- For Hindu religious associations of goads, see ankus.
The ox goad is a traditional farming implement, used to spur or guide a plowing animal. It is a type of cattle prod. Though many people are unfamiliar with them today, goads have been common throughout the world. The garrocha, a Mexican type of goad, is used in bull fighting.
Description
An ox goad is traditionally a wooden stick or pole with a pointed tip, sometimes of iron or another metal. Some had a flat blade at the other end for breaking clods, or for clearing the plowshare.
Some are reported to been 8 to 10 feet long, others 5 to 7 feet. The goad is cited as the origin of two units of measurement: the rod, which is 16.5 feet; and the goad, which is 4.5 feet. Some were 2 inches in diameter at the thickest end; others were 6 inches. The longer sorts of goad may have been that long to reach the front pair of oxen when plowing with two pairs of oxen.
The Massachusetts Fairs Association describes what type of goad they allow in their Rules Governing Pulling Contests.
Biblical usage
Easton's Bible Dictionary says that the ox goad is "mentioned only in Judges 3:31, the weapon with which Shamgar (q.v.) slew six hundred Philistines." and quotes from "Porter's Syria, etc." that "The ploughman still carries his goad, a weapon apparently more fitted for the hand of the soldier than the peaceful husbandman. The one I saw was of the 'oak of Bashan', and measured upwards of ten feet in length. At one end was an iron spear, and at the other a piece of the same metal flattened. One can well understand how a warrior might use such a weapon with effect in the battle-field"
However, "goads" appears in two other places: I Samuel 13:21 and Ecclesiastes 12:11. The word "pricks" refers to a goad, and is used in Acts 9:5 and Acts 26:14.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
Goad for elephants: the ankus
An ankus is a hooked goad for controlling an elephant. See ankus for more information.