Under this name may be noticed the following Hebrew words:

1. Agmon occurs in (Job 40:12,16; Isaiah 9:14) (Authorized Version "rush"). There can be no doubt that it denotes some aquatic reed-like plant, probably the Phragmitis communis , which, if it does not occur in Palestine and Egypt, is represented by a very closely-allied species, viz., the Arundo isiaca of Delisle. The drooping panicle of this plant will answer well to the "bowing down the head" of which Isaiah speaks. (Isaiah 58:5)
2. Gnome , translated "rush" and "bulrush" by the Authorized Version, without doubt denotes the celebrated paper-reed of the ancients, Papyrus antiquorum , which formerly was common in some parts of Egypt. The papyrus reed is not now found in Egypt; it grows however, in Syria. Dr. Hooker saw it on the banks of Lake Tiberias, a few miles north of the town. The papyrus plant has an angular stem from 3 to 6 feet high, though occasionally it grows to the height of 14 feet it has no leaves; the flowers are in very small spikelets, which grow on the thread-like flowering branchlets which form a bushy crown to each stem; (It was used for making paper, shoes, sails, ropes, mattresses, etc. The Greek name is Biblos , from which came our word Bible--book--because books were made of the papyrus paper. This paper was always expensive among the Greeks, being worth a dollar a sheet. --ED.)
3. Kaneh , a reed of any kind. Thus there are in general four kinds of reeds named in the Bible: (1) The water reed; No, 1 above. (2) A stronger reed, Arundo donax , the true reed of Egypt and Palestine, which grows 8 or 10 feet high, and is thicker than a man's thumb. It has a jointed stalk like the bamboo, and is very abundant on the Nile. (3) The writing reed, Arundo scriptoria , was used for making pens. (4) The papyrus; No. 2.

Sometimes a stalk or rod of any plant, as of the hyssop, Matthew 27:48 John 19:29.

Usually, however, the word reed denotes a reed or cane growing in marshy grounds, Job 40:21 Isaiah 19:6; slender and fragile, and hence taken as an emblem of weakness, 1 Kings 18:21 Isaiah 36:6 Ezekiel 29:6; and of instability, Matthew 11:7. "A bruised reed," Isaiah 42:3 Matthew 12:20, is an emblem of a soul crushed and ready to sink in despair under a sense of its guilty and lost condition. Such a soul the Saviour will graciously sustain and strengthen. The reed of spice, or good reed, (English version, "sweet calamus," Exodus 30:23, "sweet cane" Jeremiah 6:20) also called simply reed, (English version, "calamus" or "sweet cane,") Isaiah 43:24; So 4:14; Ezekiel 27:19, is the sweet flag of India, calamus odoratus. Reeds were anciently used as pens and as measuring-rods, Ezekiel 40:5 42:16. The Hebrew "reed" is supposed to have been about ten feet long.

(qeneh hamiddah; kalamos): Used in Ezekiel 40:5;; 42:16:00; 45:01:00; Revelation 11:1; Revelation 21:15, 16. The length of the reed is given as 6 cubits, each cubit being a cubit and a palm, i.e. the large cubit of 7 palms, or about 10 ft. See CUBIT. Originally it was an actual reed used for measurements of considerable length, but came at last to be used for a measure of definite length, as indicated by the reference in Ezekiel (compare "pole" in English measures).

REED

red:

(1) achu, translated "reed-grass" (Genesis 41:2, 18 Job 8:11 margin). See FLAG.

(2) 'ebheh, translated "swift," margin "reed" (Job 9:26). The "ships of reed" are the light skiffs made of plaited reeds used on the Nile; compare "vessels of papyrus" (Isaiah 18:2).

(3) 'aghammim, translated "reeds," margin "marshes," Hebrew "pools" (Jeremiah 51:32); elsewhere "pools" (Exodus 7:19; Exodus 8:5 Isaiah 14:23, etc.). See POOL.

(4) `aroth; achi, translated "meadows," the King James Version "paper reeds" (Isaiah 19:7). See MEADOW.

(5) qaneh; kalamos (the English "cane" comes from Hebrew via Latin and Greek canna), "stalk" (Genesis 41:5, 22); "shaft" (Exodus 37:17, etc.); "reed," or "reeds" (1 Kings 14:15 2 Kings 18:21 Isaiah 36:6; Isaiah 42:3 Psalm 68:30, the King James Version "spearman"); "calamus" (Exodus 30:23 Songs 4:14 Ezekiel 27:19); "sweet cane," margin "calamus" (Isaiah 43:24 Jeremiah 6:20); "bone" (Job 31:22); used of the cross-beam of a "balance" (Isaiah 46:6); "a measuring reed" (Ezekiel 40:3); "a staff of reed," i.e. a walking-stick (Isaiah 36:6 Ezekiel 29:6); the "branches" of a candlestick (Exodus 37:18).

(6) kalamos, "a reed shaken with the wind" (Matthew 11:7 Luke 7:24); "a bruised reed" (Matthew 12:20); they put "a reed in his right hand" (Matthew 27:29, 30); "They smote his head with a reed" (Mark 15:19); "put it on a reed" (Matthew 27:48 Mark 15:36); "a measuring reed" (Revelation 11:1; Revelation 21:15, 16); "a pen" (3 John 1:13).

It is clear that qaneh and its Greek equivalent kalamos mean many things. Some refer to different uses to which a reed is put, e.g. a cross-beam of a balance, a walking-stick, a measuring rod, and a pen (see above), but apart from this qaneh is a word used for at least two essentially different things:

(1) an ordinary reed, and

(2) some sweet-smelling substance.

(1) The most common reed in Palestine is the Arundo donax (Natural Order Gramineae), known in Arabic as qacabfarasi, "Persian reed." It grows in immense quantities in the Jordan valley along the river and its tributaries and at the oases near the Dead Sea, notably around `Ain Feshkhah at the northwest corner. It is a lofty reed, often 20 ft. high, of a beautiful fresh green in summer when all else is dead and dry, and of a fine appearance from a distance in the spring months when it is in full bloom and the beautiful silky panicles crown the top of every reed. The "covert of the reed" (Job 40:21) shelters a large amount of animal and bird life. This reed will answer to almost all the requirements of the above references.

(2) Qaneh is in Jeremiah 6:20 qualified qaneh ha-Tobh, "sweet" or "pleasant cane," and in Exodus 30:23, qeneh bhosem, "sweet calamus," or, better, a "cane of fragrance." Songs 4:14 Isaiah 43:24 Ezekiel 27:19 all apparently refer to the same thing, though in these passages the qaneh is unqualified. It was an ingredient of the holy oil (Exodus 30:23); it was imported from a distance (Jeremiah 6:20 Ezekiel 27:19), and it was rare and costly (Isaiah 43:24). It may have been the "scented calamus" (Axorus calamus) of Pliny (NH, xii.48), or some other aromatic scented reed or flag, or, as some think, some kind of aromatic bark. The sweetness refers to the scent, not the taste.

See also BULRUSH; PAPYRUS.

E. W. G. Masterman

REED, MEASURING

mezh'-ur-ing (qeneh ha-middah): In Ezekiel's vision of the temple a "man" (an angel) appears with a "measuring reed" to measure the dimensions of the temple (Ezekiel 40:3; 42:16). The reed is described as 6 cubits long, "of a cubit and a handbreadth each," i.e. the cubit used was a handbreadth longer than the common cubit (see CUBIT; WEIGHTS AND MEASURES; TEMPLE). In the Apocalypse this idea of a measuring reed reappears for measuring the temple (Revelation 11:1) and the holy city (Revelation 21:15, 16, "a golden reed"). The thought conveyed is exactitude in the dimensions of these edifices, symbolic of the symmetry and perfection of God's church.

James Orr

(1.) "Paper reeds" (Isaiah 19:7; R.V., "reeds"). Hebrews `aroth, properly green herbage growing in marshy places.

(2.) Hebrews kaneh (1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isaiah 19:6), whence the Gr. kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a reed of any kind.

The reed of Egypt and Palestine is the Arundo donax, which grows to the height of 12 feet, its stalk jointed like the bamboo, "with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly flat under a gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It is used to illustrate weakness (2 Kings 18:21; Ezek. 29:6), also fickleness or instability (Matthew 11:7; Comp. Ephesians 4:14).

A "bruised reed" (Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20) is an emblem of a believer weak in grace. A reed was put into our Lord's hands in derision (Matthew 27:29); and "they took the reed and smote him on the head" (30). The "reed" on which they put the sponge filled with vinegar (Matthew 27:48) was, according to John (19:29), a hyssop stalk, which must have been of some length, or perhaps a bunch of hyssop twigs fastened to a rod with the sponge. (see CANE.)

2. (v. & n.) Same as Rede.

3. (n.) The fourth stomach of a ruminant; rennet.

4. (n.) A name given to many tall and coarse grasses or grasslike plants, and their slender, often jointed, stems, such as the various kinds of bamboo, and especially the common reed of Europe and North America (Phragmites communis).

5. (n.) A musical instrument made of the hollow joint of some plant; a rustic or pastoral pipe.

6. (n.) An arrow, as made of a reed.

7. (n.) Straw prepared for thatching a roof.

8. (n.) A small piece of cane or wood attached to the mouthpiece of certain instruments, and set in vibration by the breath. In the clarinet it is a single fiat reed; in the oboe and bassoon it is double, forming a compressed tube.

9. (n.) One of the thin pieces of metal, the vibration of which produce the tones of a melodeon, accordeon, harmonium, or seraphine; also attached to certain sets or registers of pipes in an organ.

10. (n.) A frame having parallel flat stripe of metal or reed, between which the warp threads pass, set in the swinging lathe or batten of a loom for beating up the weft; a sley. See Batten.

11. (n.) A tube containing the train of powder for igniting the charge in blasting.

12. (n.) Same as Reeding.

16. ebeh -- reed, papyrus
... << 15, 16. ebeh. 17 >>. reed, papyrus. Transliteration: ebeh Phonetic Spelling:
(ay-beh') Short Definition: reed. Word Origin from abah ...
/hebrew/16.htm - 6k

5748. uggab -- (a reed musical instrument) perhaps a flute
... uggab or uggab. 5749 >>. (a reed musical instrument) perhaps a flute. Transliteration:
uggab or uggab Phonetic Spelling: (oo-gawb') Short Definition: flute. ...
/hebrew/5748.htm - 6k

5489. Suph -- "reed," a place near which the law was given
... << 5488, 5489. Suph. 5490 >>. "reed," a place near which the law was given.
Transliteration: Suph Phonetic Spelling: (soof) Short Definition: Suph. ...
/hebrew/5489.htm - 6k

1573. gome -- a rush, reed, papyrus
... << 1572, 1573. gome. 1574 >>. a rush, reed, papyrus. Transliteration: gome
Phonetic Spelling: (go'-meh) Short Definition: papyrus. Word ...
/hebrew/1573.htm - 6k

6169. arah -- bare place
... paper reed. Feminine from arah; a naked (ie Level) plot -- paper reed. see
HEBREW arah. << 6168, 6169. arah. 6170 >>. Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/6169.htm - 6k

5464. sagrir -- steady or persistent rain
... << 5463, 5464. sagrir. 5465 >>. steady or persistent rain. Transliteration:
sagrir Phonetic Spelling: (sag-reed') Short Definition: rain. ...
/hebrew/5464.htm - 6k

8300. sarid -- a survivor
... << 8299, 8300. sarid. 8301 >>. a survivor. Transliteration: sarid Phonetic
Spelling: (saw-reed') Short Definition: survivor. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/8300.htm - 6k

5488. suph -- reeds, rushes
... flag, Red sea, weed. Probably of Egyptian origin; a reed, especially the papyrus --
flag, Red (sea), weed. Compare Cuwph. see HEBREW Cuwph. << 5487, 5488. ...
/hebrew/5488.htm - 6k

8301. Sariyd -- a city on the border of Zebulun
... << 8300, 8301. Sariyd. 8301a >>. a city on the border of Zebulun. Transliteration:
Sariyd Phonetic Spelling: (suw-reed') Short Definition: Sarid. Sarid ...
/hebrew/8301.htm - 5k