KNIFE (מַאֲכֶ֫לֶת, H4408, an instrument for eating, or food-cutter [Gen 22:6, 10; Judg 19:29; Prov 30:4]; חֶ֫רֶב, H2995, generally “sword,” but of stone knives in Josh 5:2, 3; תַּ֫עַר, H9509, generally “razor,” but of the “penknife” in Jer 36:23; שַׂכִּין, H8501, Ezra 1:9, but RSV “censer”). A small single- or double-edged cutting instrument of stone or metal.

In form the knife generally resembled the dagger or short stabbing sword, but was smaller and usually without ornamentation. The confusion between them is reflected in the fact that the common Heb. word for “sword” (חֶ֫רֶב, H2995) in KJV is rendered “knife” in Joshua 5:2, 3; 1 Kings 18:28; Ezekiel 5:1, 2 (RSV only Josh 5:1, 2; ASV Josh 5:2, 3; 1 Kings 18:28). The knife generally had a straight blade six to ten inches long, although knives with curved blades were known. The handles were made of one piece with the blade, or a wooden handle fastened to the blade by a tang or by rivets.

Like other orientals, the Jews made little use of “table knives” in their meals. Meat was cut into small pieces before being served, while bread was broken by hand. The sharp edge of knives was used metaphorically for rapaciousness (Prov 30:14). A knife at table is used in a figure for restraint upon one’s appetite, (23:2).

Knives were used for various purposes. Joshua was commanded to use flint knives to circumcise the Israelites (Josh 5:2, 3; cf. Exod 4:25). The use of flint knives when they were no longer in common domestic use implies an ancient ritual in which their use was still appropriate. Knives or small swords were used by the frenzied priests of Baal for self-mutilation (1 Kings 18:28).

The knife or food-cutter (מַאֲכֶ֫לֶת, H4408) was used for killing and skinning animals. Abraham took it along to sacrifice Isaac (Gen 22:6); the Levite used it to dismember his concubine (Judg 19:29). The “penknife” of Jeremiah 36:23 was used for trimming and splitting the reed employed in writing; it also was used as a razor (Num 6:5; Ezek 5:1).

The “pruning hooks” (Isa 18:5; Joel 3:10) were prob. curved knives. The KJV includes some “knives” among the temple furniture returned under Ezra (1:9), but the RSV renders them “censers.” The LXX rendering “of a different sort” (παρηλλαγμένα) does not give help on the real meaning. If they were knives, they doubtless were used to kill and cut up the sacrificial animals.

Herod the Great used a knife for paring an apple and attempted to use it as an instrument of suicide (Jos. Antiq. XVII. vii. 1; War I. xxxiii. 7).

Bibliography W. F. Petrie, Tools and Weapons (1917), 22-28; C. Corswant, A Dictionary of Life In Bible Times (1956), 164.