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shebanq

בַּד bad – pole, branch, bolt (?)

Semantic Fields: Utensils   
Author(s): Karel Deurloo
First published: 2011-03-24
Citation: Karel Deurloo, בַּד bad – pole, branch, bolt (?),
               Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2011 (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Introduction

Grammatical type: noun masc.
Occurrences: 40x HB (31/5/4)

  • Torah: Exod 25:13, 14, 15, 27, 28; 27:6 (2x), 7 (2x); 30:4, 5; 35:12, 13, 15, 16; 37:4, 5, 14, 15, 27, 28; 38:5, 6, 7; 39:35, 39; 40:20; Num 4:6, 8, 11, 14;
  • Nebiim: 1 Kgs 8:7, 8 (2x); Ezek 17:6; 19:14;
  • Ketubim: 2 Chron 5:8, 9 (2x); Job 17:16.

A.1 There is some uncertainty about the number of occurrences since some scholars emend dubious passages or reckon certain instances with homonyms of בַּד to which they attribute a different meaning (cf. HAHAT, 124). The statistics above are based on the occurrences where an implement seems to have been meant.

1. Root and Comparative Material

A.1 Semitic: Usually בַּד is derived from √bdd, ‘to separate, put apart’ (e.g. HAHAT, 124; Cohen et al., DRS, 43-45; NIDOT, vol. 1, 500-501), but for the carrying-pole a derivation from יד + ב ‘in the hand’ would seem more likely (see below on Ugaritic and Phoenician as well as some ancient renderings under section 5).

Ugaritic: The Ugaritic cognate bd is evidently a shortened form of byd, ‘in the hand’ (Del Olmo Lete & Sanmartín, DULAT, 214-6).

Phoenician, Punic: Also in Phoenician bd means ‘by/in/from (the hand of)’ (Krahmalkov, PPD, 97-8).

Postbiblical Hebrew: Dalman, ANHT, 48, refers to בַּד ‘1. Stengel, Stange; 2. Ölkelter’.

Jewish Aramaic: Dalman, ANHT, 48: בַּדָּא, ‘1. Stengel; 2. Ölkelter’.

Samaritan Aramaic: Tal, DSA, 80: בד ‘branch’.

Syriac: baddā ‘beam of an oil- or wine-press’ (Payne Smith [Margoliouth], CSD, 35; see also Payne Smith, TS, vol. 1, 450; Brockelmann, LS, 59, both revealing uncertainty as to the exact meaning).

Palestinian Arabic: badd ‘beam of an olive-press’ (Dozy, SDA, t. 1, 56; Denizeau, DPASyr, 20-1), but according to Dalman, AuS, Bd. 4, 220 Palestinian Arabic badd would be a designation of the ‘Olivenmühle’ (pars pro toto?) whereas rabbinic sources seem to use בַּד for the receptacle of the oil (Levy, WTM, Bd. 1, 191; Jastrow, DTT, 138). For illustrations and descriptions of this type of lever press, see Dalman, AuS, Bd. 4, 212-6, Fig. 50-62; BRL2, 239; Frankel, WOP, 86-121; Bolen, PLBL, disk 1, 1 Galilee and the North: Cultural Pictures: tb041103.jpg; 2 Samaria and the Center, Cultural Pictures: 69-14tb.jpg.

2. Formal Characteristics

A.1 [Will be added later.]

3. Syntagmatics

A.1 [Will be added later.]

4. Ancient Versions

a. Septuagint (LXX) and other Greek versions (αʹ, σʹ, θʹ):

  • Mostly the LXX renders ἀναφορευς -- LS, 124: ‘bearer, carrying-pole, stave’ (GELS L, 33f.). In Exod 27:6-7 some manuscripts have φορέυς, ‘carrying pole’ (GELS L, 506). στῦλος, ‘pillar’ (GELS L, 443), is the LXX’s choice in Exod 27:15; 35:12; 37:4, 15, possibly a harmonisation with Exod 26:15. Once we find σκυτάλη (Exod 30:4, 5; GELS L, 431, ‘pole’) which α´, σ´ and θ´ harmonise with ἀναφορευς. In Exod 37:5, 14-15 (LXX 38:4, 10-11) LXX ha διωστήρ, ‘pole running through ring, stave’ (GELS-L, 118). Hos 11:6 בדיו is rendered ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ, ‘in his hands’, possibly etymologizing. σ´ τοὺς βραχίονας αὐτοῦ, ‘his arms’, is based on the LXX. LXX interprets the difficult בדי in Job 17:16 is as μετ΄ ἐμοῦ, ‘with me’.

b. Peshitta (Pesh):

  • Mostly qwpʾ, ‘carrrying staves, poles, bars’ (Payne Smith [Margoliouth], CSD, 497). Pesh’s rendering of Hos 11:6 seems to be inspired by LXX: mn ʾydyhwn, ‘from their hands’. In Job 17:16 the translator exploits the metaphorical meaning of ‘hand’: btwqpʾ, ‘in strength, while being strong’.

c. Targum (Tg):

  • Mostly אריחא, according to Levy, CWT, Bd. 1, 62: ‘Latte, viereckige Stange’, according to Sokoloff, DJPA, 74: ‘bar, pole’. In Hos 11:6 Tg paraphrases גיברוהי, ‘his heroes’. 11Q10 (11QtgJob) is missing at this point. The rabbinic Tg Job 17:16 has טנרי, ‘rocks’, but this might be a scribal error for טרני. ‘tyrants’.

d. Vulgate (Vg):

  • vectis.

A.1 SPT: אריח (with many different spellings, as usual), ‘pole’ (Tal, DSA, 61).

5. Lexical/Semantic Fields

A.1 [Will be added later.]

6. Exegesis

6.1 Textual Evidence

A.1 In nearly all the cases of occurrence בַּדִּים are poles of acacia wood (שִׁטִּים עֲצֵי) overlaid (√ צפה Pi.) with gold (זָהָב, Exod 25:13, 28; 30:5; 37:4, 15, 28) or bronze (נְחֹשֶׁת, Exod 27:6; 38:6). The wood of the Acacia raddiana Savi which is the only species that can have been meant is extremely hard (Feliks 1968, 96-8; Zohary 1982, 116) and therefore suitable for poles used to carry heavy objects. Such objects are the ark (אָרֹון), carried by putting the poles through the four rings (טַבְּעֹת, → טַבַּעַת) of gold thatwere fastened two by two on the four feet of its sides (Exod 25:12f., 15; 37:3f.; cf. 35:12); the table (שֻׁלְחָן) of shewbread through the four golden rings at its four cornerlegs close to the rim (Exod 25:26f.; 37:13f.; cf. 35:13); the burnt offering altar (מִזְבֵּחַ) on a grating (מִכְבָּר) or network (→ רֶשֶׁת) made of bronze with rings of bronze at the corners (Exod 27:4f.; 38:4-7; cf. 35:16; 39:39); the altar of incense (הַקְּּטֹרֶת מִזְבַּח) on its moulding or listel (זֵר) of gold to which the four golden carrying rings were fixed underneath (Exod 30:4f.; cf. 35:15; 37:27f.). The lampstand (מְנֹרָה) too was probably carried on poles (see section 7 below).

The בַּדִּים of the ark remained in their rings (Exod 27:4; cf. 39:35; 40:20). According to 1 Kgs 8:7-8 (cf. 2 Chron 5:8-9) when the ark had been brought to its place in the temple, the wings of the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its בַּדִּים which were so long that their ends could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary.

In the wilderness the Kohathites, a clan of the Levites (Num 4:2f.) are cast as actors for the task to handle the בַּדִּים when the camp is set out (Num 4:6, 8, 11, 14; cf. 1 Chron 15:15 where Levites carry the ark with poles [מֹטֹות, → מֹּוט]in stead of בַּדִּים).

In view of the uncertainty of the shape of the ark and the possibility that other ‘arks’ may have existed it is impossible to be sure about the length and weight of the poles. According to Exod 25:10 (P) the dimensions of the ark were modest (1.25 x 0.75 x 0.75 m). Two men were able to carry it (1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 15:24, 29), according to the Chronicler on their shoulders (1 Chron 15:15; 2 Chron 35:3).

In Hos 11:6 and Job 17:16 בַּדִּים may designate the bars of city gates. If so, this must be seen as an extended use of בַּד ‘(carrying) pole’. The bars of gatedoors were heavy poles indeed (cf. Salonen, Türen, 74-90). However, in both cases other solutions have been proposed (see e.g. Macintosh 1997, 453; Clines 1989, 375).

בַּד is an old word that originally meant ‘in the hand’, which as a noun became ‘handle’ (see section 4 below). Therefore, when בַּד is used for a branch or twig of a vine (Ezek 17:6; 19:14) this must be regarded as a metaphorical use of the term. According to some commentators בַּדִּים in Hos 11:6 should be understood as ‘branches’ in the metaphorical sense of ‘villages’ subservient to a major city (Macintosh 1997).

The possibility that בַּדִּים in Isaiah 16:6, Jeremiah 48:30 and 50:36 does not mean ‘prattle’ or ‘prattlers, soothsayers’, but
‘power’, i.e. the ‘carrying force’ of a people, or a crocodile (Job 41:4), cannot to be excluded.

All Judaic references to the carrying-poles of the ark and other objects belonging to the tabernacle are derived from the Bible and for that reason do not offer useful additional information.

\includegraphics*{bd-Arch-of-Titus.eps}

6.2 Pictorial Material

A.1 On the Arch of Titus the poles on which the Menorah was carried are clearly visible. They are round, not square, and were carried on the shoulders of the bearers (cf. Bolen, PLBL, Disk 2, 10. Rome, tb q112002.jpg and tb q112002.jpg). For the door-bar, see Salonen, Türen, 74-90.

6.3 Archaeology

A.1 [Will be added later.]

7. Conclusion

A.1 The word בַּד in the sense of ‘carrying-pole’ was probably derived from a contraction of יד + ב ‘in the hand’, hence ‘handle’. It was a round pole of extremely hard wood overlaid with a coating of gold or bronze. Two such poles were used to carry various heavy cultic objects. Remaining in the rings of the furniture of the tabernacle and later the temple they reminded the cultic personnel continuously of the original movability of the sanctuary.

Bibliography

Clines 1989: D.J.A. Clines, Job 1--20 (WBC), Dallas.

Macintosh 1997: A.A. Macintosh, Hosea (ICC), Edinburgh, 452-55.

Rabin 1973 Ch. Rabin, ‘Hebrew baddim ‘‘Power’’ Õ’, JSS 18:57-58.

Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database