The rod was seen as a symbol of
political authority in the ancient Near East. Anciently, shepherds used rods or
staffs as a tool to care for their flocks. In the Bible, a connection appears
between Israel’s rulers and shepherds in passages such as Ezekiel 34:2, 23, and
Jeremiah 2:8. In addition, the Egyptian Pharaohs were frequently depicted with
a flail in one hand and a small shepherd’s crook in the other.
The famous stela of Hammurabi depicts
the Babylonian king receiving a rod from the sun god Shamesh as a sign that
Hammurabi was “the shepherd selected by the god Enlil” to establish a righteous
government over his people. (Martha T. Roth, Law Collections From
Mesopotamia and Asia Minor [Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997], 77) This same
symbol also appears throughout the Hebrew Bible. “The Lord shall send the rod
of thy strength out of Zion,” declares the Psalmist, “rule thou in the midst of
thine enemies” (Psalm 110:2). In a similar passage the prophet Ezekiel
declared, “and she had strong rods for the scepters 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). These examples
demonstrate that the rod once served as an important symbol of political
authority.
Recognizing the symbolic value
associated with the rod in antiquity, it seems significant that Laman and Lemuel
chose to beat both he and Sam with a rod.
And it came to pass as they smote us
with a rod. behold an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and
he spake unto them, saying: why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod?
Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you? (1
Nephi 3:29)
The connection between rod and
authority seems to have been recognized by the angel of God who chastened Laman
and Lemuel for their crime. No doubt the words spoken by the messenger held
considerable meaning to Laman and Lemuel, who would have recognized the symbolic
value of the weapon they used to beat their younger brothers. As such, the
angel’s words seem to have been laced with a degree of poignant irony. (David
E. Bokovoy and John A. Tvedtnes, Testaments: Links Between the Book of
Mormon and the Hebrew Bible [Toelle, Utah: Heritage Press, 2003], 43-44)
