Goad

(Heb. malmad, only in Judg. 3: 31), an instrument used by ploughmen for guiding their oxen. Shamgar slew six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad. “The goad is a formidable weapon. It is sometimes ten feet long, and has a sharp point. We could now see that the feat of Shamgar was not so very wonderful as some have been accustomed to think.” In 1 Sam. 13:21, a different Hebrew word is used, dorban, meaning something pointed. The expression (Acts 9:5, omitted in the R.V.), “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks”, i.e., against the goad, was proverbial for unavailing resistance to superior power.

(Judges 3:31; 1 Samuel 13:21) The Hebrew word in the latter passage probably means the point of the plough-share . The former word does probably refer to the goad, the long handle of which might be used as a formidable weapon. The instrument, as still used in countries of southern Europe and western Asia, consists of a rod about eight feet long, brought to a sharp point and sometimes cased with iron at the head.

GOAD. Jud 3:31. This was a rod or pole about 8 feet long, armed at the larger end with a piece of iron, with which the plough-share was freed from clods and earth, and at the smaller with a sharp spike, by which the oxen were urged on in their labor. In the hands of a powerful man like Shamgar, Jud 3:31, it would be a formidable instrument. The goad is used to this day in Palestine.

GOAD. Jud 3:31. This was a rod or pole about 8 feet long, armed at the larger end with a piece of iron, with which the plough-share was freed from clods and earth, and at the smaller with a sharp spike, by which the oxen were urged on in their labor. In the hands of a powerful man like Shamgar, Jud 3:31, it would be a formidable instrument. The goad is used to this day in Palestine.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

A pointed instrument used to urge on a beast; hence, any necessity that urges or stimulates. The daily goad urging him to the daily toil. Macaulay.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To prick; to drive with a goad; hence, to urge forward, or to rouse by anything pungent, severe, irritating, or inflaming; to stimulate. That temptation that doth goad us on. Shak.

Synonyms: urge; stimulate; excite; arouse; irritate; incite; instigate.