This noun appears twice with uncertain meaning—in Nahum 2:2 and Proverbs 25:18. Modern scholars often emend it to 'club' or 'hammer,' understanding it as a weapon that shatters or scatters. Proverbs compares a false witness to 'a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow'—instruments of violence and harm. The image conveys how destructive dishonest testimony can be, crushing innocent people like a war hammer.