Axe @ used in the Authorized Version of Deuteronomy:19:5Deuteronomy:20:19; kjvKings:6:7, as the translation of a Hebrew word which means "chopping." It was used for felling trees Isaiah:10:34) and hewing timber for building. It is the rendering of a different word in Judges:9:48, 1Samuel:13:20-21, Psalms:74:5, which refers to its sharpness. In 2Kings:6:5 it is the translation of a word used with reference to its being made of iron. In Isaiah:44:12 the Revised Version renders by "axe" the Hebrew _maatsad_, which means a "hewing" instrument. In the Authorized Version it is rendered "tongs." It is also used in Jeremiah:10:3, and rendered "axe." The "battle-axe" (army of Medes and Persians) mentioned in Jeremiah:51:20 was probably, as noted in the margin of the Revised Version, a "maul" or heavy mace. In Psalms:74:6 the word so rendered means "feller." (See the figurative expression in Matthew:3:10; Luke:3:9.)
