed. The "covert of the reed" (Job 40:21) shelters a large amount of animal and bird life. This reed will answer to almost all the requirements of the above references.
(2) Qaneh is inJeremiah 6:20 qualified qaneh ha-Tobh, "sweet" or "pleasant cane," and inExodus 30:23, qeneh bhosem, "sweet calamus," or, better, a "cane of fragrance."Songs 4:14Isaiah 43:24Ezekiel 27:19 all apparently refer to the same thing, though in these passages the qaneh is unqualified. It was an ingredient of the holy oil (Exodus 30:23); it was imported from a distance (Jeremiah 6:20Ezekiel 27:19), and it was rare and costly (Isaiah 43:24). It may have been the "scented calamus" (Axorus calamus) of Pliny (NH, xii.48), or some other aromatic scented reed or flag, or, as some think, some kind of aromatic bark. The sweetness refers to the scent, not the taste.
See alsoBULRUSH;PAPYRUS.
E. W. G. Masterman
REED, MEASURING
mezh'-ur-ing (qeneh ha-middah): In Ezekiel's vision of the temple a "man" (an angel) appears with a "measuring reed" to measure the dimensions of the temple (Ezekiel 40:3; 42:16). The reed is described as 6 cubits long, "of a cubit and a handbreadth each," i.e. the cubit used was a handbreadth longer than the common cubit (see CUBIT; WEIGHTS AND MEASURES; TEMPLE). In the Apocalypse this idea of a measuring reed reappears for measuring the temple (Revelation 11:1) and the holy city (Revelation 21:15, 16, "a golden reed"). The thought conveyed is exactitude in the dimensions of these edifices, symbolic of the symmetry and perfection of God's church.
James Orr
Greek
2563. kalamos -- areed... a
reed. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: kalamos Phonetic Spelling:
(kal'-am-os) Short Definition: a
reed,
reed-pen Definition: a
reed; a
reed...4711. spuris -- a (large, flexible) basket (for carrying...
... Definition: a plaited basket. 4711 -- literally, a tightly wound (plaited)
basket; a "hamper,reed basket" (J. Thayer). Word Origin of...
2583. kanon -- a rule, standard
... From kane (a straightreed, ie Rod); a rule ("canon"), ie (figuratively) a standard
(of faith and practice); by implication, a boundary, ie (figuratively) a...
Strong's Hebrew
7070. qaneh -- a stalk,reed... 7069, 7070. qaneh. 7071 . a stalk,
reed. Transliteration: qaneh Phonetic
Spelling: (kaw-neh') Short Definition: branches. Word Origin
...16. ebeh --reed, papyrus
... 15, 16. ebeh. 17 .reed, papyrus. Transliteration: ebeh Phonetic Spelling:
(ay-beh') Short Definition:reed. Word Origin from abah...
5748. uggab -- (areed musical instrument) perhaps a flute
... uggab or uggab. 5749 . (areed musical instrument) perhaps a flute. Transliteration:
uggab or uggab Phonetic Spelling: (oo-gawb') Short Definition: flute....
5489. Suph -- "reed," a place near which the law was given
... 5488, 5489. Suph. 5490 . "reed," a place near which the law was given.
Transliteration: Suph Phonetic Spelling: (soof) Short Definition: Suph....
1573. gome -- a rush,reed, papyrus
... 1572, 1573. gome. 1574 . a rush,reed, papyrus. Transliteration: gome
Phonetic Spelling: (go'-meh) Short Definition: papyrus. Word...
6169. arah -- bare place
... paperreed. Feminine from arah; a naked (ie Level) plot -- paperreed. see
HEBREW arah. 6168, 6169. arah. 6170 . Strong's Numbers.
5464. sagrir -- steady or persistent rain
... 5463, 5464. sagrir. 5465 . steady or persistent rain. Transliteration:
sagrir Phonetic Spelling: (sag-reed') Short Definition: rain....
8300. sarid -- a survivor
... 8299, 8300. sarid. 8301 . a survivor. Transliteration: sarid Phonetic
Spelling: (saw-reed') Short Definition: survivor. Word Origin...
5488. suph -- reeds, rushes
... flag, Red sea, weed. Probably of Egyptian origin; areed, especially the papyrus --
flag, Red (sea), weed. Compare Cuwph. see HEBREW Cuwph. 5487, 5488....
8301. Sariyd -- a city on the border of Zebulun
... 8300, 8301. Sariyd. 8301a . a city on the border of Zebulun. Transliteration:
Sariyd Phonetic Spelling: (suw-reed') Short Definition: Sarid. Sarid...
Library
Reed
...Reed.Reed, Andrew, an English Independent minister, was born in London
November 27, 1787; was graduated from Hackney College, and...
TheReed
... FOR THE CHILDREN THEREED. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899.... The green reeds have no
blossom bright". I would not be areed. For all the summer flowers declare....
Of the Measure of the Interior Court by theReed of God, with the...
... Of the Measure of the Interior Court by theReed of God, with the Snares of the
Seven-headed Dragon, and his Battle with Michael concerning the Birth of the...
Letter R
... John "Received 1826, Located 1836 * Redman, Stewart "Received 1790, Located 1795 *
Redman, William W. "Received 1820, Located 1830 *Reed, Benjamin N...
As in a Race Saw I the Disputers, the Children of Strife, [Trying]...
... 5. Instead of thereed which the former people made the Son hold, others have dared
with theirreed [552] to write in their tracts that He is only a Son of man...
Matt. xxvii. 27-29.
... band of soldiers; and they stripped Him, and put on Him a purple robe; and when
they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and areed in His...
The Germination of the Earth.
... How then, they say, can Scripture describe all the plants of the earth as seed-bearing,
when thereed, couch-grass, [1537] mint, crocus, garlic, and the...
On the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist
... a man clothed in soft garments? or did ye go out into the desert to see a
reed shaken with the wind?" No, he was none of these things....
John Chapter xix. 24-30.
... For as we read in the other evangelists, what is omitted by this one, it was fixed
on areed, [1905] so that such drink as was contained in the sponge might be...
Christ the Arrester of Incipient Evil and the Nourisher of...
... CHRIST THE ARRESTER OF INCIPIENT EVIL AND THE NOURISHER OF INCIPIENT GOOD. 'A bruised
reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench.......
Thesaurus
Reed (41 Occurrences)... kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a
reed of any kind.
... A "bruised
reed" (Isaiah
42:3; Matthew 12:20) is an emblem of a believer weak in grace.
...Measuring-reed (6 Occurrences)
Measuring-reed. Measuring-line, Measuring-reed. Measuring-rod .
Multi-Version Concordance Measuring-reed (6 Occurrences)....
Reed-grass (3 Occurrences)
Reed-grass. Reedgrass,Reed-grass.Reed-plants .
Int. Standard Bible EncyclopediaREED-GRASS....
Reed-boats (1 Occurrence)
Reed-boats.Reed,Reed-boats. Reedgrass . Multi-Version Concordance
Reed-boats (1 Occurrence). Job 9:26 They go rushing...
Reed-plants (1 Occurrence)
Reed-plants.Reed-grass,Reed-plants. Reeds . Multi-Version
ConcordanceReed-plants (1 Occurrence). Hosea 13:15 Though...
Reeds (27 Occurrences)
... Can thereed-grass grow without water? (See RSV NIV). Job 40:21 He lieth under the
lotus-trees, in the covert of thereed, and fens. (See NAS RSV NIV)....
Measuring (42 Occurrences)
... H. Porter. MEASURINGREED.... The length of thereed is given as 6 cubits, each cubit
being a cubit and a palm, ie the large cubit of 7 palms, or about 10 ft....
Measureth (24 Occurrences)
... Ezekiel 40:5 And lo, a wall on the outside of the house all round about, and in
the hand of the man a measuring-reed, six cubits by a cubit and a handbreadth...
Flag (30 Occurrences)
... or rather Egyptian, ahu, Job 8:11), rendered "meadow" in Genesis 41:2, 18; probably
the Cyperus esculentus, a species of rush eaten by cattle, the Nilereed....
Threshhold (12 Occurrences)
... 40:6 Then he came to the gate which looketh towards the east, and ascended its stairs,
and measured the threshhold of the gate, which was onereed broad; and...
Resources
What does it mean that “a bruised reed He will not break” in Matthew 12:20? | GotQuestions.orgDid the Israelites in the book of Exodus cross the Red Sea or the Reed Sea? | GotQuestions.orgWhat does it mean that “the smoking flax He will not quench” in Matthew 12:20? | GotQuestions.orgReed: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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