Sceptre

SCEPTRE, Sceptrum, in Greek, Skeptron, in Hebrew, Shebet. This Word properly signifies, I. A Rod of Command, a Staff of Authority, a Sceptre, which is supposed to be in the Hand of the Gods, of Kings, of¹ Governors of a Province, of the Chief of a People. Jacob foretold to Judah, that the Gen. xlix. 10.Sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his Feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the People be. And Balaam also foretelling Numb. xxiv. 17.the Coming of the Messiah, says, A Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. Baruch speaks of the Sceptre that the Babylonians Bar. vi. 14.put into the Hands of their Gods. Sceptrum habet ut homo, sicut Judex regionis. They are given also to Scribes, to Commissaries, Judges v. 14. Isai. xiv. 5. xix. 11,14.who keep a List of the Troops. Also the Prophets often speak of the Sceptre of Dominion; and Amos represents the sovereign Power by him that holds the Sceptre. Abasuerus carried in his Hand a Golden Sceptre, Amos i. 5, 8.&c. Esther viii. 4.

II. The Sceptre is put for the Rod of Correction, for the sovereign Authority that punishes and humbles. Thou shalt break Psal.them with a Rod of Iron, or with an Iron Sceptre. The wise Man often uses the Hebrew Word Shebet, to express the Rod with which the disobedient Son, and the intractable Servant are disciplined.

III. The Sceptre is very often taken for a Tribe; probably, because the Princes of each Tribe carried a Sceptre or a Wand of Command, to shew their Dignity. The Seventy, and St. Jerom, generally translate this Hebrew Word by Tribe; but sometimes also they preserve the Word Sceptre. For the Seventy, see 1 Sam. ix. 21. x. 19, 20, 21. xv. 17. 1 Kings viii. 16. xi. 13, 32, 35. xii. 20, 21. And for the Vulgate, see Numb. xviii. 2. Jerem. li. 19.

IV. The Sceptre, or the Hebrew Word Lev. xxvii. 32. 2 Sam. xxxiii. 21. 1 Kings xviii. 14. Isai. xxviii. 27. Acts xix. 14, 15, 16. 1 Chron. xxiv. 7, 8, &c.Shebet, signifies a Shepherd’s Wand, the Truncheon of a Warrior, or any common Staff; the Dart, Javelin, or Lance of a Soldier, the Rod or Flail with which they thrash the smaller Grains.

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