Stocks

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(sticks). Tree-trunks (Job 14:8⁸Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; (Job 14:8)); idols (Jer. 2:27²⁷Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. (Jeremiah 2:27)); instruments of punishment made of beams of wood which closed over the arms or ankles (Job 13:27; 33:11²⁷Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. (Job 13:27)
¹¹He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths. (Job 33:11); Jer. 20:2²Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. (Jeremiah 20:2); Acts 16:24²⁴Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. (Acts 16:24)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

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Stocks

Various words are used for these instruments of punishment.

1. mahpecheth, a wooden frame in which the feet, hands, and neck of a person were so fastened that his body was kept bent. Jeremiah was subjected to this punishment (Jer. 20:2-3²Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. ³And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib. (Jeremiah 20:2‑3)).

2. sad, stocks in which the feet were shut up (Job 13:27²⁷Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. (Job 13:27); Job 33:11¹¹He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths. (Job 33:11); Acts 16:24²⁴Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. (Acts 16:24)—ξύλον).

3. tsinoq, stocks which confined the hands and the feet (Jer. 29:26²⁶The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks. (Jeremiah 29:26)).

4. ekes, “a fetter or ancle-band” (Prov. 7:22²²He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; (Proverbs 7:22)).

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Acts 16:24²⁴Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. (Acts 16:24). Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Some would understand by ξυλον “stocks,” simply a bar of wood to which the feet of the prisoner were chained. Others suppose the instrument to have corresponded to the modern stocks, consisting of a frame of wood in which the two feet, separated far apart, were placed. There were some ancient stocks in which were five holes for fastening feet, hands, and head.

In Ceylon, at the present day, an instrument similar to this is used, only the head is allowed to be free.

The use of the stocks is very ancient. See Job 13:27²⁷Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. (Job 13:27).

Stocks

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Concise Bible Dictionary:

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

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