266. Chieftain's Spear Cruse

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1. The spear here spoken of is the chanith, already described in the note on chapter 17:7 (#253). In the Arab encampments of the present day the sheikh’s tent is always recognized by a tall spear stuck in the ground in front of it; and the place where the sheikh reclines to rest when halting on a march is designated in like manner.
2. It is not known what was the precise shape of the cruse, (tsappachath,) or the material of which it consisted. Some suppose it to have been made of iron plates shaped like a shallow cup or bowl. The vessel at present used in the East for the purposes of a cruse or flask is globular in shape, and is made of blue porous clay. It is nine inches in diameter, with a neck three inches long. At the lower part is a small handle, and opposite is a straight spout having an orifice about the size of a straw, through which water is sucked. The tsappachath is spoken of in the Bible as a receptacle for oil (1 Kings 17:1212And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. (1 Kings 17:12)) and also for water. See text and 1 Kings 19:66And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. (1 Kings 19:6).
The “cruse” mentioned in 1 Kings 14:33And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child. (1 Kings 14:3) and the one in 2 Kings 2:2020And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. (2 Kings 2:20) are different vessels from the cruse of this text, and the words themselves are different in the original. See notes on those passages (#305, #327).