Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SCEPTER

The baton or staff employed as a symbol of authority by kings and chiefs (from Homeric Gk. skēpteron; cf. Isa. 14:5; Ezek. 19:11; Ps. 60:7[MT 9]; 110:2). Originally the term designated a stick or club used as a weapon (cf. Num. 21:18). The OT terminology includes Heb. maṭṭeh, šēḇeṭ, mĕḥōqēq, and šarbīṭ).

King Ahasuerus’ holding out the golden scepter to welcome persona grata (Esth. 4:11; 5:2; 8:4) is a form of the gesture of extending the hand in welcome frequently depicted in Mesopotamian art. The scepter as a symbol for royal authority in the OT, ancient Near East, and Hellenic world derives from the use of a stick or club much as the modern police officer’s nightstick to punish enemies (Ps. 110:2; Ezek. 19:14). In Amos 1:5, 8 and in Mesopotamian royal inscriptions the king is referred to as “the one who holds the scepter”; by metonymy the OT refers to kings and kingship as “the scepter” (Gen. 49:10; Num. 24:17; Jer. 48:17; Zech. 10:11).

In some Greek manuscripts of Heb. 1:8 Gk. skēpteron translates Heb. šēḇeṭ in the quotation from Ps. 45:6(LXX 44:7), but many Greek versions read rhábdos, the term used throughout the LXX. Heb. 1:8 transforms the twin emblems of temporal kingship — throne and scepter — into symbols of divine sovereignty.

Mayer I. Gruber

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SCEPTER

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)