The curved cutting tool used for harvesting grain, appearing in both a parabolic and an apocalyptic register. In Mark 4:29, Jesus says that when the grain is ripe, the farmer 'puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come' — a homely agricultural image. But in Revelation 14:14-19, the sickle becomes the instrument of cosmic judgment: the Son of Man and angels swing their sickles to reap the earth's harvest and gather grapes for the winepress of God's wrath. Spanish 'hoz,' French 'faucille,' and German 'Sichel' all denote the same agricultural implement, and all carry the same potential for metaphorical extension into judgment imagery.