Scepter

Concise Bible Dictionary:

 
One of the distinguishing insignia of royalty: a rod or staff of dignity. It was held out by the king to Esther (Esther 4:1111All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. (Esther 4:11)). The prophecy that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah.... until SHILOH come,” refers to Christ as “the Prince of Peace” (Gen. 49:1010The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10)). The scepter is not now wielded by Judah while the people are Lo-ammi, but their supremacy will be renewed when the purpose of God is fulfilled. Many passages speak of Christ sitting upon the throne of David, and reigning till His enemies are cast beneath His feet. A scepter of righteousness will be the scepter of His kingdom (Num. 24:1717I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. (Numbers 24:17); Psa. 45:66Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. (Psalm 45:6); Isa. 14:55The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. (Isaiah 14:5); Ezek. 19:11,1411And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches. (Ezekiel 19:11)
14And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. (Ezekiel 19:14); Amos 1:5,85I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord. (Amos 1:5)
8And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God. (Amos 1:8); Zech. 10:1111And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. (Zechariah 10:11); Heb. 1:88But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8)).

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Scepters were originally nothing but simple rods cut from the branches of trees, and more or less ornamented. They were in later times more elaborately made, and sometimes, instead of wood, the material was gold (Esther 5:22And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favor in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. (Esther 5:2)). The opinion that the scepter originated with the shepherd’s staff; because the first kings were mostly nomad princes, though entertained by some eminent authorities, is rejected by others equally eminent. The scepter of the ancient Egyptian kings is said, by Diodorus Siculus, to have resembled, not a shepherd’s crook, but a plow. The scepter may have been originally used by kings and leaders simply because it was the most natural support and weapon; while subsequent circumstances changed its form and significance.

Related Books and Articles:

576. Scepters