Reed in Biblical History

Bible History

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is a Reed?
REED
, used generically for various tall plants of the grass or sedge order. See Bulrush, Flag, Rush. Fishpoles, canes, and rods, Matt 27:29, are formed of it. These plants flourish in marshes or in the vicinity of water-courses; hence the allusion, Job 40:21. It is often used by the sacred writers to illustrate weakness and fragility. 2 Kgs 18:21; Isa 36:6; Isa 42:3; Eze 29:6; Matt 12:20. Reeds were also used to make pens of (see Pen), and also as measuring-rods. Eze 40:5. See Measures. From their height and slender shape, plants of this kind are moved by the slightest breath of wind, 1 Kgs 14:15, and hence nothing could be more unimportant in itself than such a motion, and nothing more strikingly illustrative of fickleness and instability. Comp. Matt 11:7 and Eph 4:14. The true reed of Egypt and Palestine (Arundo donax) has a slender jointed stalk like bamboo, about 12 feet in height, with a fine large brush of bloom at the top. This flexible stalk often lies prostrate before the wind, ready to rise again at the first lull. About the perennial waters of the Holy Land there are often dense canebrakes of this plant, in the midst of which wild beasts find their lairs. With one or more hollow tubes of reed, musical instruments are constructed by the youth of the country, and it is likely that David first learned to play on a similar primitive reed-organ.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'reed' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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