Staff

The staff was a basic item of personal property

It was carried at most times

1 Samuel 14:27 See also Genesis 47:31; Judges 6:21; Hebrews 9:4

Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

It was carried by travellers

Genesis 32:10 See also Exodus 12:11; Matthew 10:5–10 parallels Mark 6:7–13, Luke 9:1–6

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

It was carried by shepherds

Micah 7:14 See also Psalm 23:4; Zechariah 11:7, Zechariah 11:10–14

Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

The staff was sometimes a symbol of authority

Genesis 49:10 See also Genesis 38:18, Genesis 38:25; Numbers 21:17–18; Judges 5:14; 2 Kings 18:21 parallel Isaiah 36:6; Matthew 27:28–30 parallel Mark 15:19

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

God's miraculous power was manifest through Moses' and Aaron's staffs

Exodus 4:2–5, Exodus 4:15–17, Exodus 7:8–12, Exodus 7:14–20 the plague of blood; Exodus 8:5–6 the plague of frogs; Exodus 8:16–17 the plague of gnats; Exodus 9:22–24 the plague of hail; Exodus 10:12–14 the plague of locusts; Exodus 14:15–16 the parting of the Red Sea; Exodus 17:5–13; Numbers 17:1–10; Hebrews 9:4; Numbers 20:7–13