Bible dictionaries

Bulrush

What Bible dictionaries say about “Bulrush”, one article after the other.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

Bulrush - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

(1.) In Isa. 58:5 the rendering of a word which denotes "belonging to a marsh," from the nature of the soil in which it grows (Isa. 18:2). It was sometimes platted into ropes (Job. 41:2; A.V., "hook," R.V., "rope," lit. "cord of rushes").

(2.) In Ex. 2:3, Isa. 18:2 (R.V., "papyrus") this word is the translation of the Hebrew gome, which designates the plant as absorbing moisture. In Isa. 35:7 and Job 8:11 it is rendered "rush." This was the Egyptian papyrus (papyrus Nilotica). It was anciently very abundant in Egypt. The Egyptians made garments and shoes and various utensils of it. It was used for the construction of the ark of Moses (Ex. 2:3, 5). The root portions of the stem were used for food. The inside bark was cut into strips, which were sewed together and dried in the sun, forming the papyrus used for writing. It is no longer found in Egypt, but grows luxuriantly in Palestine, in the marshes of the Huleh, and in the swamps at the north end of the Lake of Gennesaret. (See [84]CANE.)

Bulrush - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BUL'RUSH, n. [bole, or boll, and rush.] A large kind of rush, growing in wet land or water, and without knots, says Johnson, but Dryden calls it, the knotty bulrush. It is not a technical word.

Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)

The article in Easton + Webster 1828

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE 1915)

bool'-rush.

See REED.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia — James Orr, general editor and contributors; CrossWire SWORD module ISBE 2.2

The article in ISBE 1915

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

(or papyrus), a red growing in the shallow water on the banks of the Nile. It grows to the height of 12 or 15 feet, with a stalk two or three inches in diameter. The stalks are very pliable and can be very closely interwoven, as is evident from their having been used in the construction of arks. (Exodus 2:3,5) Paper was made from this plant, from which it derives its name.

William Smith; revised by F. N. Peloubet and M. A. Peloubet; CrossWire SWORD module Smith 1.3

The article in Smith