Bible Dictionary
Sickle
A sickle was a curved tool used for reaping grain and sometimes pruning. Biblical references also use the image of a sickle for harvest and judgment.
Definition
A sickle is a cutting instrument used for reaping grain and, in smaller forms, for pruning. Ancient sickles varied in shape and material; examples included wooden forms with flint cutting edges and crescent-shaped iron sickles.
Biblical Usage
The Bible uses the sickle in connection with cutting grain and with harvest imagery. A related curved implement was also used for warlike purposes and is more properly called a pruning-hook in some passages.
Historical Background
Sickles were known in ancient Egypt and Palestine. Flints shaped for sickles and crescent-shaped iron sickles were found at Tel el-Chesy; in Palestine and Syria the instrument was commonly made of iron or steel.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Of the Egyptians resembled that in modern use. The ears of corn were cut with it near the top of the straw. There was also a sickle used for warlike purposes, more correctly, however, called a pruning-hook (Deut. 16:9; Jer. 50:16, marg., “scythe;” Joel 3:13; Mark 4:29).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>sik'-'l (chermesh (De 16:9; 23:25), maggal; compare Arabic minjal (Jer 50:16; Joe 3:13); drepanon (Mr 4:29; Re 14:14-19)): Although the ancients pulled much of their grain by hand, we know that they also used sickles. The form of this instrument varied, as is evidenced by the Egyptian sculptures. The earliest sickle was probably of wood, shaped like the modern scythe, although much smaller, with the cutting edge made of sharp flints set into the wood. Sickle flints were found at Tel el-Chesy. Crescent-shaped iron sickles were found in the same mound. In Palestine and Syria the sickle varies in size. It is usually made wholly of iron or steel and shaped much like the instrument used in western lands. The smaller-sized sickles are used both for pruning and for reaping.</p><p>James A. Patch</p>