Goad: (Heb. malmad, only in)
(Judges 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 Samuel 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.
