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עֵט ‘ēṭ – stylus, graver

Semantic Fields: Writing   Utensils   
Author(s): Konrad D. Jenner, Geert Jan Veldman
First published: 2025-03-07
Citation: Konrad D. Jenner, Geert Jan Veldman, עֵט ‘ēṭ – stylus, graver,
               Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2025 (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Introduction

Grammatical type: n.m.

Occurrences: 4x HB (0/2/2); 0x Sir; 0x Qum; 0x Inscr. (Total: 4)

  • Nebiim: Jer 8:8; 17:1;
  • Ketubim: Ps 45:2; Job 19:24.

Ketiv/ Qere: none.

A.1 4Q171 fr3-10.iv:26 is a quotation of Ps 45:2.

1. Root and Comparative Material

A.1 Root. The word עֵט seems ‘of uncertain origin’ (CEDHL, 496). A connection with Heb. עיט, a bird of prey, proposed by some (HCHAT, Bd. 2, 120), is unlikely if the basic root of the latter was √ġyẓ (Ges18, 953). The proposition by Gesenius (TPC, 1001) to derive the word from a non-existant √עטה = √עצה, ‘to be hard, rigid’, is unacceptable. The case that the word derives from the Egyptian ʿṭ is advocated by Quack 2022 who considers it a loanword dated to the 1st millenium BCE, Quack (2022: 88).

A.2 Akkadian. According to some authorities the Akkadian ḫaṭṭu, ‘staff, scepter’, might be a cognate noun (cf. GB, 579, Ges18, 950). The ḫ is attested in other Semitic languages as well (CEDHL, 213), cf. *ḫuṭ, ‘dig, “make signs on the ground”, supported by the Akkadian ḫaṭātu, and several (South-)Arabic languages (HSED, 302); the word is according to Orel and Stolbova also connected with *ḫaṭ – ‘dig’ (HSED, 294).

A.3 Ugaritic. Whether or not Ug. ʿṭ — a fish, mollusc or bird — is a cognate cannot be established as long as the precise meaning of this term is unknown (DULAT3, 189; Watson 2006: 453).

A.4 Jewish Aramaic. The cognate עֵיטָא listed in some dictionaries is simply the untranslated word in the Targum on Jer 17:1 (see Ancient Versions, A.6).

A.5 Classical Arabic. Most likely cognates are ġāṭa (√ġwṭ, ‘to dig, hollow out’; ġāṭ, ‘hollow, cavity, pit’; Lane, 2309); see also Syr. Arab. ġawīṭ ‘deep’ (Barthélemy, 587) and some related verbs in Chadic dialects (HSED, 230, 294).

2. Formal Characteristics

A.1 The word’s root is either bi- or triconsonantal (qil < qal or qil < qal or *qitl < qatl), in BHeb. it is unanimously spelled and vocalised as עֵט.

3. Syntagmatics

A.1 In BHeb. עֵט is only found in sg.

A.2 עֵט occurs as nomen regens of שֶׁקֶר, ‘lie’ (Jer 8:8), בַּרְזֶל, ‘iron’ (Jer 17:1; Job 19:24), עֹפֶרֶת, ‘lead’ (Job 19:24), and סֹופֵר, ‘scribe’ (Ps 45:2).

A.3 עֵט is subject of עשׂה qal, ‘to do’, Jer 8:8.

A.4 עֵט is preceded by the preposition בְּ in Jer 17:1 and Job 19:24. In these cases, the preposition בְּ introduces the instrument with which the action is performed; כתב qal part pass, ‘written’, in Jer 17:1; חצב niph., ‘to be hewn’, in Job 19:24.

A.5 עֵט is used in a nominal clause in Ps 45:2: לְשֹׁונִי עֵט סֹופֵר מָהִיר, ‘my tongue is the stylus of a skilled scribe’.

4. Ancient Versions

a. Septuagint (LXX) and other Greek versions:

  • σχοῖνος, ‘rush’:1: Jer 8:8LXX2; Ps 45 (44):2αʹ;3

  • γραφεῖον, ‘stylus, pencil’:4 Jer 8:8αʹ;5; Jer 17:1(unspecified hexaplaric version)6; Job 19:24LXX7; Ps 45 (44):2σʹ;8

  • κάλαμος, ‘reed-pen’:9 Ps. 45 (44):2LXX;10

  • πλάξ, ‘flat stone’:11 Job 19:24θʹ;12

  • πυξίον, ‘tablet of box-wood’:13 Job 19:24θʹ.14

b. Peshitta (Pesh):

  • ܩܢܝܐ (qanyā), ‘reed(-pen)’ and ‘stilus’:15 Jer 8:8, 17:1; Ps 45:2; Job 19:24.

c. Targumim (Tg):

  • קולמס, ‘reed-pen’:16 Jer 8:8; Job 19:24 (spelled קלמז); Ps 45:2, Job 19:24 (both spelled קולמוס);

  • עיט (Hebraism), ‘stylus’:17 Jer 17:1.

d. Vulgate (Vg):

  • stilus, ‘stylus’:18 Jer 8:8, 17:1; Ps 45:2; Job 19:24.

A.1 The rendering of lxx in Jer 8:8 εἰς μάτην ἐγενήθη σχοῖνος ψευδὴς γραμματεῦσιν, ‘a false pen has become of no use to scribes’ (LSJ, 1084, 349-50, 1747, 2020, 358-59), does not literally correspond to the Hebr. הִנֵּה לַשֶּׁקֶר עָשָׂה עֵט שֶׁקֶר סֹפְרִים, ‘the untruthful pen of the scribes has made it into a lie’. Possibly the translator read חנם instead of הנה. Apparently σχοῖνος is taken as a reed-pen here. The same interpretation underlies Aquila’s rendering εἰς ἄδικον ἐποίησεν γραφεῖοv ἀδικία γραμματέων. κατῄσχυναν σοφοί, ‘an unjust stylus caused the injustice of scribes, they will overpower sages’ (LSJ, 23, 1427-29, 359, 23, 359, 928, 1622).

A.2 Jer 17:1 is missing in lxx, some unspecified hexaplaric manuscripts however have γραφεῖον (FieldII, 616 n. 1). The Syro-Hexapla has ܦܪܙܠܐ (parzlā), ‘iron (tool)’ (Payne Smith, TS, 3253; Sokoloff, SLB, 1235), and in the margin of the text ܓܪܘܦܝܐ (grwpyā), ‘probe, stylus’ (Payne Smith, TS, 787-88; Sokoloff, SLB, 258-59), which is a loanword (γραφεῖον).

A.3 In Job 19:24 lxx has γραφεῖον, though the whole relevant passage is put between hexaplaric symbols: T? translates the word as πλάξ or its equivalent πυξίον.

A.4 ܩܢܝܐ might mean ‘reed (pen)’, but according to Payne Smith, TS, 3654, also ‘stilus’ (Job 19:24). If so, an iron writing tool was apparently acceptable to these translators.

A.5 For Jer 8:8, the Targum uses a Greek loanword which corresponds to κάλαμος. In Jer 17:1 the Targumist simply took over עיט, even though he normally opted for a consistent rendering within the same book. Possibly he deemed an iron reed-pen an unlikely combination. Job 19:24 is not preserved in 11Q10 (11QTgJob). The rabbinic Targum of Job offers קלמז (var. כלמסע), again the Greek loanword κάλαμος.

A.6 Vg always renders stilus or stylus which is ‘used by the Romans for writing on waxen tablets (pointed and usually made of iron)’ (Lewis & Short, LD, 1759).

5. Lexical/Semantic Fields

A.1 The word is used for a writing instrument which can be used on various recepticals and in some instances it said explicitly to be made of iron (Jer 17:1, Job 19:24). Cf. Jer 17:1 where the word is related to צִפֹּ֣רֶן. It is used as an instrument to ‘write’ (Jer 17:7) or ‘make (engravings)’ (as implied in Job 19:24 and Jer 8:8).

6. Exegesis

6.1 Textual Evidence

A.1 עֵט is found rendered as ‘stylus’ and is found as the first-given rendering in: BDB, 741: ‘1. Stylus’; DBHE, 531: ‘Punzón de escribir, estilo’; GB, 579: ‘v. eisernen Griffel’; Ges18, 950: ‘Griffel, aus Eisen’; HAL, 769: ‘Griffel’; HAWAT, ‘Griffel zum Einritzen’; HWAT, 502: ‘der Griffel’; Zorell, 588: ‘stylus ferreus, quo litterae metallo vel lapidi inciduntur’; MHH, 791: ‘חרט עשוי ברזל’ NIDOTTE, vol. 4, 1291: ‘pen, stylus’.

In second instance the rendering of ‘reed-pen’ or the like is offered by: BDB, 741: ‘... 2. prob. = reed-pen’; DBHE, 531: ‘pluma, cálamo’; GB, 579: ‘... wahrsch. auch v. calamus Jer 8:8. Ps 45:2’; Ges18, 950: ‘... Schreibrohr’; (HAL, 769: ‘... u. ? Schreibrohr’); (HAWAT, ‘... oder Schreiben übhpt.’); (HWAT, 502: ‘... v. Schreibrohr: ... Ps 45,2 ... Jer 8,8’; Zorell, 588: ‘... calamus (iunceus) scribae Jr 8 8’; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, 1291: ‘pen, ...’.

The rendering of עֵט as ‘stylus’ is the only explanation given by: HCHAT, Bd. 2, 133 is: ‘eig. das Eingrabende, der (eiserne) Griffel, stilus’; KBL, 697: ‘Griffel stylus’, Gesenius, TPC, 1001: ‘stilus’.

The rendering of the word as ‘stylus’ is questioned by Zhakevich who proposes the more neutral ‘writing instrument’ based on the fact that the determinator בַּרְזֶל or סֹופֵר seems it indicate either a reed/rush pen or an engraving tool (Zhakevich 2020: 124, n. 1).

A.2 In Jer 8:8 the word refers to the untruthful writing instrument of scribes (עֵט שֶׁקֶר סֹפְרִים), the result of which is a law that is not in accordance with the Law of God. Thus, because of the addition of the adjective untruthful (שֶׁקֶר) to עֵט, one cannot exclude the possibility that עֵט itself too has a figurative meaning here. In any case the text does not state clearly on which material these scribes were supposed to be writing. Was it a → סֵפֶר? Or a public proclamation on a → לוּחַ, ‘tablet’, like the Mosaic ‘tablets of stone’?

In Jer 17:1 the word refers to an ‘iron graver’ with which the sins of Judeans had been written on the tablet (לוּחַ) of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. On the one hand this passage is to be taken as a witness for the literal use of the word, on the other hand one cannot neglect that the whole verse has a figurative meaning. Since the horns of an altar were of natural stone or metal, the iron עֵט can only be a stylus or graver here. The use of a term for an engraving tool suggests that their sinful hearts were like stone (cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26). Because it is used in parallelism with → צִפֹּרֶן, another type of graver, the stylus may have had a hardened tip.

A clear case of the literal use of עֵט is Job 19:24. In this case it means the iron stylus or graver with which a scribe (or Job himself) carves Job’s words as characters in the hard and solid surface of a rock (בַּצּוּר יֵחָצְבוּן). The meaning of וְעֹפָרֶת, ‘and lead’, in this verse is unclear. Some scholars suppose that it refers to incising characters into a plaque of lead, others think of lead or lead oxide used to fill in the incised characters (cf. Clines 1989: 456-57).

Thus in all three cases the עֵט may be understood as an instrument with which scribes incised text into metal or stone. It seems improbable that based on Jer 8:8 and Ps 45:2 (for which see Figurative Use) a reed-pen or the like was meant.

6.2 Figurative Use

A.1 In some of the afore-mentioned instances עֵט is used in an ambiguous way and it is a matter of debate whether it is used in a figurative way. In Psalm 45:2 [1], however, the figurative use of עֵט seems beyond doubt, because in this case the tongue clearly functions as a ‘stylus’. In this case too the writing material is not specified, but a king’s heroic deeds were usually recorded on non-perishable stone or metal surfaces, because they had to be remembered ‘for ever and ever’ (cf. Ps 45:17). The circumstance that the owner is described as a סֹופֵר מָהִיר is not an argument in favour of a reed-pen, because this expression merely designates ‘a skilled scribe’ (cf. Ezra 7:6).

This designation is evaluated in Schniedewind 2019: 133, and he leans more towards the suggestion put forward by Anson of considering the term סֹופֵר מָהִיר in Ps 45:2 and Ezra 7:6 as a possible equivalent of the Egyptian term for a military scribe sš mhr (Schniedewind 2019: 40-41, 131-33). However the explanation of the expression סֹופֵר מָהִיר especially in Ps 45:2 [1] being a calque of this Egyptian term is to be denounced following Mulder 1972: 97-98, who holds that the phrase סֹופֵר מָהִיר corresponds to a set phrase in Akkadian: ṭupšarru emqu; in this line the phrase דָּבָר טֹוב (Ps 45:2a) is also reflecting on Neo-Assyrian court literature (Mulder 1972: 95-98). Mulder holds the position that Psalm 45 displays a huge influence of the court style of the Neo-Assyrian empire and is directly or indirectly dependant on Akkadian literature (Mulder 1972: 148-58).

A.2 In 44Q171 fr3-10.iv:26-27, Ps 45:2 is quoted and applied to the Teacher of Righteousness.

B.1 In the Bomberg Bible the following addition to Jer 17:1 דְבַרזַל is found: אגוריהו ואשירהו, ‘of a good and robust quality’. But in BiA, vol. 2, 176, the editor points to the fact that it is in fact a misplacement of these words, which must have occured in the printing process of this bible.

B.2 The figurative aspect of the adjective דְבַרזַל might be underlined by the use of the adjective ‘gold’ to refer to a divine stylus in the Testament of Abraham Rec. B 10, referred to by M. Bar-Ilan 1988: 27.

6.3 Pictorial Material

A.1 Although there is linguistic evidence that a עֵט is an instrument to incise characters into a hard surface, there is no (pictorial) evidence for these tools in Israelite archeology or art (cf. Niditch 1996: 71 n. 63).

6.4 Archaeology

A.1 [Will be added later]

7. Conclusion

A.1 The context, the Arabic cognates, and some of the ancient versions point in the direction of an iron tool (graver, stylus) with which characters were incised into a hard surface (rock, metal). The ancient versions which understood the word as a reed-pen interpreted it after the most common scribal tool of their own times. However, none of the four passages in which עֵט occurs suggests the use of ink and a reed-pen. At least once the word is clearly attested in a figurative use (Ps. 45:2 [1]). עֵט belongs to the small category of technical terms (→ חֶרֶט, → צִפֹּרֶן, → קֶסֶת, → שֶׂרֶד, → מְּחוּגָה), the basic function of which is either the essential shaping of artefacts or the writing of characters.

Bibliography

For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.

Bar-Ilan 1988
Meir Bar-Ilan, ‘Writing in Ancient Israel. Part Two: Scribes and Books in Late Second Commonwealth and Rabbinic Period’, in: M.J. Mulder (ed.), Mikra: text, translation, reading, and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in ancient Judaism and early Christianity, Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum, 24-38.
Clines 1989
David J.A. Clines, Job 1-20 (WBC, 17), Dallas: Word Books 1989, 456-57.
Mulder 1972
Jan Mulder, Studies on Psalm 45 - dissertation, Oss: Offsetdrukkerij Witsiers.
Niditch 1996
Susan Niditch, Oral World and Written Word: Ancient Israelite Literature (Library of Ancient Israel), Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
Schniedewind 2019
William M. Schniedewind, The Finger of the Scribe: How Scribes Learned to Write the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press.
Quack 2022
Joachim Friedrich Quack, ‘Eine ägyptische Bezeichnung der Schreibbinse als Lehnwort im Hebräischen?’, in: WdOR 52.1, 84-88.
Watson 2006
Wilfred G.E. Watson, ‘Names for Animals in the Ugaritic Texts’, in: G. del Olmo Lete et al. (eds), Šapal Tibnim Mû Illakū: Studies Presented to Joaquín Sanmartín (AuOr.S, 22), Sabadell-Barcelona: AUSA, 445-58.
Zhakevich 2020
Philip Zhakevich, Scribal Tools in Ancient Israel. A Study of Biblical Hebrew Terms for Writing Materials and Implements (History, archeology, and culture of the Levant, 9), Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, Eisenbrauns.

  1. LSJ, 1747; GELS, 667. ↩

  2. FieldII, 593. ↩

  3. FieldII, 161. ↩

  4. LSJ, 359; GELS, 136. ↩

  5. FieldII, 593. One manuscript has γραφιον (FieldII, 593, n. 29). ↩

  6. FieldII, 616 n. 1. ↩

  7. FieldII, 36. ↩

  8. FieldII, 161. ↩

  9. LSJ, 865-66; GELS, 358. ↩

  10. FieldII, 161. ↩

  11. LSJ, 1411-12; GELS, 561. ↩

  12. FieldII, 36. ↩

  13. LSJ, 1554; GELS, 608. ↩

  14. FieldII, 36. ↩

  15. Payne Smith, TS, 3654 for ‘stilus’ Payne Smith refers to Job 19:24; Sokoloff, SLB, 1383-84). ↩

  16. Jastrow, DTT, 1328; Sokoloff, DJBA, 991; Sokoloff, DJPA, 843. ↩

  17. Jastrow, DTT, 1062; not seperately recorded in Sokoloff, DJBA or Sokoloff, DJPA. ↩

  18. Lewis & Short, LD, 1759; OLD, 1820. ↩

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