Hebrew word · H4938

מִשְׁעֶ֫נֶת

mish'enet

staff

Staff, walking stick, support. From šāʿan, 'to lean, to rely on'. Figuratively, any support or prop.

Appears 12 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

staff

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

From the study of Psalm 23:4

Range of meaning

Staff, walking stick, support. From šāʿan, 'to lean, to rely on'. Figuratively, any support or prop.

Against the English

English 'staff' is accurate. The popular picture of a hooked crook for pulling sheep out of pits comes from European pastoral art more than from this word, which simply means 'something to lean on'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used for an old man's walking stick (Zech 8:4) and Elisha's staff (2 Kgs 4:29–31). In Exod 21:19 a man 'walks about on his mišʿenet'. In Isa 36:6 Egypt is a 'staff' of broken reed: a support that fails anyone who leans on it.

From the study of Isaiah 36:6

Range of meaning

Staff, walking stick, support. It comes from shāʿan, 'to lean, rest one's weight'. It is used for an old man's stick (Zech 8:4), a shepherd's or traveller's staff (Ps 23:4; Exod 21:19), and figuratively for whatever a person leans on.

Against the English

'Staff' is accurate. English loses the link to the verb 'lean', which Hebrew hearers would catch.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah uses the same root for misplaced reliance: 'they lean (yishshāʿēnû) on horses' (31:1), 'you leaned on oppression' (30:12). He also uses it for the right kind: 'they will lean on the LORD' (10:20). Isa 3:1 threatens to take away 'stay and staff' (mashʿēn ûmashʿēnāh) from Jerusalem.

From the study of 2 Kings 4:29

Range of meaning

From the root sh-'-n, 'to lean on, rely on': 'something to lean on,' a walking staff. It was carried by travelers, old people, the injured (Exod 21:19; Zech 8:4) and leaders (Num 21:18). It is also used in a picture sense: 'your rod and your staff, they comfort me' (Ps 23:4), and Egypt as a 'staff of broken reed' that fails those who lean on it (Isa 36:6 uses a related form).

Against the English

'Staff' is accurate in every major version. English loses the root idea of 'support, something to rely on,' which gives a quiet irony here: will the prophet's 'support' hold up without the prophet?

Used elsewhere in the period

In Judges 6:21 the angel of YHWH touches the offering with the tip of his mish'enet and fire comes out. A messenger's staff carries power there too. The more famous Moses staff (Exod 4:17, 20, 'the staff of God') uses a different word, matteh, but readers would have had the idea of a holy man's staff as a channel for God's acts. In the wider ancient Near East, a staff or scepter stood for the authority of the person who owned it. The Septuagint renders it baktēria, 'walking stick.'

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 21:19 מִשְׁעַנְתּ֖וֹ staff his

    then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed.

    Here: From the root 'to lean'. This is a support you lean on, the kind of stick old men carry (Zech 8:4). He may still be weak, but he is on his feet and out of the house.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 21:18 בְּמִשְׁעֲנֹתָ֑ם with staffs their

    The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 6:21 הַמִּשְׁעֶ֙נֶת֙ the staff

    Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

2 Kings · 4

  1. 2 Kings 4:29 מִשְׁעַנְתִּ֣י מִשְׁעַנְתִּ֖י staff my

    So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment, take my staff in your hand, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. Then lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

    Here: 'My staff,' the prophet's own walking staff. 'My' matters: Gehazi carries something that stands for Elisha himself and his authority.

  2. 2 Kings 4:31 הַמִּשְׁעֶ֙נֶת֙ the staff

    Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

  3. 2 Kings 18:21 מִשְׁעֶנֶת֩ [the] staff of

    Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 23:4 וּ֝מִשְׁעַנְתֶּ֗ךָ and staff your

    Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

    Here: 'And your staff'. From a root meaning 'to lean on', it is the long walking staff the shepherd leans on and uses to guide and steady the flock. The club defends and the staff supports.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 3:1 וּמַשְׁעֵנָ֑ה and support

    For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,

    Here: The same word given a feminine ending. Pairing the masculine and feminine forms is a Hebrew way to say 'every kind of support whatsoever,' like 'prop and stay' or 'stick and staff.' The sound-play is part of the effect.

  2. Isaiah 36:6 מִשְׁעֶנֶת֩ [the] staff of

    Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

    Here: A walking stick or prop. The word comes from the verb 'to lean' (shāʿan), so it literally means 'a thing to lean on'.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 29:6 מִשְׁעֶ֥נֶת a staff of

    Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel.

    Here: A walking stick, literally 'a thing to lean on', from the verb šāʿan, 'to lean, rely'. The word itself carries the idea of trust and dependence, and v. 7 takes it up with 'when they leaned on you'.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 8:4 מִשְׁעַנְתּ֛וֹ staff his

    This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.