גַּרְזֶן
gar.zen
axe
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "garzen" (H1631) is translated to "axe". It's a simple, yet powerful tool used to shape and cut wood. This instrument is used in various contexts throughout the biblical text. There are only four occurrences of this word in the entire Bible, suggesting its usage is rather specific and limited in scope. Given its translation to "axe", it's likely that "garzen" plays a role in woodworking, carpentry, or agriculture, where shaping or cutting wood is necessary. The fact that its usage is limited may indicate that axes were not particularly common or prominent tools in ancient Israelite life.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
4 total occurrences across the text
Should an ax brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood.
Deuteronomy 19:5as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live.
Deuteronomy 20:19When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them. You shall not cut them down, for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you?
1 Kings 6:7The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction.