BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY

Engines

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G7920

κατασκευή

kataskeuē — apparatus

1. preparation , ἐν κατασκευῇ τοῦ πολέμου in preparing for it, (Thucydides); the equipment of ships, engines, etc., (Thucydides) 2. any kind of furniture that is fixed , opposite to what is movable παρασκευή); buildings, fixtures , (Thucydides); but also, like παρασκευή, any furniture , (Herdotus Historicus) 3. the state, condition, constitution of a thing, (Euripides) 4. a device, trick , (Aeschines Orator) (ML)

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GREEK · G9379

σχάζω

schazō — to open up

1. properly to let loose : hence to slit, open , (Aristophanes Comicus); σχ. φλέβα to open a vein, (Xenophon Historicus), etc.:—;of flowers, σχ. κάλυκας [variant datesAnthology Palantina 2. to let fall, drop , (Xenophon Historicus) 3. to let go , σχάσας τὴν φροντίδα having let the mind go, given it play , (Aristophanes Comicus); σχ. τὰς μηχανάς to let off the engines, (Plutarch) 4. to check, stop, stay , Lat. inhibere, κώπαν σχάσον, i. e. cease rowing, (Pindar); σχάσον ὄμμα lower thine eyes, (Euripides):—;Mid., σχασάμενος τὴν ἱππικήν having dropt one's horsemanship, "given up the turf," (Aristophanes Comicus) (ML)

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Historical dictionary entry

(1.) Heb. hishalon i.e., “invention” (as in Eccl. 7:29) contrivances indicating ingenuity. In 2 Chr. 26:15 it refers to inventions for the purpose of propelling missiles from the walls of a town, such as stones (the Roman balista) and arrows (the catapulta). (2.) Heb. mechi kobollo, i.e., the beating of that which is in front a battering-ram (Ezek. 26:9), the use of which was common among the Egyptians and the Assyrians. Such an engine is mentioned in the reign of David (2 Sam. 20:15).

Scripture references

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

Compare other reference traditions

Look up Engines in Smith’s Bible Dictionary and ISBE →