# What Exactly Are The Rod And Staff Of The 23rd Psalm And Why Do They Comfort? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-the-rod-and-staff-of-the-23rd-psalm-and-why-do-they-comfort/761667 "2016-08-03T18:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-the-rod-and-staff-of-the-23rd-psalm-and-why-do-they-comfort/761667/21 "2016-08-05T13:51:35Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Since you are contradicting what others have said earlier in this thread, that the rod and the staff are two different tools used by shepherds, perhaps you might amplify n this assertion that they are “the same thing”. It’s not really a contradiction. The repetition can be similar elements, rather than the same. One that comes immediately to mind is Proverbs 6:16, which says “There are six things the Lord hates/seven that are detestable to him:” It then goes on to list seven things. But six and seven are different. I do think it’s likely that the rod and staff could have actually been the same item performing different functions. As pointed out, there’s not really any reason the shepherd crook can’t also be used for discipline. In fact, the word for staff, מַטֶּה or_matteh_ can also refer to a rod, [according to the aforementioned _Strong’s._](http://biblehub.com/hebrew/4294.htm). But, even if they are strictly separate items, and shepherds always carried both, the parallelism is still there, because both are similar items that can perform the other’s function. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-the-rod-and-staff-of-the-23rd-psalm-and-why-do-they-comfort/761667.md?page=1)