Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PILLAR

A standing stone (Heb. maṣṣēḇâ) erected as a memorial or an object of worship. During the period of the patriarchs, stones were set up as memorials (Gen. 28:18; 31:45-52; 35:14, 20; Exod. 24:4; 2 Sam. 18:18), sometimes representing God’s dwelling (Gen. 28:22). Sometimes translated as “image” (KJV), the Hebrew term also refers to stones set up to represent Canaanite deities, a practice abhorred by the biblical writers. This practice of erecting stones to represent deities was adopted by the Israelites (Exod. 23:24; Lev. 26:1; 1 Kgs. 14:23; 2 Chr. 31:1). As these stones were associated with the Canaanite god Baal and were possibly erected alongside a wooden pillar symbolizing the female deity Asherah, they may have in some cases been phallic symbols. The term is also used to refer to an Egyptian obelisk (Jer. 43:13); Isaiah refers to a maṣṣēḇâ which shall be erected on the border of Egypt to signify God’s lordship over foreign nations (Isa. 19:19). Both of these references affirm that the maṣṣēḇâ is a monument of the god’s presence (the Egyptian sun-god Amon-Re and the Hebrew god, respectively) and thus an object of worship.

Many examples of pillars are known from Bronze and Iron Age Palestine. Architectural pillars used as supports are found made of either roughly shaped stones or well-cut stones with capitals (as at Megiddo and Samaria). Stones found standing alone or in rows can be interpreted quite differently, however, as they have no structural purpose, often have smooth rounded tops, and are found in association with materials of a cultic nature. The Middle Bronze Age “high place” at Gezer consists of 10 large standing stones with smooth tops and a basinlike structure, and has been interpreted by some as standing for living persons or clans united in the worship of a deity embodied by the sacred pillar. A Late Bronze Age temple at Hazor includes a row of basalt standing stones with smooth rounded tops, found in association with a basalt figure of a male deity. One of the stones has an engraved representation of two arms upraised in a gesture of adoration beneath the emblem of the sun-god.

Heb. ʿammûḏ usually refers to architectural pillars and columns (Exod. 26:32, 37; 1 Kgs. 7:15-22) and the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud in the Exodus story.

Jennie R. Ebeling

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PILLAR

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)