maṭṭēh (מַטֶּה)
- Language: Hebrew
- Romanized: maṭṭēh
- Original script: מַטֶּה
- Gloss: staff, rod, support
The support image at the heart of The Staff of Bread. A staff lets a body stand; in the famine and siege passages, bread becomes the staff a people lean on, and the thing God can break.
Concordance Aid
Reading Note
Example passages: Exodus 4:2; Leviticus 26:26; Psalm 23:4; Isaiah 3:1.
A staff is something a body leans on. In Scripture, maṭṭēh can also carry authority or tribal identity. When joined to bread, it gives the book its governing image: provision is what holds life upright.
Translation Range
Staff, rod, branch, tribe, support, authority.
Not To Be Confused With
Maṭṭēh names the staff or rod image. Mishʿān names support or stay, and saʿad names the act of sustaining. They overlap in meaning but do different work.
Related entries
- Matteh Lehem — staff of bread
- Mishan — support, stay
- Saad — to support, sustain
- Sterigma — Greek support word
- Baculum Panis — Latin “staff of bread”