Hebrew word · H4451
מַלְמֵד
bemalmad
oxgoad
Occurs only here. It is built on the root l-m-d, 'to learn'. In the form that means 'to teach or train' the root is used of training animals (Hos 10:11, 'a trained heifer'; Jer 31:18, 'a calf untrained'). So malmad is 'the trainer', the tool that teaches an ox where to go.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
ox goad
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Occurs only here. It is built on the root l-m-d, 'to learn'. In the form that means 'to teach or train' the root is used of training animals (Hos 10:11, 'a trained heifer'; Jer 31:18, 'a calf untrained'). So malmad is 'the trainer', the tool that teaches an ox where to go. The usual Hebrew word for goad is dorban/dorbon (1 Sam 13:21; Eccl 12:11).
- Against the English
'Oxgoad' is accurate. Modern readers, though, may picture a small switch. Ancient goads were long and heavy: poles of about 2–2.5 m (7–8 ft), with a metal spike at one end for prodding and often a flat iron blade at the other for scraping mud off the plough.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ancient Near Eastern farm practice and archaeological finds of goad tips. In 1 Sam 13:19–21 the Philistines control metalworking and Israelites have to pay them to sharpen their farm tools, goads included. The Vulgate translates the word 'ploughshare' (vomere), and the Greek tradition was also unsure of it.
Where it appears
Judges · 1
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Judges 3:31 בְּמַלְמַ֖ד with [the] goad of
After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.
Here: Occurs only here in the Bible. It comes from the root l-m-d, 'to train or teach', so the goad is literally the ox's 'trainer': a long farm pole with a metal point for prodding draft animals.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.