Goad

A goad was a pointed stick, typically made of wood with a metal tip, used to drive oxen while plowing. It appears in two notable scriptural contexts. (1.) Shamgar the judge slew 600 Philistines with an oxgoad (Judg. 3:31), using a farm implement as a weapon. (2.) Paul's vision of the risen Christ on the Damascus road included the words, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 26:14) — the goads being a metaphor for divine prodding that a rebellious person injures himself by resisting. Ecclesiastes 12:11 compares the words of the wise to goads that prod the mind to productive thought.