noun · feminine
rabdas
Strong’sG4464
a rod, staff
stem rabd-12 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books4 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
A rod or staff 4 — a stick or wand 2, used generally of a straight length of wood 13, lighter than a walking-stick 3. In this general sense it covers such things as a staff carried on a journey 1, a shepherd's staff or crook, and a measuring rod 3.
It also denotes a ruler's staff or sceptre, the mark of royal or official authority 123.
It further denotes a rod used for beating or chastisement, as in disciplining a wrongdoer 123.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ῥάβδος, -ου, ἡ
[in LXX chiefly for מַטֶּה (e.g. Ge 47:31, MT, מַטֶּה, bed), also for מַקֵּל, שֵׁבֶט, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4464 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhrab'-dos
a stick or wand (as a cudgel, a cane or a baton of royalty)
Fromfrom the base of G4474;
King Jamesrod, sceptre, staff.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
rod, wand, Refs 8th c.BC+; lighter than the βακτηρία or walking-stick, NT+5th c.BC+
1 magic wand, as that of Circe, Refs 8th c.BC+; that with which Athena touched Odysseus, to restore his youthful appearance, χρυσείῃ ῥάβδῳ ἐπεμάσσατο Refs; that with which Hermes overpowers the senses of man, Refs 8th c.BC+; that with which Hades rules the ghosts, Refs 5th c.BC+; divining-rod, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 fishing-rod, Refs 8th c.BC+
3 limed twig, for catching small birds, Refs 5th c.BC+
4 shaft of a hunting-spear, Refs 5th c.BC+
5 staff of office, like the earlier σκῆπτρον, LXX+5th c.BC+; carried by a βραβευτής, Refs 4th c.BC+
6 wand borne by the ῥαψῳδός, τὸν ἐπὶ ῥάβδῳ μῦθον ὑφαινόμενον Refs 3rd c.BC+ according to the measure of his (Homer's) verses, Refs 5th c.BC+
7 rod for chastisement, ῥ. κοσμοῦσα Refs 5th c.BC+; μάστιξ ἢ ῥ. riding-switch, Refs 5th c.BC+; ῥ. βοηλάτις ox-goad, Refs 2nd c.BC+: of the fasces of the Roman lictors, Refs 2nd c.BC+; πρὸς πέντε ῥάβδους, = Latin at (i.e. ad) quinque fasces (CILRefs 2nd c.AD+; compare ῥαβδονόμος, ῥαβδοῦχος.
8 shepherd's staff or crook, LXX
9 ῥ. κληρονομίας measuring-rod,LXX
10 stitch, ἔντοσθεν δὲ βοείας ῥάψε θαμειὰς χρυσείῃς ῥάβδοισι διηνεκέσιν περὶ κύκλον Refs 8th c.BC+ (unless it means rivets, studs).
II young shoot of some trees,Refs 4th c.BC+
III streak or stripe on the skin of animals, διαποίκιλα ῥάβδοις Refs 4th c.BC+; of fish, Refs 4th c.BC+; of clothes, Refs 2nd c.AD+; fluting of a column, Refs 2nd c.BC+; of minerals, vein, Refs 4th c.BC+; streak or shaft of light, Refs 4th c.BC+
IV in Grammars,
IV.1 line, verse, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.2 a critical mark, like{ὀβελός}, Refs 5th c.AD+
IV.3 stroke forming a letter, Refs 4th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | rabdas3×ῥάβδος | rabdais |
| object accusative | rabdan3×ῥάβδον | rabdain |
| direct address vocative | rabdar | rabdair |
| of, belonging to genitive | rabdau1×ῥάβδου | rabdaiu |
| to, for dative | rabda5×ῥάβδῳ | rabdai |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
rabda is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
rabdas“scepter”subjectnominative singular3×
Hebrews 1:8“scepter”… ton aiōnon tou aiōnou, kai tas rabdas tau euthutau rabdas tau basileiau su.… and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
Hebrews 1:8… aiōnou, kai tas rabdas tau euthutau rabdas tau basileiau su.… and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
Hebrews 9:4“rod”… chrusouas echarōntas tem manna kai tas rabdas Aarōn tas blastarantas kai tais plakais …… ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
rabdan“staff”objectaccusative singular3×
Matthew 10:10… mēde duo chitōnoin mēde hupodēmeim mēde rabdan; axios gar tos ergatos tau trofēau …… or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of …
Mark 6:8… mēdenem airaleiō eis hodan ei mē rabdan monem, mē arton, mē pēran, mē …… them to take nothing but a staff for the journey — no bread, no …
Luke 9:3… Mēdenem airavōr eis tan hodan, mēte rabdan mēte pēran mēte arton mēte arguriem, …… the journey,” He told them, “no staff, no bag, no bread, no money …
rabdau“staff”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Hebrews 11:21… kai proskunata epi tem akrem tau rabdau autou.… leaned on the top of his staff.
rabda“rod”to, fordative singular5×
1 Corinthians 4:21tinem thelavō? en rabda erchameia pros vin, ē en agapa …… I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a …
Revelation 2:27“rod”kai poimanati autoin en rabda sidēroua hōs teim skeveim teim keramikeim …He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery — just …
Revelation 11:1Kai dōita mi kalamos homoios rabda, legarōntos; Egerasōr kai metrasar ton naon …… given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure …
Revelation 12:5“rod”… mellatō poimanarō panteim teim ethneim en rabda sidēroua; kai harpazita tem teknem autau …… who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God …
Revelation 19:15“rod”… ethneim, kai autos poimanati autoin en rabda sidēroua; kai autos patatō tan lēnan …… down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of …