Goad.
A long slender pole with a sharp point at one end, used for guiding and urging the oxen in ploughing. It can also be used as a formidable weapon. Shamgar slew six hundred men with an ox goad. Judges 3:31; 1 Samuel 1:13. It is applied metaphorically to the energy imparted by the words of the wise. Ecclesiastes 12:11. The goad is alluded to in Acts 9:5; Acts 26:14, translated 'pricks:' if the ox kicked against the goad, he only hurt himself the more: as do all those who oppose God.