Nail

VIEW:34 DATA:01-04-2020
NAIL.—1. Among the ancient Arabs it was the custom for a widow to allow her nails to grow during her term of mourning. To pare them was a formal indication that this period was at an end. From Deu_21:12 and 2Sa_19:24 (LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ) it may be inferred that such was also the custom among the Hebrews. The former passage, however, refers only to the case of a foreign captive whom a Hebrew might take to wife after a month’s seclusion, during which the care of the person was neglected in token of mourning for the captive’s condition. The latter passage in its better Gr. form (see Cent. Bible, in loc.) tells us that Mephibosheth showed his sympathy with David by, inter alia, omitting to trim his ‘toe-nails and his finger-nails’ during the latter’s absence from Jerusalem.
2. The Heb. word most frequently rendered ‘nail’ is properly a tent-peg, or, as Jdg_4:21 RV [Note: Revised Version.] , tent-pin. This is also the better rendering in Zec_10:4, where it is synonymous with ‘corner-stone,’ both terms signifying the princes or leading men of the State as its supports. The figure of Isa_22:23; Isa_22:25, on the other hand, is derived from the custom of driving a nail into the house-wall upon which to hang (Isa_22:22) domestic utensils or the like.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


1. Deu_21:12, "pare her (a captive woman's) nails," namely, in order that she might lay aside all belonging to her condition as an alien, to become a wife among the covenant people. Margin: "suffer to grow," the opposite sense, will refer to her seclusion a month in mourning with shaven head and unpared nails. The former seems preferable, answering to her "putting the raiment of her captivity from her."
2. Mismerim, masmerim, masmerot. Isa_41:7; "fastened (the idol) with nails" to keep it steady in its place! Jer_10:4; 1Ch_22:3; 2Ch_3:9, where the "fifty shekels of gold" were to gild the nails fastening the sheet gold on the wainscoting; Ecc_12:11, "words of the wise are as nails fastened (by) the master of assemblies," rather "the masters" or "associates in the collection (of the canonical Scriptures), i.e. authors of the individual books, are as nails driven in." (Hengstenberg).
Scripture has a power penetrating as a nail the depths of the soul, worldly literature reaches only the surface. So Rev_1:16; Heb_4:12; though the associated sacred writers are many, yet they "are given from One Shepherd," Jesus (Eph_4:11), the Inspirer of the word, from whom comes all their penetrating power (2Ti_3:16). A canon whereby to judge sermons: they are worth nothing unless, like Scripture, they resemble goads and nails. The hearers too, instead of being vexed, should feel thankful when by the word they are "pricked in their heart" (Act_2:37; Eph_6:17; Psa_45:3).
3. The large pin (Jdg_4:21-22; Jdg_5:26) by which the tent cords were fastened, giving shape and security to the tent. Jael drove it into Sisera's temples. The tabernacle curtains were fastened with brass pins (Exo_27:19). In Zec_10:4, "out of him (Judah) shall come forth the nail," namely, the large peg inside the Eastern tent, on which is hung most of its valuable furniture. Judah shall be under a native ruler, not a foreigner; the Maccabees primarily, Judah's deliverers from the oppressor Antiochus Epiphanes: antitypically Messiah of the tribe of Judah.
On Messiah hang all the glory and hope of His people. The "nail," as expressing firmness, stands for a secure abode (Ezr_9:8), "grace hath been showed from the Lord ... to give us a nail in His holy place" So Isa_22:23-25, "I will fasten him (Eliakim) as a nail in a sure place ... and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue (high and low), all vessels of small quantity ... cups ... flagons (compare Son_4:4; 1Ki_10:16-17; 1Ki_10:21). The nail fastened in the sure place (Shebna) shall be ... cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off," i.e. all Shebna's offspring and dependants and all his emoluments and honours shall fall with himself, as the ornaments hanging upon a peg fall when it falls.
Vessels of glory hanging on Christ vary in capacity; but each shall be filled as full of bliss as the respective capacity admits (Luk_19:17; Luk_19:19). The print of the nails in Jesus' hands and feet were Thomas' test of the reality of the resurrection (Joh_20:25). In Christ's person "nailed to the cross," the law (Rom_3:21; Rom_7:2-6; Col_2:14) and the old serpent (Joh_3:14; Joh_12:31-32) were nailed to it. A mode of canceling bonds in Asia was by striking a nail through the writing (Grotius).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Nail.
1. Of finger. (a) A nail or claw of man or animal.
(b) A point or style, for example, for writing; See Jer_17:1.
2. For fastening. (a) A nail, Isa_11:7, a stake, Isa_33:20, also a tent-peg. Tent-pegs were usually of wood and of large size; but some times, as was the case with those used to fasten the curtains of the Tabernacle were of metal. Exo_27:19; Exo_38:20.
(b) A nail, primarily a point. We are told that David prepared iron for the nails to be used in the Temple; and as the Holy of Holies was plated with gold, the nails for fastening the plates, were probably of gold.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


The nail of Jael's tent with which she killed Sisera, is called יתד ; it was formed for penetrating earth, or other hard substances, when driven by sufficient force, as with a hammer, &c; it includes the idea of strength. The orientals, in fitting up their houses, were by no means inattentive to the comfort and satisfaction arising from order and method. Their furniture was scanty and plain; but they were careful to arrange the few household utensils they needed, so as not to encumber the apartments to which they belonged. Their devices for this purpose, which, like every part of the structure, bore the character of remarkable simplicity, may not correspond with our ideas of neatness and propriety; but they accorded with their taste, and sufficiently answered their design. One of these consisted in a set of spikes, nails, or large pegs fixed in the walls of the house, upon which they hung up the movables and utensils in common use that belonged to the room. These nails they do not drive into the walls with a hammer or mallet, but fix them there when the house is building; for if the walls are of brick, they are too hard, or if they consist of clay, too soft and mouldering, to admit the action of the hammer. The spikes, which are so contrived as to strengthen the walls, by binding the parts together, as well as to serve for convenience, are large, with square heads like dice, and bent at the ends so as to make them cramp irons. They commonly place them at the windows and doors, in order to hang upon them, when they choose, veils and curtains, although they place them in other parts of the room, to hang up other things of various kinds. The care with which they fixed these nails, may be inferred, as well from the important purposes they were meant to serve, as from the promise of the Lord to Eliakim: “And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place,” Isa_22:23. It is evident from the words of the prophet, that it was common in his time to suspend upon them the utensils belonging to the apartment: “Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?” Eze_15:3. The word used in Isaiah for a nail of this sort, is the same which denotes the stake, or large pin of iron, which fastened down to the ground the cords of their tents. These nails, therefore, were of necessary and common use, and of no small importance in all their apartments; and if they seem to us mean and insignificant, it is because they are unknown to us, and inconsistent with our notions of propriety, and because we have no name for them but what conveys to our ear a low and contemptible idea. It is evident from the frequent allusions in Scripture to these instruments, that they were not regarded with contempt or indifference by the natives of Palestine. “Grace has been shown from the Lord our God,” said Ezra, “to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place,” Ezr_9:8; or, as explained in the margin, a constant and sure abode. The dignity and propriety of the metaphor appear from the use which the Prophet Zechariah makes of it: “Out of him cometh forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together,” Zec_10:4. The whole frame of government, both in church and state, which the chosen people of God enjoyed, was the contrivance of his wisdom and the gift of his bounty; the foundations upon which it rested, the bonds which kept the several parts together, its means of defence, its officers and executors, were all the fruits of distinguishing goodness: even the oppressors of his people were a rod of correction in the hand of Jehovah, to convince them of sin, and restore them to his service.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


nāl: (1) As denoting the finger-nail, the Hebrew word is צפּרן, cippōren Deu_21:12, the captive woman ?shall shave her head, and pare her nails.? The latter was probably intended to prevent her from marring her beauty by scratching her face, an act of self-mutilation oriental women are repeatedly reported to have committed in the agony of their grief. Aramaic טפר, ṭephar (Dan_4:33, ?his nails like birds' claws?). (2) As pin or peg (for tents, or driven into the wall) the word is יתד, yāthēdh (in Jdg_4:21 the Revised Version (British and American), ?tent-pin?); in Isa_22:23, ?a nail in a sure place? is a peg firmly driven into the wall on which something is to be hung (Isa_22:24); compare Ecc_12:11, where the word is masmerōth, cognate with maṣmēr below. (3) For nails of iron 1Ch_22:3 and gold 2Ch_3:9, and in Isa_41:7 and Jer_10:4, the word is מסמר, masmēr. (4) In the New Testament the word is helos, used of the nails in Christ's hands Joh_20:25, and ?to nail? in Col_2:14 (?nailing it to the cross?) is προσηλόω, prosēlóō.
In a figurative sense the word is used of the hard point of a stylus or engraving tool: ?The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point (literally, ?claw,? ?nail?) of a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars? Jer_17:1.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


There are two Hebrew words thus translated in the Auth. Vers., which it may be well to distinguish.
Yathed, which usually denotes a peg, pin, or nail, as driven into a wall (Eze_15:3; Isa_22:25); and more especially a tent-pin driven into the earth to fasten the tent (Exo_27:19; Exo_35:18; Exo_38:31; Jdg_4:21-22; Isa_33:20; Isa_54:2).
Mismeroth, which, with some variations of form, is applied to ordinary and ornamental nails. It always occurs in the plural, and is the word which we find in 1Ch_22:3, 2Ch_3:9 : Isa_41:7; Jer_10:4; Ecc_12:11. The last of these texts involves a very significant proverbial application?'The words of the wise are as nails infixed,' etc.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


2Ch_3:9 (c) The fact that the weight of the nails is given may be taken as a picture of the value GOD puts on unseen acts and deeds. He knows that which is done in obscurity, privately and without publicity. He weighs our words and deeds as they are used for His glory.

Ezr_9:8 (b) This represents the fixed and permanent position of the people of Israel when GOD returns them to their own land.

Ecc_12:11 (a) Wise words fasten themselves in the heart and the mind. They remain there for a blessing in days to come.

Isa_22:23 (a) By this picture we see the permanent and secure position of CHRIST, the Messiah, as He sits on the throne of His kingdom. Temporarily the nail and the place have been removed, but He is still Lord, and will resume His position as the King of Israel in the day of His power.

Zec_10:4 (b) This figure indicates that it is GOD Himself who has made CHRIST to be King and Sovereign. He establishes both Israel and the Church under His permanent and eventual rule.

Col_2:14 (a) We have revealed to us in this picture the act of GOD in putting our sins on JESUS, so that He bore them "in His own body on the tree."
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.


Nail
[for fastening] is the rendering of two Heb. words in the A.V.
1. יָתֵד, yathid (from piercing), which usually denotes a (wooden) peg, pin, or nail (of any material), as driven into a wall (Eze_15:3; Isa_22:25); and more especially a tent-pin driven into the earth by a mallet to fasten the tent (Exo_27:19; Exo_35:18; Exo_38:31; Isa_33:20; Isa_54:2). It was one of these pins which Jael used in fastening to the ground the temples of Sisera (Jdg_4:21-22). Hence to drive a pin or to fasten a nail presents among the Hebrews an image of a fixed dwelling, a firm and stable abode (Isa_22:23). This image is still frequent among the Arabs (see Marac. page 597; Beidav. Apud Salium, page 518). SEE TENT.
In the passages in Exodus these tabernaclepins are said to have been of copper (see Lightfoot. Spicil. in Exodus § 42; Joseph. Ant. 5:5, 4); in Judges the material is not mentioned; we should most naturallv think of some metal, yet the Sept. uses πάσσαλον, which suggests that it was a wooden pin. A pin or nail is also, by a further application of the metaphor, applied to a prince, on whom the care and welfare of the state depends (Zecheriah 10:4), where the term פַּנָּה, corner-stone, is applied to the same person denoted by the word "nail." So also Ezr_9:8. All these allusions refer to large nails, or pins, or cramps, used in applications requiring great strength. See Thdmson, Land and Book, 3:149.
2. מִסְמֵר, masmer' (a point, only in the plur.; also מִסְמְרוֹת, Jer_10:4; מַסְמְרַים, 1Ch_22:3; מִסְמְרַים, Isa_41:7), is applied to ordinary and ornamental nails. There is in Ecc_12:11 a very significant proverbial application, "The words of the wise are as nails fastened," etc.; that is, "they sink deep into the heart of man." In this passage the figure is generally understood to refer to nails driven into a wall, but which Ginsburg understands of the tent-pins above mentioned, whose use for holding fast is contrasted with the use of goads for driving cattle forward, the entire verse in his opinion having reference to pastoral life. The golden nails of the Temple are denoted by this word. We are told that David prepared iron for the nails to be used in the Temple; and as the holy of holies was plated with gold, the nails also for fastening the plates were probably of gold. Their weight is said to have been fifty shekels, equal to twenty-five ounces, a weight obviously so much too small, unless mere gilding be supposed, for the total weight required, that the Sept. and Vulg. render it as expressing that of each nail, which is equally excessive. To remedly this difficulty, Thenius suggests reading five hundred for fifty shekels (1Ch_22:3; 2Ch_3:9; Bertheau, On Chronicles, in Kuazgef. Handb.).
"Nail," Vulg. palus, is the rendering of πάσσαλος in Sir_27:2. In the N.T. we have ἣλος and προσηλόω in speaking of the nails of the Cross (Joh_20:25; Col_2:14). SEE CROSS.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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