It is used several times on God's command to initiate the Plagues of Egypt.ĭuring the Exodus, Moses stretches out his hand with the staff to part the Red Sea. Aaron's rod is again used to turn the Nile blood-red. The Pharaoh's sorcerers are also able to transform their own rods into serpents, but Aaron's swallows them. Moses and Aaron appear before the Pharaoh of the Exodus, when Aaron's rod is transformed into a serpent. "And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs." And Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father in law, and said unto him, "Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt and see whether they be yet alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." The LORD said unto Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life." And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. The staff is thereafter referred to as the "rod of God" or "staff of God" (depending on the translation). The staff is miraculously transformed into a snake and then back into a staff. God asks what Moses has in his hand, and Moses answers "a staff" ("a rod" in the King James Version). The Staff of Moses is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus (chapter 4, verse 2), when God appears to Moses in the burning bush. It is also reminiscent of the rod of the ancient Greek god Asclepius, whose worship was centered around the Aegean, including Asia Minor, indicating the role of the bishop as healer of spiritual diseases. The symbolism in the latter case is of the bronze serpent, Nehushtan, made by Moses as related in Numbers 21:8–9. The other has a top comprising a pair of sculptured serpents or dragons curled back to face each other, with a small cross between them. One is tau-shaped, with curved arms, surmounted by a small cross. The Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic crosier is found in two common forms. This relates to the many metaphorical references to bishops as the shepherds of their "flock" of Christians, following the metaphor of Christ as the Good Shepherd. In the Western Church the usual form has been a shepherd's crook, curved at the top to enable animals to be hooked. Many other types of the staff of office were found in later periods, some continuing to the modern day in ceremonial contexts. One example is the lituus, the traditional staff of the ancient Roman augurs, as well as the Staff of Moses in the Hebrew Bible. The origin of the crozier as a staff of authority is uncertain, but there were many secular and religious precedents in the ancient world. Other typical insignia of prelates are the mitre, the pectoral cross, and the episcopal ring. In Eastern Christianity, it is found in two common forms: tau-shaped, with curved arms, surmounted by a small cross or a pair of sculptured serpents or dragons curled back to face each other, with a small cross between them. In Western Christianity the usual form has been a shepherd's crook, curved at the top to enable animals to be hooked. Dimitry of Rostov in Rostov museum A crosier on the coat of arms of Basel, Switzerland which was ruled by Prince-Bishops during the Middle AgesĪ crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and some Anglican, Lutheran, United Methodist and Pentecostal churches. Eastern Orthodox tau-shaped crosier belonging to St.
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