Topic
Pillar
66 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 28:18Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave Monuments erected to commemorate events — By Jacob, his vision of angels
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
- Judges 9:6Easton · ISBE · Nave By Joshua, at Shechem
And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.
- 2 Samuel 18:18Easton · ISBE · Nave By Absalom, to keep his name alive
¶ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom’s place.
- Genesis 19:26ISBE · Nave Pillar of salt, Lot's wife turned to
¶ But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
- Genesis 31:45ISBE · Nave By Jacob, his covenant with Laban
And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
- Genesis 35:20Easton · ISBE
And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
- Exodus 24:4Easton · Nave By Moses, the covenant between Jehovah and Israel
And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
- 1 Samuel 15:12Easton · Smith
And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
- 1 Samuel 20:19Smith · Nave As a road sign
And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
- Isaiah 19:19ISBE · Nave Prophecy of one in Egypt
In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.
- Revelation 3:12ISBE · Nave FIGURATIVE
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will…
- Revelation 10:1Smith · ISBE
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Show 54 more
- Genesis 28:22 ISBE
- Genesis 31:13 ISBE
- Genesis 31:40 Smith
- Genesis 35:14 ISBE
- Genesis 36:20 Smith
- Exodus 13:2 Easton
- Exodus 13:21 ISBE
- Exodus 13:22 ISBE
- Exodus 14:19 ISBE
- Exodus 14:24 ISBE
- Exodus 23:24 ISBE
- Exodus 29:42 ISBE
- Exodus 29:43 ISBE
- Exodus 33:9–11 ISBE
- Exodus 34:13 ISBE
- Exodus 40:36 ISBE
- Leviticus 26:1 ISBE
- Numbers 9:17 ISBE
- Numbers 12:5 ISBE
- Numbers 14:14 ISBE
- Deuteronomy 7:5 ISBE
- Deuteronomy 12:3 Nave Monuments of idolatry, to be destroyed
- Deuteronomy 27:2–6 Nave By Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan River
- Deuteronomy 31:15 ISBE
- Joshua 4:1–9 Nave By Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan River
- Joshua 8:30 Nave By Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan River
- Joshua 15:6 Nave As a boundary
- Joshua 24:25–27 Nave By Joshua, at Shechem
- Joshua 24:26 Easton
- Judges 16:26 Easton
- Judges 16:29 Easton
- 1 Samuel 2:8 ISBE
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Nave By Samuel, the defeat of the Philistines
- 2 Samuel 20:8 Nave As a landmark
- 1 Kings 1:9 Nave As a landmark
- 1 Kings 7:6 Nave Of Solomon's palaces
- 1 Kings 7:13–22 Nave Of Solomon's temple
- 1 Kings 10:12 ISBE
- 1 Kings 14:23 ISBE
- 2 Kings 18:16 ISBE
- 2 Kings 25:13 Nave Broken and carried to Babylon
- 2 Kings 25:17 Nave Of Solomon's temple
- Job 9:6 ISBE
- Job 26:11 ISBE
- Psalms 75:3 ISBE
- Psalms 99:7 ISBE
- Song of Songs 3:6 Smith
- Jeremiah 31:21 Nave Used to mark roads
- Jeremiah 52:17 Nave Broken and carried to Babylon
- Jeremiah 52:20 Nave Broken and carried to Babylon
- Jeremiah 52:21 Nave Broken and carried to Babylon
- Luke 17:32 Nave Pillar of salt, Lot's wife turned to
- Galatians 2:9 ISBE
- 1 Timothy 3:15 ISBE
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 10 references
Used to support a building (Judg. 16:26, 29); as a trophy or memorial (Gen. 28:18; 35:20; Ex. 24:4; 1 Sam. 15:12, A.V., “place,” more correctly “monument,” or “trophy of victory,” as in 2 Sam. 18:18); of fire, by which the Divine Presence was manifested (Ex. 13:2). The “plain of the pillar” in Judg. 9:6 ought to be, as in the Revised Version, the “oak of the pillar”, i.e., of the monument or stone set up by Joshua (24:26).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 7 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 41 references
pil'-ar (matstsebhah, `ammudh; stulos): In a good many cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "pillars" for the King James Version "images" (matstsebhoth, Ex 34:13; De 7:5; 1Ki 14:23, etc.). In Ge 19:26, where "pillar of salt" is given, the word is netsibh; in 1Sa 2:8 it is matsuq; while in most other single uses the Revised Version margin gives variant renderings, as in Jud 9:6 (mutstsabh), the Revised Version margin "garrison"; in 1Ki 10:12 (mic`adh), the Revised Version margin "`a railing,' Hebrew `a prop'"; in 2Ki 18:16 ('omenoth), the Revised Version margin "doorposts." The matstsebhoth were (1) memorial pillars, as in the "pillars" of Jacob at Bethel (Ge 28:18,22; compare Ge 31:13; 35:14), in covenant with Laban (Ge 31:45), at Rachel's grave (Ge 35:20); Absalom's pillar (2Sa 18:18). Such pillars were legitimate (theory of a fetishistic character is not grounded); it is predicted in Isa 19:19 that such a pillar would be set up to Yahweh at the border of Egypt. (2) Idolatrous pillars, in Canaanitish and other heathen worships. These were to be ruthlessly broken down (the King James Version "images," see above; Ex 23:24; 34:13; De 7:5, etc.; compare Le 26:1). See IMAGES. The other word, `ammudh, is used of the pillar of cloud and fire (see below); of the pillars of the tabernacle and temple (see under the word); of the two pillars JACHIN AND BOAZ (which see); poetically of the "pillars" of heaven, of earth (Job 9:6; 26:11; Ps 75:3; 99:7), etc. In the few instances of the word in the New Testament, the use is figurative. James, Cephas and John were reputed to be pillars" of the church at Jerusalem (Ga 2:9); the church is "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1Ti 3:15); he that overcomes is made "a pillar" in the temple of God (Re 3:12); a strong angel had feet "as pillars of fire" (Re 10:1).
Pillar of Cloud and Fire:
The visible manifestation of the divine presence in the journeyings of Israel at the time of the Exodus. Yahweh, it is narrated, went before the people "by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light ..... The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people" (Ex 13:21,22; compare Ex 14:19,24; Nu 14:14). When the congregation was at rest, the cloud abode over the tabernacle (Ex 40:36; Nu 9:17; 14:14). When Yahweh wished to communicate His will to Moses, the pillar descended to the door of the Tent of Meeting (Ex 33:9-11; Nu 12:5; De 31:15). These descriptions are not to be rationalistically explained; what is depicted is a true theophany. Criticism has sought to establish discrepancies between the allusions to the cloud in the JE and the P parts of the narrative, but these are not made out without straining; e.g. it is not the case that JE alone represents Yahweh as speaking with Moses in the cloud at the door of the tabernacle. The same representation is found in Ex 29:42,43, ascribed to Pillar. An acute discussion of the alleged discrepancies may be seen in H.M. Wiener, Essays in Pentateuchal Criticism, 82 ff.
James Orr
In the topical indexes
Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 30 references, grouped by sub-topic
- → Of Solomon's temple 1Ki 7:13-22; 2Ki 25:17
- → Broken and carried to Babylon 2Ki 25:13; Jer 52:17,20,21
- → Of Solomon's palaces 1Ki 7:6
- → Used to mark roads Jer 31:21
- → Pillar of salt, Lot's wife turned to Ge 19:26; Lu 17:32
- → Monuments erected to commemorate events
- → By Jacob, his covenant with Laban Ge 31:45
- → By Moses, the covenant between Jehovah and Israel Ex 24:4
- → By Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan River Jos 4:1-9; with De 27:2-6; Jos 8:30
- → By Joshua, at Shechem Jos 24:25-27; with Jud 9:6
- → By Samuel, the defeat of the Philistines 1Sa 7:12
- → By Absalom, to keep his name alive 2Sa 18:18
- → As a boundary Jos 15:6; with 18:17
- → As a road sign 1Sa 20:19
- → As a landmark 2Sa 20:8; 1Ki 1:9
- → Prophecy of one in Egypt Isa 19:19
- → Monuments of idolatry, to be destroyed De 12:3
- → See CLOUD, PILLAR OF
- → FIGURATIVE Re 3:12
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.