H0855 H0855
A cutting tool of iron — plowshare or mattock — the iconic instrument in the swords-to-plowshares prophecy.
An agricultural cutting implement made of iron, variously rendered 'plowshare' or 'mattock.' Its most famous appearances are in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, where the nations beat their swords into plowshares — one of Scripture's most enduring images of eschatological peace. Joel 3:10 dramatically reverses the image: 'beat your plowshares into swords.' In 1 Samuel 13:20-21, the Philistine monopoly on iron-working forced Israelites to go to the Philistines to sharpen their mattocks, illustrating early Iron Age power dynamics. One occurrence (2 Kgs 6:5) is likely a misattributed direct object marker rather than this noun.
Senses
1. plowshare, mattock — A cutting instrument of iron used in agriculture, identified as a plowshare or mattock. The prophetic vision of Isa 2:4 and Mic 4:3 — beating swords into plowshares (אִתִּים) — makes this word a symbol of peace among nations, while Joel 3:10 inverts the image for war. In 1 Sam 13:20-21, the word appears in its mundane agricultural context: Israelites had to sharpen their mattocks at Philistine forges. Spanish 'arados' (plowshares) and English 'plowshares/mattock' consistently reflect the agricultural-tool identification. 5×
AR["سِكَكًا", "سِكَكَكُمْ", "فَأْسَهُ", "وَ-لِـ-الـ-فُؤُوسِ"]·ben["-লাঙ্গলের-ফলায়", "আর-খুরপাগুলির-জন্য", "তার-খুরপাকে", "তোমাদের-লাঙল", "লাঙলের-ফলায়-"]·DE["[אתיכם]", "[לאתים]", "sein-mattock", "und-fuer-der-mattocks"]·EN["and-for-the-mattocks", "his-mattock", "into-plowshares", "your-plowshares"]·FR["[לאתים]", "bêche", "et-pour-le-mattocks", "son-houe"]·heb["אתו", "אתיכם", "ו-ל-אתים", "ל-איתים"]·HI["अपना-हल", "और-हलों-के-लिए", "हलों-अपने", "हलों-में"]·ID["cangkulnya", "dan-untuk-cangkul", "mata-bajak-kalian", "menjadi-mata-bajak"]·IT["[אתיכם]", "[לאתים]", "e-per-il-mattocks", "suo-mattock"]·jav["dados-luku", "dados-weliran", "lan-kangge-pacul", "pacul-ipun", "weliran-panjenengan-sedaya"]·KO["그리고-그-굴들에", "그의-굴을", "너희의-보습들-을", "로-보습들", "보습으로"]·PT["arados-vossos", "e-para-as-enxadas", "em-arados", "sua-enxada"]·RU["и-за-мотыги", "мотыгу-свою", "на-орала", "на-сохи", "сошники-ваши"]·ES["arados-de-vosotros", "azadón-de-él", "en-arados", "en-azadones", "y-para-los-azadones"]·SW["kuwa-majembe", "majembe-yenu", "na-mauma", "shoka-lake"]·TR["kazmacını", "saban-demirlerine", "saban-demirlerine-o", "sabanlarınızı", "ve-kazmalar-için"]·urd["اور-کدالوں-کے-لیے", "اپنا-کدال", "اپنے-ہلوں-کو", "ہلوں-میں"]
2. direct object marker (misattributed) — A likely tagging error at 2 Kgs 6:5, where the form וְאֶת appears to be the common Hebrew direct object marker (אֵת) rather than the agricultural noun. The glosses across all languages — English 'and,' Spanish 'y,' German 'und,' French 'et' — uniformly treat it as a conjunction or particle, confirming it does not belong to this lexeme. This occurrence should probably be reassigned to the particle אֵת (H0853). 1×
AR["وَ-"]·ben["এবং-"]·DE["und-"]·EN["and-"]·FR["et-"]·heb["ו-את-"]·HI["वएत-"]·ID["dan-(objek)-"]·IT["e-"]·jav["lan-"]·KO["그리고"]·PT["e-(a)"]·RU["и-"]·ES["y-el"]·SW["na-"]·TR["ve-"]·urd["اور-کو"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)G0846 1. third-person pronoun reference (5552×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H???? 1. (4670×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)H6213a 1. do, perform, act (2383×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† III. [אֵת] n.[m.] a cutting instrument of iron, usually transl. ploughshare—sg. sf. אֵתוֹ 1 S 13:20; pl. אֵתִים 1 S 13:21, אִתִּים Is 2:4 = Mi 4:3; sf. אִתֵּיכֶם Jo 4:10; according to Klo al. also 2 K 6:5 אֶת־הַבַּרְזֶל, i.e. the axe of iron.