H4037 H4037
axe, cutting instrument
A term for an axe or cutting instrument, appearing in 2 Samuel 12:31. David put captured Ammonites to forced labor 'at the saws and at the iron axes.' This describes harsh treatment of prisoners of war, setting them to brutal construction or demolition work. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 20:3 confirms this reading. The multilingual evidence shows some variation in rendering this compound phrase involving axes and other tools.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Axe, iron cutting instrument used in forced labor. 2 Samuel 12:31 describes David putting Ammonite captives to work with saws and iron axes, likely in quarrying or demolition. The term emphasizes the cutting function of this implement. Some translations struggle with the prepositional phrase, rendering it variously as 'at axes' or 'with axes.' The parallel in Chronicles confirms these were iron tools for harsh labor. 1×
AR["وَفي-فُؤوسِ"]·ben["এবং-কুঠারে"]·DE["und-bei-axes-von"]·EN["and-at-axes-of"]·FR["et-à-axes-de"]·heb["ו-ב-מגזרות"]·HI["और-आरियों-से"]·ID["dan-pada-kapak"]·IT["e-a-axes-di"]·jav["lan-ing-wadung"]·KO["그리고-에-도끼"]·PT["e-nos-machados-de"]·RU["и-над-топорами"]·ES["y-en-hachas-de"]·SW["na-kwenye-shoka-za"]·TR["ve-baltalarına"]·urd["اور-کُلہاڑوں-کے-پاس"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [מַגְזֵרָה] n.f. cutting instrument, axe—2 S 12:31 of David’s treatment of captives, וַיָּשֶׂם בַּמְּגֵרָה … וּבְמַגְזְרוֹת הַבַּרְזֶל. (cf. 1 Ch 20:3).