Encyclopedia of The Bible – Flagstaff
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Flagstaff

FLAGSTAFF. This is the tr. used by the RSV and other modern VSS for Heb. תֹּ֨רֶנ׃֙ (Isa 30:17; KJV “beacon”). The word clearly means “mast (of a ship)” in Isaiah 33:23 and Ezekiel 27:5. In the latter Tyre is pictured as a ship for which a cedar of Lebanon is used for a mast. In Isaiah 30:17 the word is used to picture the solitariness and conspicuousness of the survivors of the people of Israel after the judgment of God has come upon them: they will be like a תֹּ֨רֶנ׃֙, “mast, pole” on a mountain top.