REED (אֲגַמ֒, H106, קָנֶה, H7866; κάλαμος, G2812). The reed referred to in Jeremiah 51:32 is obviously a special type, because it is the only time אֲגַמ֒, H106, is used. The word is related to a word for “pool.” It emphasizes the locale of the reed. The Heb. word קָנֶה, H7866, used in 2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 36:6; or Ezekiel 29:6, really refers to a cane or even a beam. This can be said also for the Gr. word κάλαμος, G2812. For instance, they smote the Lord Jesus on the head with a reed (Mark 15:19) and they put a soaked sponge on a reed so as to get him to drink when he was on the cross (15:36). The angel too measured the city with a reed (Rev 21:16).

The “giant reed” is the bulrush or Persian reed of Pal., found in the Jordan Valley and around the Dead Sea. This Arundo donax can grow to the height of eighteen ft. carrying at its tip a white plume. The stem at the base of the reed may have a diameter of three inches. These thick, strong stems were used as canes or walking sticks, hence the reference in Ezekiel 29:6 and 2 Kings 18:21, where the Emperor Sennacherib referred to Egypt as the staff of a bruised reed.

The reference in 2 Kings also to the piercing of a hand refers to the fact that the hard stem of the reed can break up into sharp, thin slivers with points which can easily make holes in a man’s flesh.

Whether the cane or rod used to convey the sponge to our Lord’s mouth was the Arundo donax is not important. There are experts who consider that the necessarily long stem used was that of the Dhura or Durra, sometimes called the Jerusalem corn. The true Durra is the Egyp. rice corn, which can grow to a height of sixteen ft. Its stout stems are filled with a thick, dry pith which is never sweet. The plant grows well without irrigation.

In Weymouth’s tr. the word “cane” is used instead of “reed” in Matthew 27:48 and Mark 15:36. The cane might be Arundo or Sorghum.

Pens in Biblical days were made from reeds; thus, in 3 John 13—“I would rather not write with pen and ink” refers to a reed pen, as do the pens mentioned in 3 Maccabees 4:20. These pens would write on papyrus. The ink might be lamp black stirred into gall juice. Reed pens can be made from the tall grass, Phragmites communis, a perennial allied to the Arundo. A special knife obviously was used for making the nib of the reed pen, as we read in Jeremiah 36:23 “the king would cut them off with a penknife.”

The common reed (Phragmites communis), found in the Holy Land, has stems which can grow twelve ft. in height. The stems are much valued for thatching in Britain.

The papyrus reed (Cypherus papyrus) grew down the Nile in the shallower parts, and produced huge main, thick horizontal roots, often twenty ft. long, out of which grew shorter roots for anchorage purposes. Whole plants were dug up, the roots being used for tool handles, and the stems being made into sandals, ropes, mats and baskets. The pith of the stems could be eaten, either cooked or raw while this could be extracted to make paper (see Bulrush).

The fact that the pith could be eaten or made into paper makes sense of Ezekiel 3—“Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll...and he gave me the scroll to eat...and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.”

The word “reed” is used also in connection with measuring (Ezek 40:3 and 5).

A reed equals about six cubits. The cubit is reckoned to be the measurement from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, i.e. one ft. six inches. In Ezekiel 40:5, a measuring reed is six cubits long, i.e. nine ft.

The brook Kanah (Josh 16:8; 17:9) was really a brook between the countries of Ephraim and Manasseh. “Kanah” means “reed” or “possession.” Probably the brook was so called because of the thousands of reeds which grew there. The plant referred to is the reed mace or cattail, i.e. the normal “flags” growing by the river brink. See Cane.